The
Victorian age was characterized by conventional gender roles governed by strict
rules of social conduct as dictated by Christian morality. Given the particular
ethos, The Picture of Dorian Gray was initially dubbed “Immoral”. To the
Victorians art was meant for moral and social education, whereas, Wilde,
influenced by the Aesthetic Movement, believed that art was just that,
beautiful, sensually pleasing, but without a depth of meaning. The Aesthetic Movement
was intended to replace the traditional Victorian morality; however, The Picture
of Dorian Gray exhibits, aesthetic hedonism must be tempered with thought or
the result is destruction,
Beauty is not character
The
Victorian society superficially valued beauty above all and synonymied it with
goodness, as is obvious from the elderly flirt, Lady Narborough’s comment, “You
are made to be good—you look so good”. Hence, Dorian became plagued by the
transience of his own “innocence” and “purity of his face,” a fear that came to
life after meeting Henry, and was made abundantly clear to the reader as Dorian
beheld his enthralling visage in Basil’s handiwork, the portrait. Little did
Dorian know that his artistic likeness would become a reflection of his soul as
the man’s moral character gradually deteriorated over a span of two decades and
he, armed with a keenly handsome façade committed unspeakable crimes. The
discerning reader would thereby witness Wilde debunk the Victorian societal myth
that outward beauty is a manifestation of a pristine soul and an unblemished
character.
Death under influence
Dorian’s
beauty had had a profound effect on Basil who himself referred to his adoration
of Dorian as “idolatry” and claimed, “I have put too much of myself into it,”
about Dorian’s portrait. Exactly the same way, Henry wanted Dorian to submit to
his power, and as soon as Dorian made his acquaintance, he acted to bring the
beautiful young man under his sphere of influence by introducing him to aestheticism
and the ”yellow book” which opened Dorian’s eyes to the hedonistic lifestyle of
the Frenchmen. Henry himself asserted that he found “something terribly
enthralling in the exercise of influence”. Under the “influence” of Lord Henry
and the yellow book Dorian became immersed in a world of immorality and slowly
lost himself and finally faced a bloody demise.. On the other hand Basil’s
infatuation with Dorian and the pull it asserted on him culminated in his
murder by Dorian himself. Consequently the reader is brought to the realization
that if an individual completely yields to an external “influence” - be it a
person or an idea - it results in self annihilation.
Too much of nothing is
good
Vice,
debauchery and excess became Dorian’s way of life and he held dear nothing but
his own pleasure and the beauty around him which included the acting prowess of
his betrothed, Sibyl. During the course of events he caused Sibyl to commit
suicide, murdered Basil, and lost the penance window to his inherent
“hypocrisy”. Though his hedonistic existence failed to mar his visage, and he
remained accepted in the polite circle of socialites who adored him for his
good looks, the once exquisite portrait bore the ravages of his guilt and
depravity and showed him what he had become each time he looked at it. When he
could no longer face his inner ugliness, he tried to stab the work of art, but
ended up dead himself bearing all the contortions of the portrait, while the
latter was restored to its original beauty. Uninhibited pursuit of beauty and
sensual pleasures thus ended all that was meaningful to Dorian.
“Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul.” (Oscar Wilde)
This article is produced by Mahrukh Shah, one of our contributors at the School of Literature. Join SOL Team here.
