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“The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde
"The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde - Books Goals By Lexy
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“The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde

“The Picture of Dorian Gray” is an addictive story which, regardless of your shivering, you won’t be able to stop reading. The outside and inside dehumanization is expressively captured along the novel, surely making a strong point. Dorian Gray is a complex embodiment of the seven deadly sins: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth. The protagonist was Oscar Wilde’s way of seeing the world, influenced by desire and immorality.

“The Picture of Dorian Gray” is a short classic story, with a long-lasting effect. While some are afraid to speak the “sensible” truth, Oscar Wilde made art out of it. “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is a masterpiece of the Irish literature, and an unusually franc perspective which you won’t help but admire.

The Narration

The 3rd person story-telling seemed to be built up on deepness and uniqueness, bringing the focus on the most sensible aspects of everyday life and society. The omniscient and objective narrator avoids expressing an opinion, but the line between decency and immorality is still very firm. The story-teller gives the impression of presence to the readers; it tries to cover each angle of the action and reveals each detail with just the perfect words so that the readers feel implied into the course of events.

An alarming protagonist

“The Picture of Dorian Gray” might be difficult and even unclear when it comes to a moral of the story. Even though, it sends at least one clear message: the thing we call “society” became more artificial than plastic itself.

I mostly enjoyed the protagonist’s journey along the novel. He embodied the 7 deadly sins, which made him not only interesting, but truly fascinating. The complexity was the key for defining exactly the identity of each character, who were different, but not less captivating, human typologies. Therefore, “The Picture of Dorian Gray” overcame the status of a literary masterpiece and transformed itself in a lesson of morality and decency, built up on a disagreeing perspective upon the narcissism that rules this story.

“The Picture of Dorian Gray” totally conquered my heart and admiration. Even so, I was disappointedly disgusted by the unbelievably acknowledged misogyny which was present in most of Lord Harry’s lines. It was like a light shadow that accompanied the whole book, constantly being somewhere in the background, feeling like a thorn in my side.

Through a disagreeing, but silenced, opinion about Dorian Gray, the protagonist is judged harshly for his narcissism. In an expressive manner, the narrator’s appreciation for an opposite attitude is promoted through an ironic – and agreeing, in appearance – view upon Dorian’s actions. This story, exaggerating for expressive purposes, promoted the superior role of beauty over everything else, of the outside over the inside. In the end, the healthy mentality and attitude is encouraged through irony on the opposite.

Two versions, one story

My experience with “The Picture of Dorian Gray” was complete due to finding a version of the book which included both existent editions of the story. Therefore, I could list a couple of great differences between the two and several observations regarding their reading.

Note: the observations regard the chapters which the two editions have in common

  1. I found the 9th chapter really difficult to pass through. There are many names, traditions or inventions from history which are not hard to understand, but, as they are several, they are exhausting due to the full attention they need to be paid.
  2. The 11th chapter is grotesquely narrated. I’ve mentioned how detailed the narration is, but this initially admirable aspect of the story-telling gave me profound shivers and an unpleasant experience with this particular chapter. No sensible reader wants to read that many details regarding its course.

Differences between the two versions of “The Picture of Dorian Gray”:

First of all, the main differences between the two editions of the story, the one from 1890 and the one from 1891, are the extra chapters from the latter and the uncensored parts of the first.

  1. While the 1890 edition offers a sneak peek into Basil’s true feelings for Dorian Gray – desire, love and admiration – the one from 1891 is censored regarding the LGBTQ+ aspects.
  2. While the original version of the story is only 13 chapters long, the 1891 version is 20. The 3rd, 5th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th chapters are totally new, but the initial 13th chapter has been split in two individual ones (the 19th and 20th chapters from the 1891 version of the book).
  3. Some particular aspects regarding how deep the narration went into the amorous part of the initial version, were censored in the second one.

