Thesis Statement:

The major characters' morals and ethics are strongly connected to their sexuality
and sexual identity.
Supporting Ideas:
Sexuality and Sexual Identity are strongly connected with morality and ethics.
The Novel of Dorian ray has an am!iguous message a!out homosexuality.
"asil# Dorian and $ord %enry's ethics had homoerotic feelings and their sexual
identity is not sta!lish through the novel.
"ac&ground 'esearch:
Sexual Identity: Sexual Identity is how one thin&s of oneself in terms of whom one is
romantically or sexually attracted to. Sexual identity and sexual !ehavior are closely
related to sexual orientation# !ut they are distinguised# with identity referring to an
individual# and sexual orientation referring or sexual attractions toward the opposite sex#
the same sex# !oth sexes# or having no attractions. Sexual identity can change
throughout an individual's life# and may or may not align with !iological sex. In a ())*
study !y the Social +rgani,ation of Sexuality# only (-. of women and /-. of men and
/-. of men who reported some level of same0sex attractions. 1pon reviewing the
results# the organi,ation commented# 2Development of self0identification as homosexual
or gay is a psychological and socially complex state# something which# in this society# is
achieved only over time# often with considera!le personal struggle and self0dou!t# not to
mention social discomfort.
http:33en.wi&ipedia.org3wi&i3Sexual4identity.
"oth "asil and $ord %enry express desire for Dorian# !ut "asil's feeling for him 5 the
admiration of the true artist for the o!ject of !eauty 5 is depicted as somehow more pure.
"oth "asil and $ord %enry express desire for Dorian# !ut "asil's feeling for him 5 the
admiration of the true artist for the o!ject of !eauty 5 is depicted as somehow more pure.
The treatment of women in the novel 6who are either mindless or 2too clever27 implies
that only men are fit and worthy companions for each other.
/
INTRODUCTION
Although Oscar Wilde's
The Picture of Dorian Gray
(!"# is considered to $e one of the
$est %no&n ho'oerotic no(els e(er &ritten) the no(e
l does not contain any e*+licit
state'ents of ho'oeroticis' &hich lea(es the no(el
to $e 'ore of a suggesti(e &or% of
such a the'e,
The +o+ularity of the no(el has 'uch to do &ith it
s author and the scandals
surrounding hi', Oscar Wilde &as a 'aster of contro
(ersy) $ut the greatest scandal of his
life &as the charge and con(iction of sodo'y and gr
oss indecency for &hich he &as
sentenced t&o years of hard la$our in +rison
(Ra$y) **i#, In the -ictorian age)
ho'ose*uality and sodo'y &ere +unisha$le cri'es, .o
llo&ing the +u$lication of the no(el
'any re(ie&s a++eared la$elling it as indecent, Wil
de defended it) saying there &as
nothing se*ual a$out it, The no(el is +artly set ar
ound an artist's +rofound ad'iration for
his 'use) a young $eautiful $oy, /ince the artist h
i'self is a 'an) 'any inter+reted this
ad'iration as ho'oerotic, Wilde) ho&e(er) descri$ed
that ad'iration as 'erely an
e*+ression of
aestheticis' (0ason) 12#, .or 'any) aestheticis' an
d ho'oeroticis' ca'e
to $e one and the sa'e) or rather) ho'oeroticis' &a
s seen as so'ething $elonging to the
aesthetic 'o(e'ent (Carroll) 3"3#,
Aestheticis' can disguise ho'oerotic feelings $et&
een the 'en, A great deal of the
+re4udice against the no(el is connected &ith the i
dea of 'asculinity 5 and ho& 'en relate
to one another &ithout it $eing considered i'+ro+er
5 as &ell as &ith the idea of
effe'inacy, /ince no direct state'ents of ho'oeroti
cis' are 'ade in the no(el) &e ha(e to
loo% closer at so'e of the things that des+ite this
ha(e caused the no(el to $e la$elled as
ho'oerotic, Wilde could not &rite an o+enly ho'oero
tic $oo% so &e ha(e to read $et&een
the lines for things that can $e read one &ay or th
e other and thus can di(ert a reader)
'ostly his critics) fro' (ie&ing the $oo% as ho'oer
otic,
The ai' of this essay is e*a'ine so'e of the diffe
rent codes used $y Wilde to sho&
a ho'oerotic the'e in
The Picture of Dorian Gray
, 6y codes I 'ean indications 7
consciously or unconsciously inserted $y the author
7 to&ards a ho'oerotic the'e, The
focus &ill $e +laced on 'a4or codes) such as aesthe
ticis') 8ellenis') secrecy and sha'e
and effe'inacy, The reason I chose to call the' cod
es is that an atte'+t &ill $e 'ade to
deci+her the different the'es as one does &ith code
s,
In the essay I &ill +resent ideas and ideals used i
n the no(el that I as a reader
+ercei(e as ho'oerotic, The no(el itself &ill) natu
rally) stand as the +ri'ary source,
9
/econdary sources &ill 'ostly $e recent articles de
