“There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all” (Wilde 0). These are the words of Oscar Wilde, the author of the 1890 philosophical fiction novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, who is prefacing said novel with the notion that art, be it books, paintings, music, or anything similar, should only serve one purpose: to be admired. Throughout this novel, he presents the argument of aestheticism: that art should not hold an inherent moral meaning, instead, that the audience is the one who brings morality to the table, but also warns against taking this philosophy to the extreme, as that will bring negative consequences as well. Wilde accomplishes this through the protagonist — Dorian Gray
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To you at least she was always a dream” (122). Dorian readily accepts this rhetoric, and “The tragedy of Sybil’s later suicide, brought about by utter despair at her desertion, is lost on Dorian, who instead enjoys the dramatic intrigue of the occasion” (Duggan). Here, in his essay The Conflict Between Aestheticism and Morality in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Patrick Duggan describes Dorian’s immediate reaction to Sibyl’s suicide, as he is taken in by the drama of her poetic death instead of allowing himself to grieve over her loss. Duggan describes how Dorian’s prescription to Henry’s ideals of aestheticism cause him to reject the morality of the situation to such an extreme that he only sees artistic enjoyment in the tragedy. Dorian himself even cries out, “Poor Sibyl! What a romance it had all been! She had often mimicked death on the stage. Then Death himself had touched her, and taken her with him,” exemplifying his focus on the aesthetic through the event (Wilde 124). After Lord Henry’s departure, Basil arrives at Dorian’s manor in an attempt to help him through his grief, only to find a shocking display of Dorian’s callousness. After a futile argument over Dorian’s lack of heart, Dorian manipulates Basil —
To you at least she was always a dream” (122). Dorian readily accepts this rhetoric, and “The tragedy of Sybil’s later suicide, brought about by utter despair at her desertion, is lost on Dorian, who instead enjoys the dramatic intrigue of the occasion” (Duggan). Here, in his essay The Conflict Between Aestheticism and Morality in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Patrick Duggan describes Dorian’s immediate reaction to Sibyl’s suicide, as he is taken in by the drama of her poetic death instead of allowing himself to grieve over her loss. Duggan describes how Dorian’s prescription to Henry’s ideals of aestheticism cause him to reject the morality of the situation to such an extreme that he only sees artistic enjoyment in the tragedy. Dorian himself even cries out, “Poor Sibyl! What a romance it had all been! She had often mimicked death on the stage. Then Death himself had touched her, and taken her with him,” exemplifying his focus on the aesthetic through the event (Wilde 124). After Lord Henry’s departure, Basil arrives at Dorian’s manor in an attempt to help him through his grief, only to find a shocking display of Dorian’s callousness. After a futile argument over Dorian’s lack of heart, Dorian manipulates Basil —