The Art of Immorality in The Picture of Dorian Gray of a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth while his portrait bears the scars of his crimes. However, before Wilde's readers delve into this dark immorality, they encounter the novel's preface, where Wilde asserts that "all art is utterly useless" and "there is no such thing as an immoral or moral book." (Wild 3-4). These statements support Wilde's position as a key player in the aesthetic movement, advocating "art for art's sake". They also demonstrate his position that morality simply has no place in art. Yet despite all this, many critics have attempted to impose a moral on this novel. In the following article, I will examine both the novel and the arguments of these critics to determine whether or not Wilde is teaching his readers a lesson about this particular work of art. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay There is little criticism among contemporary critics that The Picture of Dorian Gray is truly a literary masterpiece. A 1990 review of the novel notes that "despite the dark theme, it gives us a particularly wild brand of vivid wit and paradox, as well as finely crafted descriptions of color, sound, and even smell." (Picture 1). With just a few descriptive words, Wilde manages to draw the reader into the meaning he is trying to convey, allowing them to have a vicarious experience through his descriptions. It also presents a constant flow of wit and paradox through the character of Lord Henry, whose statements include "a great poet, a very great poet, is the most unpoetic of all creatures" and "a man can be happy with any woman, as long as he does not love her” (Wilde 48, 139) combines his wit and description with a suspenseful plot that manages to keep readers intrigued as he reveals. the fate of each character, these elements form a work of art, but the question is whether there is more to the novel than the art alone, whether or not a moral is also present. Critics who attempt to claim The Picture of Dorian Gray as a moral book use its conclusion to support their argument. In Oscar Wilde, Sheridan Morley claims "a strict, underlying morality" in the text based on the fact that "after its years of sinister and voluptuous life, Dorian is after all left on the ground, dead, a figure of senile decadence, while the portrait regains its original beauty” (72). Even early reviews claiming the book was immoral noted that Wilde made a "desperate effort to give the book a 'moral' at the end" (Mason 65). While it is true that Dorian dies at the end of the novel, both sides of this argument must be closely examined to determine whether or not his death provides a moral for the reader. The first deals directly with the nature of Dorian's character. The latter critic supports the presence of a morality by assuming that Dorian's death is appropriate for a character he describes as "cool, calculating, [and] without conscience" (69). To have no conscience is not to feel guilt or remorse for one's actions; however, Dorian often feels both. We first witness Dorian's guilt when he notices the initial change in the picture and becomes aware of his first misdeed, the end of his engagement to Sibyl Vane. The mere thought that he could have beencruel towards her displeases him greatly (Wilde 73). Guilt continues to torment Dorian throughout the novel, showing that he is not a character without a conscience. We see him in tears at several points in the plot, showing that his sin affects him deeply and emotionally. Following his most heinous crime, the murder of his friend Basil, Dorian loses his appetite and finds himself “weeping like one whose heart is about to break” (136, 153). Not only does Dorian have a conscience because he feels guilty, his nature is also not cold as his crimes and his guilt affect him deeply. Wilde presents Dorian not only as a character with a conscience, but also as a very impressionable character. Wilde wants us to immediately notice Dorian's impressionable character by referring to him as "a boy" and demonstrating how quickly Lord Henry's words influence his naive thinking. Moments after his physical entrance into the plot, we see the immense influence that Lord Henry exerts on him, and later we witness how easily his mind is swayed towards fascination with immoral acts by a single book which Lord Henry presented to him (Wilde 17, 97). Because of this highly impressionable nature and our knowledge that Dorian does indeed have a conscience, it is clear that his behavior does not stem entirely from an inner evil but rather from the conditioning of his environment. So we must examine Dorian's actions and intentions in the novel and their consequences to see if those consequences provide a moral. This is not the case. It is only when Dorian's intentions turn toward good that he is externally punished. For example, he learns of Sybil's suicide only after he is determined to do her good. In fact, it is immediately after he finishes writing her a heartfelt apology that he learns of her death, forever connecting the two in his mind and offering her his first lesson in the rewards of morality. These lessons continue when, at the height of his illness, Dorian finds true pleasure and