Sinning Isn’t Winning The Picture of Dorian Gray: A novel that shows the drastic influence of a sinful person on a youthful, loving individual. Dorian Gray starts out as a young and innocent character, but over time, with the influential push of Lord Henry Wotton, develops an ugly soul with a still-youthful face.
Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland on October 16, 1854. He wrote many fairy tales along with other works. Some of these include The Soul of Man, Lady Windermere’s Fan, The Importance of Being Earnest, and The Picture of Dorian Gray. On May 29, 1884, Wilde married a wealthy Englishwoman named Constance Lloyd. They had two sons, Cyril and Vyvyan. Years later, he had an affair with a man named Lord Alfred …show more content…
While Dorian’s outward appearance did not change, his attitude and spirit made him into a new person on the inside. Nevertheless, others thought he was the same person, inside and out. As Dorian becomes more sinful, his portrait ages. He becomes obsessed with pleasure over morality. His portrait shows who he is really becoming as a person, even if you can’t see it from the outside. Pride is considered one of the original and most serious of the deadly sins. It is the excessive belief in one's own abilities, which interferes with individual recognition of God. Also known as Vanity, this is the sin is which all others arise. In the novel, Lord Henry believes his pleasure should be before anything else, and soon leads Dorian to believe this, too.
Envy is the desire for another’s traits, status, or situation. He is envious of Lord Henry for putting aside morals for his pleasure, until he eventually does this himself. “I represent to you all the sins you have never had the courage to commit.” (Lord Henry Wotton, pg. 72) Lord Henry pressures Dorian in a way to become like him. He encourages him by saying that Dorian doesn’t know what sinning is, and if he would put his pleasure first, he would be much
Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland on October 16, 1854. He wrote many fairy tales along with other works. Some of these include The Soul of Man, Lady Windermere’s Fan, The Importance of Being Earnest, and The Picture of Dorian Gray. On May 29, 1884, Wilde married a wealthy Englishwoman named Constance Lloyd. They had two sons, Cyril and Vyvyan. Years later, he had an affair with a man named Lord Alfred …show more content…
While Dorian’s outward appearance did not change, his attitude and spirit made him into a new person on the inside. Nevertheless, others thought he was the same person, inside and out. As Dorian becomes more sinful, his portrait ages. He becomes obsessed with pleasure over morality. His portrait shows who he is really becoming as a person, even if you can’t see it from the outside. Pride is considered one of the original and most serious of the deadly sins. It is the excessive belief in one's own abilities, which interferes with individual recognition of God. Also known as Vanity, this is the sin is which all others arise. In the novel, Lord Henry believes his pleasure should be before anything else, and soon leads Dorian to believe this, too.
Envy is the desire for another’s traits, status, or situation. He is envious of Lord Henry for putting aside morals for his pleasure, until he eventually does this himself. “I represent to you all the sins you have never had the courage to commit.” (Lord Henry Wotton, pg. 72) Lord Henry pressures Dorian in a way to become like him. He encourages him by saying that Dorian doesn’t know what sinning is, and if he would put his pleasure first, he would be much