Dorians

Ranking of Monstrosity in Frankenstein and The Picture of Dorian Gray Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley in 1818 is a Romantic novel recounting Victor Frankenstein’s creation of a grotesque monster and the unintended consequences that follow. While The Picture of Dorian Gray written by Oscar Wilde is a Victorian novel recounting the creation of Dorian Gray’s portrait. Although Shelley’s Frankenstein and Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray were were written during different literary eras, both…

defining a character’s life philosophy as bildungsromans. Set in nineteenth-century England, Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray recounts Dorian Gray’s growth from a young man to an adult in the midst of the growing aesthetic movement, with his friend Lord Henry Wotton introducing him to its morality. After their first encounter, Lord Henry’s hedonistic values corrupt Dorian by causing him to worship youth and beauty, as seen through Dorian’s reaction to their first conversation, Dorian’s…

Esteemed ladies and gentlemen of the jury. (sweeping gesture to jury) I implore of you to use this time while I explain once and for all why my client is clearly innocent, to take a good look at Mr. Dorian Gray and ask yourself whether this is the face of a murderer, or the type of kind young gentleman that you would have tea with or go to the opera with. Although I truly believe that just the charming attitude and looks of Mr. Gray should and are enough to prove his innocence, as someone who…

Within When one hears the word “monster,” the stereotypical horror, the hair-raising cliché is often pictured. While the commonplace image is found to an extent in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Oscar Wilde defies the custom in his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. Both novels, however, stress that it is not one’s outward appearance that makes a monster, it is the lack of responsibility for their actions that creates a monstrosity, whether it be a man or beast. The authors emphasize this point to…

In Frankenstein and The Picture of Dorian Gray, Victor Frankenstein and Dorian Gray both want to achieve beauty. Frankenstein wants to create beauty in the form of another creature. Dorian wants to maintain his beauty, like in his portrait. It seems that both Victor and Dorian show us their view on the importance of beauty through their monsters, but it seems to show us two different consequences that occur for the pursuit of beauty. A theme that seems to run through both novels is obsession.…

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…

It is a very common practice, in fictional literature, for authors to use static characters in order to expose change in the protagonist. For example, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde uses the characters of Lord Henry Wotton and Basil Hallward to measure Dorian’s descent into Henry’s hedonistic ways. When we meet Dorian he is pure and innocent. Throughout the book he reacts differently to Henry’s statements and actions. Another use of a static character is apparent in Hamlet, by…

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…

Black, White, and Gray The Picture of Dorian Gray, is a well-known story about a innocent young man’s fall into corruption. In the beginning of the book, the main character, Dorian, is depicted as a very attractive, innocent, young man; ‘“…the willful sunbeams of life…”’(Wilde 56). A painter, engrossed to Dorian’s beauty, paints a portrait of Dorian, capturing his essence on canvas. However, after listening to his friend, Lord Henry, about the horrors of growing old, he wishes his sins and old…

In the novel of The Death of Ivan Ilyich and The Picture of Dorian Gray, both main characters landed up in a place of desolation and unhappiness through their heavy pursuit of what they thought would give them happiness. Both characters started off young with a large potential for happiness by following their own individual pursuits, but instead the route that they took ultimately lead them down a slippery slope of tragedy and melancholy. They followed a way of denial from the factors that would…