Art captures the brevity of life — it embodies, to many, the soul of its creator and grants the viewer insight to a single moment. However, in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, a portrait morphs into a catalyst of dual lives. Tempered through an impulsive desire, Dorian’s essence is divided between the seen and the discrete. Through the use of the portrait and opium motif, Oscar Wilde develops the theme of dual existence/true identity.
Throughout Wilde’s novel, Dorian’s portrait and the narcotic opium are used to develop how dual existence becomes Dorian’s undoing with the aid of symbolism. The portrait which once symbolized purity, youth (by captured Dorian’s “rose-red youth and your rose-white boyhood”), and innocence morphed into
Throughout Wilde’s novel, Dorian’s portrait and the narcotic opium are used to develop how dual existence becomes Dorian’s undoing with the aid of symbolism. The portrait which once symbolized purity, youth (by captured Dorian’s “rose-red youth and your rose-white boyhood”), and innocence morphed into