Oscar Wilde Research Paper

Improved Essays
Oscar wilde is known as a poet, as he should be. But he has written a novel and some short stories. His novel is The Picture of Dorian Gray. One of his most famous short stories is The Canterville ghost. He puts all of his effort into his work. In order to undernstand why he writes what he does, we have to dig up his past. We have to look into his life. Oscar Fingal O 'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born on October 16, 1854, in Dublin, Ireland. William Wilde , who was his father, was a famous doctor that was knighted for what he did as medical advisor for the Irish censuses. William Wilde founded ,and payed for using his own money, St. Mark 's Ophthalmic so he could help treat the people living n poverty in the town. Jane Francesca Elgee …show more content…
The story is about a young man named Dorian Gray. Dorian his a young handsome man. One that every man would like to be like. Dorian Gray had Basil Hallward create a full-length oil portrait. Dorian grey meets Lord Henry Wotton through Hallward. Lord Henry Wotton loves the portrait so much he trys to buy it from him. Knowing that he wont stay beautiful Dorian expresses his wish to sell his soul so that the picture NOT himself will age and fade. All his sins and imperfections were showed on his portrait, not himself. His wish is granted and he lives his life as a young beautiful man. He ends up killing Hallward. Then out of guilt he goes and finds the portrait and ,useing the same knife that he used to kill Hallward, he stabs the portrait. From they yelling of Dorian, his servants came to his aid, only to find Dorian Gray lying on the ground as a shriveled old man. They only recognized him because of his jewelry. His self portrait looked exactly like what Dorian Gray looked like when the servants last saw him. (Magill, Frank N. et al, "Oscar wilde: The picture of Dorian …show more content…
I really enjoyed reading the novel. I first heard of the story about Dorian Gray from the movie, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. He always intrigued me, but i never took the time to read the novel. Now that have im glad. Its a very well written novel. I like it mainly because it has to deal with eternal youth. Eternal youth is alway something that is something everyone wants. Dorian had it. He didn 't get it the good way, but he had that dream everyone wants. Then he kills Hallward and uses the same dagger to try to destroy the portrait. Little did he know if he destroyed the portrait he kills himself. That soul he sold went to the portrait. So when he destroys the portrait, he kills himself because his soul is inside the

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Dorian Gray “The Japanese say you have three faces. The first face, you show to the world. The second face, you show to your close friends, and your family.…

    • 1293 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This is why art’s role in society is to allow an artist to communicate a message and express beliefs, so the audience can create their own interpretation of the art and therefore reflect their own nature in the work. During the Victorian Era in England, refined sensibilities and traditional customs were followed by most of society. However, Oscar Wilde was a prominent figure in opposing these ways of life with his flamboyant appearance and contempt for cultural values. While he was an ambassador for Aestheticism, Wilde wrote The Picture of Dorian Gray, which portrayed many of his beliefs.…

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    There are not many short books that can leave a memorable and lasting impression on the reader, but The Picture of Dorian Gray is certainly among one of them. First published in 1890, the book tells the tale of A young man, Dorian Gray, who becomes infatuated with his beauty after a conversation with Lord Henry Wotton, who he met through his friend, Basil Hallward, the true culprit of the tragedy, for he was the one who painted the portrait of Dorian, which became the symbol of corruption within the youth’s own soul. The author, Oscar Wilde, has managed to contrive a unique story, considered indecent for its time due to its plot as well as elaborate metaphorical allusions and character depiction that violated public morality. While it may seem…

    • 1851 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Summary Overall I definitely enjoyed reading this book, and that comes from someone who usually dislikes reading and really struggles to find books that interest himself. I really like what how the book is written and that it waists no time to get to the action. And most of all I really like the message and the…

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In all most of our lives, we take some type of influence from many other things whether it is positive or negative. In The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, the main character Dorian Gray is being influenced by these two completely different impactful characters his friends; Basil Hallward and Lord Henry. Basil paints a portrait of Dorian gray appreciating the epitome of beauty and Lord Henry and acquaintance of Basil convinces him to sell his soul to be forever young while the portrait grows old. The piece of art flares varying attitudes closest to Dorian and he begins to be more self-indulgent and corrupt inside and out. In the novel, Lord Henry is considered a negative source for Dorian.…

    • 1276 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Allusion: A direct or implied phrase reference to an event, person, or place and can range from anything including, real-world events, works of fiction, and religious manuscripts. Furthermore, allusions can also be used to elude the message or tone of the writing. Ex. In the novel Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, the use of allusions helps the reader understand and visualize the events taking place, and draw connections to events that they can relate to. We see this happen on pg 59, when two books are burnt, Little Black Sambo and Uncle Tom’s Cabin, because they were heavily criticized for their racial issues.…

