Oscar Wilde, the author of The Picture of Dorian Gray, was one of the only men to question the logic of the social hierarchy created during the Victorian Era. His book remains a reminder that even widely accepted values can be logically flawed. Today, we look back on Wilde’s book as a classic example of good, thought provoking literature, but in his time period the book was met with great criticism and immense public pressure. His book was viewed as immoral and wrong because his hidden ideas did not echo the ideals which society valued. Oscar Wilde widely uses epigrams in The Picture of Dorian Gray to criticize the emphasis which society places on superficial characteristics, such as beauty. Wilde focuses on art as being a reflection of the
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In the opening scene of the book Henry and Basil were talking about Basil’s most recent work of art and the definition of beauty when Henry defined beauty by ending where intellectuality and genius begin(Wilde, pg. 2). Beauty is a common topic throughout the entirety of this book because the Victorian Era placed such an emphasis on the importance of beauty and aesthetics. Dorian was described as being one of the most gorgeous creatures to have ever walked the Earth, but he was also poisoned by immorality and selfishness. He continually killed or destroyed the lives of everyone surrounding him with no severe guilt or shame for his actions. No matter what great atrocities he had committed, or how morally corrupt he had become, he remained accepted and respected by society because he was beautiful. The contrasts between beauty and intelligence were constantly expanded on by Wilde throughout the book. One profound example can even be found in the first meeting between Henry and Dorian, where Dorian doesn’t see the value in his own beauty which leads Henry to state, “Beauty is a form of genius-- is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation”(Wilde, pg.16). This epigram from Henry is meant to directly reflect the common ideas of the …show more content…
Many of these epigrams are geared toward different aspects of Victorian Society, such as its strict laws and emphasis on beauty. Wilde even created a preface, written almost entirely in epigrams, in order to justify his creating of the book and protect the ideas which it represents. Wilde was a leading figure in questioning the Victorian Era ideals and he initiated thought that eventually led to a paradigm shift at the turn of the century. This paradigm shift represented the transition from holding physical appearance with such great importance to valuing intellect even more because it was intelligence that allowed men to accumulate great power and influence. Beauty is a form of ignorance, and it is the ignorant that fell from the top rungs of the social hierarchy when Victorian Era ideas faded with the artificial personalities of its
In the opening scene of the book Henry and Basil were talking about Basil’s most recent work of art and the definition of beauty when Henry defined beauty by ending where intellectuality and genius begin(Wilde, pg. 2). Beauty is a common topic throughout the entirety of this book because the Victorian Era placed such an emphasis on the importance of beauty and aesthetics. Dorian was described as being one of the most gorgeous creatures to have ever walked the Earth, but he was also poisoned by immorality and selfishness. He continually killed or destroyed the lives of everyone surrounding him with no severe guilt or shame for his actions. No matter what great atrocities he had committed, or how morally corrupt he had become, he remained accepted and respected by society because he was beautiful. The contrasts between beauty and intelligence were constantly expanded on by Wilde throughout the book. One profound example can even be found in the first meeting between Henry and Dorian, where Dorian doesn’t see the value in his own beauty which leads Henry to state, “Beauty is a form of genius-- is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation”(Wilde, pg.16). This epigram from Henry is meant to directly reflect the common ideas of the …show more content…
Many of these epigrams are geared toward different aspects of Victorian Society, such as its strict laws and emphasis on beauty. Wilde even created a preface, written almost entirely in epigrams, in order to justify his creating of the book and protect the ideas which it represents. Wilde was a leading figure in questioning the Victorian Era ideals and he initiated thought that eventually led to a paradigm shift at the turn of the century. This paradigm shift represented the transition from holding physical appearance with such great importance to valuing intellect even more because it was intelligence that allowed men to accumulate great power and influence. Beauty is a form of ignorance, and it is the ignorant that fell from the top rungs of the social hierarchy when Victorian Era ideas faded with the artificial personalities of its