Ion Cristian-Mihai, I Gr.

12 Portuguese-English British Survey in 19th and 20th Century Literature

Assist. Dr. Eliana Ionoaia

Art and Life in The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde is considered to be one of the most valuable novelists, essaysts and poets of
the English Literature. At the beginning of the 1890s he put emphasis on the idea of the
supremacy of art, reflected in his single and the most famous novel The Picture of Dorian
Gray. First appeared in 1890, Wilde’s novel, has been criticized, being considered immoral.
Consequently it has been revised in 1891 and being added six new chapters. The picture of
Dorian Gray illustrates a picture of the enlglish society in the 19th century and revolves
around the themes of youth, beauty and the power of influence. The major theme that Oscar
Wilde aproaches in his novel in mainly connected to the link between art and life, the
aesthetics and esthetics.

The plot of the novel is a reflection on the idea of a double identity and life. This idea is
highlighted by the appearence and the soul. Dorian Gray is a young boy from the higher class
of the society that has a beauty that hardly can be compared. His appearence illustrates the life
that he is experiencing through the matters of the pleasures. At the beginnig of the novel he
seems to be a very beautiful boy both outside and inside as the picture painted by Basil
Hallaward shows but once with the passage of the time he is being neggatively influenced by
Lord Henry, a man that will bacome one of his best friends.

Basil Hallaward is the image of the artist in the 19th century that faces the immoral and
degraded society. As an artist he finds himself very lucky to find Dorian Gray. Basil
considers that Dorian is his supreme model and that he is entirely dominated by him being the
main reason for which he chooses to make a portrait of him. The climax of his entire work
appears while he is painting Dorian in the presence of Lord Henry. This is the moment when
Dorian starts to change on the inside though on the outside he is becoming extremely
beautiful. Since Basil finishes the portrait, Dorian’s soul becomes refelcted by it.

The link between art and life in the novel of Oscar Wilde is illustrated by the connection
between the real appearence of Dorian Gray and the appearence of the picture of him. His real
appearence reflects the life that he is living under the influence of Lord Henry and pleasures
and the picture reflects the decay of his soul. The first step that Dorian takes in his decay is
the moment of breaking up with Sibyl Vane, an actress that he falls in love with. Once he
breaks up with her because he does not see her as an artist anymore his soul begins to

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Ion Cristian-Mihai, I Gr.12 Portuguese-English British Survey in 19th and 20th Century Literature
Assist. Dr. Eliana Ionoaia

degrade. Consequently the picture of him stars to grow uglier. Due to the fact that he is at the
beginning of the his decay, he wants to repare the things between he and Sibyl not knowing
that the woman already killed himself. The influence of Lord Henry on him grows bigger as
he makes Dorian not to care about what happend and reflect on the thing from other
perspective. The death of Sibyl Vane is the trigger of his soul degradation. In contrast with his
outside appearence his soul is becoming darker with every action that he does. His all
immoral actions are reflected on the canvas that Basil made. At the end he chooses to kill the
man in the portrait but he is really killing himself.

The condition of the artist in the 19th century England in illustrated on the entire plot of
the novel by the characters of Basil Hallaward, Dorian Gray, Lord Henry and Sibyl Vane.
They represent the artist in a society that has no values and is being more and more degraded.
Although they do not share the same interests and opinions with the rest, Basil admits that
even artist should do compromises in order to be accepted and integrated in the civilized
society.

You know we poor artists have to show ourselves in society from time to time, just
to remind the public that we are not savages. With and evening coat and a white tie, as
you told me once, anybody, even a stock-broker, can gain a reputation for beng
civilized.(Wilde, 1. 17)

All in all, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde has been a reflection of the ideas of
the aestheticism, a ideology whose main supporters was Oscar Wilde. Showing the
relationship between art and life, the novel illustrates the connection between the soul and the
cotidian life. Although it seems a dark writing, it is a flashing staging of the society that
existed since always. Being his first novel is becomes also the firts illustration of Wilde’s
conceptions about art, artist and the real life, staging the link between them in such an
interesting and controversial way.

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Ion Cristian-Mihai, I Gr.12 Portuguese-English British Survey in 19th and 20th Century Literature
Assist. Dr. Eliana Ionoaia

Works Cited
Buzwell, Greg. British Library. n.d. 11 04 2016.

Wilde, Oscar. The picture of Dorian Gray . London , 1981.