frees himself from any consequences. For example, fate prevents James Vane from rightfully killing him twice. Even his final attempt at a good deed, which I will discuss in the next section, follows this pattern, telling Dorian and the reader that repentance brings unnecessary pain and suffering while wallowing in sin brings only beauty and pleasure . Even though it is clear that Dorian's nature is not inherently evil, we cannot ignore the second part of the argument of critics who impose a moral at the end, the fact that Dorian's actions - murder, vanity , sexual promiscuity and drug addiction - were indeed bad and his fate at the end of the novel is death. The question is whether this fate truly demonstrates any sense of cosmic justice, and in order to prove otherwise, I will examine the events immediately surrounding Dorian's death as well as his intentions in destroying the portrait. Dorian admits to Lord Henry that “I have done too many terrible things in my life. I'm not going to do it anymore. I began my good deeds yesterday” (Wilde 159-160). It seems that his intentions ultimately turned towards good, and yet fate continues to teach Dorian its immoral lesson when he attempts another good act towards another woman and finds an unintended motive for it, discovering that he has lost his chance to achieve true purity. When he comes to this realization, he blames the portrait, recognizing it as the essence of his corruption. He destroys the portrait out of a desire to free himself from this corruption and finally inflict the consequences of his action on his own form, and he only receives a death.grotesque of body and beauty as a reward for this last good act. Dorian is a character whose first intentions in discovering the soul of the painting were to do good to prevent it from deteriorating further, whose environment then conditioned him to accept that only pain could come from repentance, and whose final attempt to regain morality harshly reinforced this lesson. His death was not the result of a greater cosmic justice that justly punished evil and rewarded the noble, but rather a cleverly designed plot twist that only served to deliver one final blow to morality by forcing Dorian to destroy oneself with repentance. Although this is clearly not the case, if the novel taught that a person's destiny is the righteous result of their actions, then this moral should be true not only for Dorian but also for the other characters in the novel as well. . I will now examine the fate of the secondary characters in the light of their actions to prove that there is no right morality in them. One critic claimed that "despite the general critical image of Lord Henry as a dilettante, intellectual lightweight and self-effacing hedonist, he is in fact one of the most philosophical characters in British fiction", then later asserts that Basil had a equal share in corrupting Dorian through his flattery (Liebman 299). Yet, despite Harry's philosophy and Basil's flattery, the "morality" of these two characters is easily contrasted. The former clearly corrupts Dorian and delights in his misdeeds while the latter, his foil in the novel, continually acts as the voice of reason throughout the plot, begging Lord Henry not to corrupt Dorian and begging Dorian to pray for his soul during their last meeting. . However, the fate of these two characters does not seem simple in view of their actions. Basil suffers a more painful death than Dorian's, stabbed to death by Dorian after trying to ransom him. At the same time, Lord Henry does not suffer the slightest inconvenience for corrupting Dorian, and the end of the novel shows him alive and well despite all his horrible actions. Another character, James Vane, also loses his life in the midst of a noble deed, attempting to keep a promise made to his deceased sister. Through the fate of these two characters and that of Dorian, Wilde provides no connection between actions and consequences, a lesson from which no moral can be drawn. Although the characters' outcomes present no morals to the reader, there remains a strong argument that a moral exists in the work. This is the fact that the author claims. In a letter to the editor of the Daily Chronicle, Oscar Wilde states that "the true moral of the story is that all excess, as well as all renunciation, brings its punishment, and this moral is so artistically and deliberately suppressed as to do ". not state its law as a general principle” (345). However, the existence of a morality does not make the novel itself “moral.” That excess and the renunciation of that excess results in punishment seems to be simply another of Wilde's famous paradoxes, not a standard by which he wishes his reader to live. Furthermore, the only excess the reader witnesses in the novel is that of Dorian, and Dorian lives in a world of eternal youth, unlimited influence and wealth, and exemption from all consequences of his actions as long as 'They are immoral. The conditions of this world do not apply to the readers' world where even if they were to escape the consequences by chance, they would still face the limitations of age and beauty. Despite the impracticality of this "morality", we must also recognize that Wilde added the., 1988.