aling &ith this +recise to+ic, The reason
$ehind 'y choice to use 'ostly articles is $ecause
I &anted as recent infor'ation as
+ossi$le, I also &anted to use &or%s that deal 'ore
e*clusi(ely &ith the ho'oerotic the'e
or related the'es in the no(el,
Perha+s a clarification $et&een ho'oeroticis' and
ho'ose*uality needs to $e
'ade, This essay &ill not address the :uestion of h
o'ose*uality since &e do not %no&
&hat %ind of relationshi+ the 'en had since it is n
ot stated $y Wilde, 6y ho'oeroticis' is
here 'eant ho& sa'e5se* desire and lo(e can $e sho&
n in arts) and as in this case)
literature,
The Picture of Dorian Gray
de(elo+s around the li(es of the three 'ain charac
ters)
Dorian) 6asil and ;ord 8enry, To define the charact
ers as +otentially ho'ose*ual 'en in
the no(el) one needs to characterise 6asil and ;ord
8enry for they are res+onsi$le for
Dorian's character, In the first cha+ter the reader
encounters 6asil and ;ord 8enry
con(ersing and has the o++ortunity to %no& the t&o
'en first hand, At this +oint Dorian is
'erely a character in the $ac%ground) so'eone &e %n
o& through 6asil's and 8enry's
con(ersation, We learn that he is e*traordinarily $
eautiful and that he has a fascinating
character (<#, What that +ersonality is is hard to
say at this +oint since his +hysical
a++earance is in focus throughout the first cha+ter
= he has not yet a++eared hi'self, It is
under later interaction &ith the') 'ainly &ith ;ord
8enry) that Dorian de(elo+s into a
'ore 'ultifaceted character, Cohen sees Dorian as >
$orn of the con4unction $et&een
6asil's (isual e'$odi'ent of his erotic desire for
Dorian and ;ord 8enry's (er$al
sti'ulation of such desire? (!@1#, .urther'ore) he
(ie&s Dorian as a >s+ace for the
constitution of 'ale desire? &here he functions as
the tool &ith &hich 6asil's and ;ord
8enry's desires are descri$ed (!@1#,
!
8enry in the no(el,
;astly) let us ta%e a closer loo% at Dorian Gray,
As the +rotagonist of the no(el he is
'ost %no&n to us, Affe'inate is a &ord that &ould s
uit &ell to descri$e Dorian seeing the
&ays in &hich he is descri$ed and $eha(es, The lang
uage that Wilde uses to descri$e hi'
is yet again (ery soft and (ery fe'inine, 8e is des
cri$ed as $eautiful &ith $lue eyes) cris+
$londe hair and >finely5cur(ed scarlet li+s? (3<#,
.ollo&ing the release of the no(el the re(ie&s that
criticised it +aid attention to the
effe'inacy of Dorian Gray, In the no(el &hen Dorian
is dis+leased he >'ade a little
'oue
of discontent to ;ord 8enry) to &ho' he had rather
ta%en a fancy? (39#, One re(ie&er calls
the characters +u++ies) noting Dorian's $eha(iour i
n the +re(ious :uote to $e i'+ro+er for a
$oy of t&enty years (0ason) !#,
Carroll) li%e&ise) (ie&s Dorian's $eha(iour to $e
'ore fit for a &o'an than for a
'an) no 'atter his age, In the no(el Dorian is u+se
t that the +ainting &ill fore(er re'ain
$eautiful &hile his $eauty and youth &ill &itherB >
The tears &elled in his eyes= he tore his
hand a&ay) and) flinging hi'self on the di(an) he $
uried his face in the cushions) as though
he &as +raying, (<C#, Carroll finds >DsEcenes of &o
'en lying +rone and &ee+ing are
co''on enough in -ictorian fiction= scenes de+ictin
g 'ales in that +osture are (anishingly
rare? (3"2#,
Carroll has (ery clear ideas of &here the $oundari
es of gender roles should go and
in &hat &ay ho'ose*uals and heterose*uals should an
d do $eha(e, Although 'any of his
and the e*isting (ie&s on gender roles are highly g
eneralised) &e are +rone to 'a%e
+resu'+tions on &hat is 'anly o++osed to effe'inate
and ho& that fits in the :uestion of
ho'ose*uality and ho'oeroticis',
CONC;U/ION
The ai' of this essay has $een to loo% closer at so
'e of the ho'oerotic codes in
The
Picture of Dorian Gray,
What &e today see as codes 'ay or 'ay not ha(e $een
the
author's intention) since ti'e has changed the &ay
in &hich &e (ie& certain things,
Regardless if Wilde &anted to &rite the no(el in &h
at &e see as codes) readers of all ti'es
ha(e (ie&ed the' as such, The ho'oerotic the'e has
$een fairly easy to +ic% u+ on,
In the 'atter of aestheticis' I thin% the ho'oerot
ic the'e is so'ething that has
$een attri$uted later seeing ho& 'any of the follo&
ers &ere or &ere sus+ected of $eing
"
ho'ose*ual, 0en $eing so fascinated $y other 'en's
+hysical $eauty &ill al&ays raise
sus+icions) no 'atter their intention, The nor' of
society through history has +ro(ed (ery
'uch against ho'ose*uality) and conse:uently ho'oer
oticis', Ad'iration of hu'an
$eauty has $een so'ething that is $elie(ed should t
a%e +lace $et&een t&o +eo+le of the
o++osite se*) not of the sa'e,