Borderline Personality Disorder In Oscar Wilde's The Picture Of Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray, a book by Oscar Wilde, is the story of a man who lost his friendships, trust, and ultimately himself, because of his own insanity. His life was wasted away by his fear of others finding out his true identity, and by his constant state of guilt. Throughout the story, Dorian exhibits many symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder. He struggles to maintain the peaceful relationships he has, and these relationships only get worse as his disorder and the story progresses. Along with these troublesome relationships, Dorian struggles with his self-image. He goes from being a narcissist, completely absorbed in himself and constantly putting himself on a pedestal above the people he meets, to believing himself to be an …show more content…
Interpersonal relationships among friends, family members, or simply everyday acquaintances can be affected, and usually result from bad childhoods. Their self-image can fluctuate periodically, and for some it may fluctuate from good to bad relatively often. Most times, someone with Borderline Personality Disorder will be emotionally unstable, with frequent mood swings, and they may exhibit risky, or even impulsive behaviors. One of the biggest things that characterizes BPD is the stress-related changes in mood. It is not uncommon for someone with this disorder to become extremely paranoid, or feel disassociated with the world around them (Salters-Pedneault). Dorian Gray experiences all of these symptoms, some more than others. It is these symptoms combined with my knowledge of his childhood that lead me to believe that he indeed has this …show more content…
They become so stressed out that they become paranoid that everyone is out to get them. Basil Hallward, painter extraordinaire, painted a portrait of Dorian Gray, and gifted it to him. Dorian took little interest in the painting at first, claiming that it upset him because it will remain young forever while he will grow old, and surely die. However, when Basil tries to destroy the painting to maintain their friendship, Dorian says he loves the painting, and accepts Basil’s gift, only after he wishes that the painting could age instead of himself. This painting, and wish, turn Dorian’s whole life upside down. The first time we see how the portrait influences Dorian is the also the first time we realize how negatively Lord Henry impacts Dorian. It alters the way he treats those around him. Dorian believes that he has fallen in love with a girl, and she ultimately falls in love with him too; However, we later see that he only falls in love with her acting skills on stage. When the actress decides to stop acting because it is meaningless, and all she cares about is Dorian, he treats her so horribly that she kills herself that night. The next time he sees the portrait of himself he believes it has been altered. From this point on, everytime Dorian does something morally wrong, he believes the painting is altered to look more evil, and old; whereas his physical appearance does not change at all.