Essay / The Art of Immorality in The Picture of Dorian Gray of a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth while his portrait bears the scars of his crimes. However, before Wilde's readers delve into this dark immorality, they encounter the novel's preface, where Wilde asserts that "all art is utterly useless" and "there is no such thing as an immoral or moral book." (Wild 3-4). These statements support Wilde's position as a key player in the aesthetic movement, advocating "art for art's sake". They also demonstrate his position that morality simply has no place in art. Yet despite all this, many critics have attempted to impose a moral on this novel. In the following article, I will examine both the novel and the arguments of these critics to determine whether or not Wilde is teaching his readers a lesson about this particular work of art. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay There is little criticism among contemporary critics that The Picture of Dorian Gray is truly a literary masterpiece. A 1990 review of the novel notes that "despite the dark theme, it gives us a particularly wild brand of vivid wit and paradox, as well as finely crafted descriptions of color, sound, and even smell." (Picture 1). With just a few descriptive words, Wilde manages to draw the reader into the meaning he is trying to convey, allowing them to have a vicarious experience through his descriptions. It also presents a constant flow of wit and paradox through the character of Lord Henry, whose statements include "a great poet, a very great poet, is the most unpoetic of all creatures" and "a man can be happy with any woman, as long as he does not love her” (Wilde 48, 139) combines his wit and description with a suspenseful plot that manages to keep readers intrigued as he reveals. the fate of each character, these elements form a work of art, but the question is whether there is more to the novel than the art alone, whether or not a moral is also present. Critics who attempt to claim The Picture of Dorian Gray as a moral book use its conclusion to support their argument. In Oscar Wilde, Sheridan Morley claims "a strict, underlying morality" in the text based on the fact that "after its years of sinister and voluptuous life, Dorian is after all left on the ground, dead, a figure of senile decadence, while the portrait regains its original beauty” (72). Even early reviews claiming the book was immoral noted that Wilde made a "desperate effort to give the book a 'moral' at the end" (Mason 65). While it is true that Dorian dies at the end of the novel, both sides of this argument must be closely examined to determine whether or not his death provides a moral for the reader. The first deals directly with the nature of Dorian's character. The latter critic supports the presence of a morality by assuming that Dorian's death is appropriate for a character he describes as "cool, calculating, [and] without conscience" (69). To have no conscience is not to feel guilt or remorse for one's actions; however, Dorian often feels both. We first witness Dorian's guilt when he notices the initial change in the picture and becomes aware of his first misdeed, the end of his engagement to Sibyl Vane. The mere thought that he could have beencruel towards her displeases him greatly (Wilde 73). Guilt continues to torment Dorian throughout the novel, showing that he is not a character without a conscience. We see him in tears at several points in the plot, showing that his sin affects him deeply and emotionally. Following his most heinous crime, the murder of his friend Basil, Dorian loses his appetite and finds himself “weeping like one whose heart is about to break” (136, 153). Not only does Dorian have a conscience because he feels guilty, his nature is also not cold as his crimes and his guilt affect him deeply. Wilde presents Dorian not only as a character with a conscience, but also as a very impressionable character. Wilde wants us to immediately notice Dorian's impressionable character by referring to him as "a boy" and demonstrating how quickly Lord Henry's words influence his naive thinking. Moments after his physical entrance into the plot, we see the immense influence that Lord Henry exerts on him, and later we witness how easily his mind is swayed towards fascination with immoral acts by a single book which Lord Henry presented to him (Wilde 17, 97). Because of this highly impressionable nature and our knowledge that Dorian does indeed have a conscience, it is clear that his behavior does not stem entirely from an inner evil but rather from the conditioning of his environment. So we must examine Dorian's actions and intentions in the novel and their consequences to see if those consequences provide a moral. This is not the case. It is only when Dorian's intentions turn toward good that he is externally punished. For example, he learns of Sybil's suicide only after he is determined to do her good. In fact, it is immediately after he finishes writing her a heartfelt apology that he learns of her death, forever connecting the two in his mind and offering her his first lesson in the rewards of morality. These lessons continue when, at the height of his illness, Dorian finds true pleasure and frees himself from any