Node Magazine

In today’s society the idea of everlasting beauty is very prominent. This is seem through the many creams that can be used to help conceal wrinkles and make the skin smoother, however, those do not stop aging forever. In “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” by Oscar Wilde, everlasting beauty is an important aspect that leads to ultimate demise. During the Victorian era, beauty was extremely imperative. When an individual shows beauty they were considered to be very wealthy and influential people.…

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. Even though it is seen that the…

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…

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. The third face, you never show anyone. It is the truest reflection of who you are.” The man with many faces was left with just one, his own staring back at him, mocking him for his choices. Dorian Gray was just an innocent boy…

In the book Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, there are four types of genius and beauty that affected character’s lives: reputational beauty, superficial beauty, scientific genius, and psychological genius. Sibyl killed herself after abandoning her acting career for the beauty of Dorian Gray, who met her only a few days before. Even Basil the painter is stabbed by Dorian, after trying to help Dorian regain the purity of youth, the reputational and superficial beauty of whom Basil had for himself (in…

When people criticize The Picture of Dorian Gray lacks of standpoint about morality, Oscar Wilde defends his book by saying, “ All excess, as well as all renunciation, brings its own punishment”. The Picture of Dorian Gray, written by Oscar Wilde, describes a beautiful gentleman Dorian Gray, under the influence of his two best friends, sells his soul in exchange for everlasting beauty and youth, and dies tragically at the end. In this novel, Dorian learns beauty and vanity when he saw his…

In The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde it is apparent that Lord Henry’s influence drastically changes Dorian’s view of himself and the world around him. Dorian’s character began as a blank slate, but deep within Dorian’s character there was the temptation for the forbidden. Lord Henry saw this as an opportunity to introduce his philosophy and indulge his desire to manipulate him for his own pleasure. Lord Henry’s philosophy of Aestheticism is not inherently bad, it simply allows an…

An entertaining and moralistic novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray combines multiple literary elements into a well-written novel with underlying ideas about the inherency of evil and its roots. Many prominent literary themes stand out throughout the novel, but the most common and prominent ones remain: “man vs. self” and “man vs.society”. Throughout the story, the questions of moral values such as the creation of evil and the importance of beauty standards in society appear frequently and are…

In "The Picture of Dorian Gray," Oscar Wilde conveys a compelling theme centered on the detrimental use of influence personal in our relationships. Although the philosophical novel has multiple themes, the theme involving the detrimental use of influence in personal relationships manifests itself through the destruction of various characters including: Dorian Gray and Basil Hallward. One of the broader notions presented in the novel reveals itself as the stark disapproval of sacrificing one's…

In the novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, sin and redemption is an occuring theme. The main character, Dorian Gray, commits plenty of sins and has the opportunities for redemption, however, when Dorian tries to atone for his wrongdoings he is unsuccessful. Dorians’ underlying intentions keeps him from redemption, due to his hedonistic views. In the beginning of the novel, Dorian is portrayed as a young and innocent boy that is easily influenced by Lord Henry, a character with a…