Feminism In The Picture Of Dorian Gray

The Victorian Era was the mid nineteen centuries to the early twentieth century when a woman’s role was to be at home having nothing to do with work or out of home things. The feminine side was looked to as powerless. It kept women from having any sort of power and made sure that women were not look at as normal people not only in the eyes of men but women as well. The Picture of Dorian Gray displays the aftereffect of disregarding women. In this novel, the way the male characters treated the women it was as if the women were not important and this was shown through the evil acts of Dorian Gray.

Summary of Contents Dorian Gray displayed his first act of evil on Sibyl Vane, an actress that he falls in love with, when he talked to her …show more content…
The discernment of Dorian Gray finally recognizing his love for her acting rather than her as a person shows us the wrongful treatment of women in the Victorian Era. Because of his castigation of evil towards someone, his soul changes and shows the change in his painting. …show more content…
Oscar Wilde pursued aesthetics and women’s issues of that time of which many say that is what led him to be a feminist himself. A Professor, Catherine Mintler of the University of Nevada stated, “Wilde’s own interest in women and women’s issues relating to fashion and public identity…illustrates Wilde’s importance to materialist and feminist readings of late ninetieth century culture”. Wilde was influenced and influenced others to be feminist and to start a movement for the rights of women. With this being said, one might say that Oscar Wilde could have possibly let the male characters such as Lord Henry and Dorian Gray to dismiss women. Others might say that women in The Picture of Dorian Gray such as Sibyl Vance fought against the struggles of the idea of stereotypical women for the marriage of Dorian Gray for love. Even though other works by Oscar Wilde reflected somewhat of a feminist movement, Oscar Wilde never strayed away from the stereotypical view and “duties” of women in this work. The fact that that being an aesthetic does not prove him to be a true feminist in his social time. He could be considered a devoted aesthetic but definitely not a feminist. With that being said, the carelessness towards women in Dorian Gray is evident and Oscar Wilde had more pursuit over aesthetics that the feminist