consequences. For example, fate prevents James Vane from rightfully killing him twice. Even his final attempt at a good deed, which I will discuss in the next section, follows this pattern, telling Dorian and the reader that repentance brings unnecessary pain and suffering while wallowing in sin brings only beauty and pleasure . Even though it is clear that Dorian's nature is not inherently evil, we cannot ignore the second part of the argument of critics who impose a moral at the end, the fact that Dorian's actions - murder, vanity , sexual promiscuity and drug addiction - were indeed bad and his fate at the end of the novel is death. The question is whether this fate truly demonstrates any sense of cosmic justice, and in order to prove otherwise, I will examine the events immediately surrounding Dorian's death as well as his intentions in destroying the portrait. Dorian admits to Lord Henry that “I have done too many terrible things in my life. I'm not going to do it anymore. I began my good deeds yesterday” (Wilde 159-160). It seems that his intentions ultimately turned towards good, and yet fate continues to teach Dorian its immoral lesson when he attempts another good act towards another woman and finds an unintended motive for it, discovering that he has lost his chance to achieve true purity. When he comes to this realization, he blames the portrait, recognizing it as the essence of his corruption. He destroys the portrait out of a desire to free himself from this corruption and finally inflict the consequences of his action on his own form, and he only receives a death.grotesque of body and beauty as a reward for this last good act. Dorian is a character whose first intentions in discovering the soul of the painting were to do good to prevent it from deteriorating further, whose environment then conditioned him to accept that only pain could come from repentance, and whose final attempt to regain morality harshly reinforced this lesson. His death was not the result of a greater cosmic justice that justly punished evil and rewarded the noble, but rather a cleverly designed plot twist that only served to deliver one final blow to morality by forcing Dorian to destroy oneself with repentance. Although this is clearly not the case, if the novel taught that a person's destiny is the righteous result of their actions, then this moral should be true not only for Dorian but also for the other characters in the novel as well. . I will now examine the fate of the secondary characters in the light of their actions to prove that there is no right morality in them. One critic claimed that "despite the general critical image of Lord Henry as a dilettante, intellectual lightweight and self-effacing hedonist, he is in fact one of the most philosophical characters in British fiction", then later asserts that Basil had a equal share in corrupting Dorian through his flattery (Liebman 299). Yet, despite Harry's philosophy and Basil's flattery, the "morality" of these two characters is easily contrasted. The former clearly corrupts Dorian and delights in his misdeeds while the latter, his foil in the novel, continually acts as the voice of reason throughout the plot, begging Lord Henry not to corrupt Dorian and begging Dorian to pray for his soul during their last meeting. . However, the fate of these two characters does not seem simple in view of their actions. Basil suffers a more painful death than Dorian's, stabbed to death by Dorian after trying to ransom him. At the same time, Lord Henry does not suffer the slightest inconvenience for corrupting Dorian, and the end of the novel shows him alive and well despite all his horrible actions. Another character, James Vane, also loses his life in the midst of a noble deed, attempting to keep a promise made to his deceased sister. Through the fate of these two characters and that of Dorian, Wilde provides no connection between actions and consequences, a lesson from which no moral can be drawn. Although the characters' outcomes present no morals to the reader, there remains a strong argument that a moral exists in the work. This is the fact that the author claims. In a letter to the editor of the Daily Chronicle, Oscar Wilde states that "the true moral of the story is that all excess, as well as all renunciation, brings its punishment, and this moral is so artistically and deliberately suppressed as to do ". not state its law as a general principle” (345). However, the existence of a morality does not make the novel itself “moral.” That excess and the renunciation of that excess results in punishment seems to be simply another of Wilde's famous paradoxes, not a standard by which he wishes his reader to live. Furthermore, the only excess the reader witnesses in the novel is that of Dorian, and Dorian lives in a world of eternal youth, unlimited influence and wealth, and exemption from all consequences of his actions as long as 'They are immoral. The conditions of this world do not apply to the readers' world where even if they were to escape the consequences by chance, they would still face the limitations of age and beauty. Despite the impracticality of this "morality", we must also recognize that Wilde added the., 1988.

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