    • 690 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    By trading his soul for his youth, Dorian rids of the good inside of himself. As the story progresses, it is clear that wickedness actually lies within him. From the moment he made that wish upon the portrait he began to crumble. Even once he reached his epiphany and saw his malicious ways through the portrait, he simply denied seeing it and continued his destructive deeds. Throughout the novel, you can tell that Dorian is very naïve and is very easily influenced.…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    It can be said that within the core of every human being, lies a certain amount of darkness. While this is true, it can also be said that this internal darkness can only surface given the right opportunity and within the right environment. However, once this darkness does manage to emerge, its force is powerful enough to destroy the very part of us that makes us human. This darkness and evilness of man is a prominent theme reflected in the setting, plot structure, and characterization of Joseph Conrad’s, Heart of Darkness and Oscar Wilde’s, The Picture of Dorian Gray.…

    • 1792 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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.…

    • 1050 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dark desires and forbidden pleasures of gothic novels are at the center of The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Turn of the Screw. The novels explore the relationship between the corrupted and the corruptor. The gothic novels The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and The Turn of the Screw by Henry James share the idea of corruption, but in different ways; The Picture of Dorian Gray tells the story of moral corruption and extreme narcissism while The Turn of the Screw tells of corruption of innocence, though the effects of corruption are the same in both novels. Wilde used Lord Henry Wotton in The Picture of Dorian Gray to represent the forces of corruption in the novel (Nethercot 850). Dorian Gray, initially introduced to the reader as pure…

    • 1207 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Pretty Face The Victorian era’s heavily influential patriarchal standpoint became the basis of the misogyny seen during this time. Men would often regard the women as nothing more than second class citizens and even as their own property- these views only attributed to the sentiments and feelings they had towards them. If ever women should seek a voice in that society men would take immediate action to force them into uncomfortable situations as they did not perceive women as actually possessing their own voice. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is a misogynistic novella that is made evident by the perils and later suicide of Sybil Vane due to Dorian’s impacts, the tragic love life of Margaret Devereux due to her father’s influence…

    • 1541 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the time that Oscar Wilde was writing The Picture of Dorian Gray, gothic literature had declined in popularity. Although many of the gothic tropes still managed to make their way into many narratives of the late-nineteenth century. These narratives, Dorian Gray, included became known as Victorian gothic literature. The Victorian Gothics aimed to juxtapose the psychological terror, mystery, madness, and curses with a recognizable and familiar environment. In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde focuses these gothic elements around the painting of Dorian.…

    • 966 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Analysis of the Major Conflict in Chapter Twenty of The Picture of Dorian Gray Among numerous of conflicts in the novel that involves the protagonist, Dorian Gray, the most important and crucial one ceases in the last chapter. Many analyze the conflict only on the superficial level and view it as the struggle between Dorian and his decaying Portrait. However, I found that the conflict could be interpreted more deeply and it actually contains multiple level of concepts that the author wants to express. My interpretation contains three levels of depth: the conflict between the protagonist’s desire of having a new life and his sin, prohibiting him from moving on; the conflict between Dorian’s seek for the inner peace and his troubling, decaying…

    • 1005 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “The picture of Dorian Gray” was originally published in Lippincots monthly magazine in June 1890. The novel is gothic melodrama, with elements of the comedy of manners-genre and is written according to the end of the Victorian era. Crafted in brilliant prose, the book is of lasting importance, as a singular example of Wilde’s wit and satirical talents. The reader follows the tale of Dorian Gray, a young man, who is corrupted and poisoned by the influences around him as his soul decays. Being absolutely shocking to its time, due to the austere theories featured in the novel, including hedonism, individualism and the somewhat morbid elements it also includes, the novel received substantial criticism and hysterical protest.…

    • 2902 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    (1906, 238) With Wilde fascinated by anything Baudelaire wrote it is not surprising that Wilde too became a beloved follower and great sympathiser of Poe, just as Baudelaire was. But this raises the question of whether Wilde was really an admirer of Poe’s works or was he so obsessed by Baudelaire writings that he could not untangle his own feelings from Baudelaire’s? Both Poe and Baudelaire were “fascinated by the duality of personality and by the figure of the individual victimized by the crowd” (Wright, 2007, n.p.), Wilde’s creation of Dorian Gray seems to be just as linked to Baudelaire if not even more so that to Poe. Nonetheless it seems that Wilde himself was a true fan of Poe, in his letter ‘De Profundis’ Wilde writing to Lord Alfred Douglas states that he is not ashamed of the actions which led him to prison, instead insisting “Dumas pére, Cellini, Goya, Edgar Allan Poe or Baudelaire would have done just the same”.…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics