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In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and Machiavelli’s The Prince, deception is a tool that one uses to gain a personal advantage. Despite the negative connotation that is typically associated with deception, Twelfth Night and The Prince demonstrate how deception can bring a positive outcome. If one employs a deceptive appearance under necessary circumstances, the end result must be justifiable, even when a majority of people are willingly deceived. Characterized by her beauty and resourcefulness,…

According to the online dictionary of Merriam Webster, vanity is described as: “The Quality of people who have too much pride in their own appearance, abilities, achievements (…) The Quality of being vain” and “Something (such a belief or a way of behaving) which shows that you have too much pride in yourself, your social status, etc.” In my opinion, these descriptions fit the corrupted Dorian Gray perfectly. Dorian was a pure, innocent boy, until he was corrupted by Lord Henry, which made him…

Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray is a unique piece of literature. Set in late 19th century London, the novel centers around Dorian Gray and his friends- Lord Henry Wotton and Basil Hallward. Lord Henry and Basil Hallward share a close relationship with Dorian Gray, having great influence on his development. Both Lord Henry and Basil have completely different values and beliefs. Basil believes in the goodness of mankind and values art to the highest degree. Lord Henry cares little…

Art captures the brevity of life — it embodies, to many, the soul of its creator and grants the viewer insight to a single moment. However, in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, a portrait morphs into a catalyst of dual lives. Tempered through an impulsive desire, Dorian’s essence is divided between the seen and the discrete. Through the use of the portrait and opium motif, Oscar Wilde develops the theme of dual existence/true identity. Throughout Wilde’s novel, Dorian’s portrait and the…

OSCAR WILDES “The picture of Dorian Gray” Oscar Wilde was a very popular Irish author, poet and a play writer, best known for his book “The Picture Of Dorian Gray”. Born on the 16th of October 1854 in Dublin, Ireland, to Robert Wilde and Jane Francesca Wilde, he turned out to be a quick-witted kid like his parents. His father was a well-known doctor, earned the title of ‘Sir’ for his work as a medical advisor. His mother, Jane Francesca, was a writer who used to write under the pseudonym…

At the start of the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian Gray is a face that is both literally and figuratively untouched by external forces. His own ideas about society, morality, youth, beauty are barely formed. They exist as soft and malleable globs of clay that do not yet have any tangible substance or definitive shape. Consequently, throughout the entirety of Wilde’s novel, Gray is molded by the myriad of internal and external forces that bombard a person throughout their lives. By the…

Oscar Wilde and The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde was born on October 16, 1854 in Dublin, Ireland. The Picture of Dorian Gray is the only novel written by Oscar Wilde. The story first appeared in the 1890 summer edition of Lippencott’s Monthly Magazine. At the time, it was highly criticized for its immoral and scandalous content. Wilde revised the novel in 1891 before it was published by Ward, Lock, and Company. The story takes place in London, England during the 1890s in what is…

Society Corrupting Everyday People in The Picture of Dorian Grey Corruption: Perversion of integrity. Oscar Wilde tries throughout his novel The Picture of Dorain Grey to warn people about the corruption society is capable of. Oscar Wilde had experienced torment and brutality during his lifetime, due to the outcomes of people’s opinions of his work. It was thought that his novel was used as a way to “manipulate and corrupt young men with whom he had past history with,” (Watkin). This court…

One dominant theme in Wilde’s works was sexuality and sexual identity. Wilde was torn about his own. He was sexually interested in both genders and wanted to dwell in his unique identity without being defined by it, persecuted for it, or judged. He didn’t want his self to define his works or have people view his works through the lenses of his choices and inclinations. He also did not like the clean-cut identifications the people of his time had toward orientation. He felt like he did not fit in…

Oscar Wilde opens up the novel of Dorian Gray with exceedingly sensuous language such as; “catch the gleam of honey-sweet and honey-coloured blossoms of laburnum whose tremulous branches seemed hardly able to bear the burden of a beauty so flame-like as theirs..” These sensuous elements, as well as many other examples throughout the first few chapters is intended, by Wilde, to correspond with the idea of aestheticism. Being a large theme of the novel, the deeply sensuous language allows the…