What the extra chapters (the 1891 version) are about:

  • the 3rd chapter offers an inside view upon the different perspective which English had upon the American society and women, in contrast to the English one. It also gives important information regarding Dorian Gray’s parentage and the complete episode of the protagonist’s visit to Lord Harry’s aunt, back in the very beginning. The narrator presents the characters’ true colors in a movie like manner, offering an inside perspective upon their lives.
  • the 5th chapter presents Sibyl’s family life and, most important, her brother, James – a totally new character. In a mysterious way, her mother is afraid of something which she doesn’t want her children to know about – it might be a threat.
  • in the 15th chapter, the characters continue to be described, even more intensively, without curtain
  • in the 16th and 17th chapter, the readers are able to read about Dorian Gray’s regrets and second thoughts which are not shown in the first edition of the book. The protagonist actually starts to wonder about the dehumanization provoked by the portray. James wants revenge for his sister’s death and finds out Dorian’s secret.
  • in the 18th chapter, Dorian starts being frightened by death and the way he was going to be punished for his immoral life. It’s the ending of the extra story.

A Moral Compass

Highlighting the uncensored version of the book, Basil is skeptical regarding the exposure of Dorian’s picture. Metaphorically, it’s his own way of keeping the boy for himself, inside his own heart and with a beauty really seen only through his eyes. “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Most of the time, the real beauty is in the admirer’s eyes.

Capturing the human nature and weaknesses, the protagonist runs away from responsibility. He prefers blaming the painter for his own misfortune and tries to end the curse by ending his friend’s life. I call it a weaknesses chain, starting with the fright of confronting his own wish.

Basil represented the last anchor of Dorian’s humanity and, therefore, morality. The protagonist’s nature deteriorated completely only after Basil’s death. The painter was not only a friend in his life, but also an initially influential presence. Basil tried repeatedly to warn Dorian about Lord Harry’s nature. When the protagonist kept changing one’s constant company for the other’s, didn’t it become a “war” of influences over the boy’s conscience?

An object of affection

One of my favorite things regarding Dorian’s romantic life, was his relationship with Sibyl Vane. He initially kept repeating himself about the pure and deep love he felt for the girl. Nevertheless, once he saw her performing unpleasantly, he lost his whole “love”. This particular relationship is interesting exactly because it “draws” a fine and stable line between true feeling and thought-to-be ones. He was not in love with the person, but only with her roles.

A Balance of nature

The protagonist makes an unusual wish, which, unexplainably becomes reality. He, unknowingly, tries to change the course of nature. Therefore, I believe that the outcome of the portray was his curse and nature’s way of gaining back its lost balance. While Dorian tried to become immortal and change the course of life, nature transformed the “blessing” into a curse. The portray which was supposed to keep him untouched by sins or aging, also took his humanity, not only mortality. Was his ever-lasting beauty and apparent “innocence” a blessing, or an unknown curse?

The Proof of Imm(orality)ortality

Dorian Gray has been constantly trying to hide the portray, which was the only ever-lasting proof of his sins and dehumanization. The dénouement showed the protagonist trying to “kill” his old aged and “marked” image from inside the picture. This might’ve destroyed the last evidence, but, apparently, also killed him. He died and gave the impression that, by “killing” the man from the picture, they changed positions and nature regained its course. Therefore, death gets to possess a transitional role between the two “Dorian Grays”; between innocence and immorality.

Conclusions:

“The Picture of Dorian Gray” is a sensational story. I can’t help but recommend it to all readers who are out there, looking for the beauty of unordinary and the naked truth. This book is for the ones who are not afraid of the “dark”, but find fascination in it. If I were asked to categorize this novel as a type of classic, it would be hard. It’s a little of everything, and a guaranteed unforgettable experience.

What I’ve liked:

  • an unusual protagonist
  • a captivating inspiration for the protagonist (the seven deadly sins)
  • strong moral accents
  • a great easily to follow story-telling
  • a subbit and intriguing addiction to the story
  • a franc narration
  • two editions, two different experiences (more or less)

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