Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray": Metaphors, Morality, and a Poignant Fall - Essay Sample

Introduction

Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is a philosophical and golith novel that captures the story a beautiful and innocent young man’s moral corruption, seduction and eventful downfall. The author explores the use of metaphoric expressions to make implicit comparisons between things that are linked with similar features. Oscar Wilde uses insightful words to represent the nature of the book to highlight the primary influence that it contains. For instance, he writes "it was a poisonous book" (124) to reveal the contentious concepts and ideas that are included in the entire. The use of many connotative words such as dreaming, reverie, and unconscious gives the book an imperative outlook, as well as outlines, expounds on more enormous ideas such as the reasons why people wear masks and the role of religion in Dorian’s life. It also captures the kind of life philosophy espouse by Dorian and their ramification.

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Oscar Wilde utilizes an overarching metaphor of the painting to build coherency in ideas such as wearing a mask. In his explanation, Oscar reiterates that all people wear a mask to suppress their darker sides. According to the Balinser dancer, he says that the face inside the mask must depict the actual mask and that it exposes danger unto people when individual identity is hidden. Dorian is portrayed, embracing a multiplicity of identity when he states that he no longer fear death. In his expression, explores the use of a mask to depict hidden identities that might taint the overall depiction of a person. Metaphorically, people wear a mask to protect some characteristics that they don’t want to share with others while exhibiting certain features. According to Wilde, when people hid the identities as depicted in the case of Dorian, they become more imperative and wants to inspire others with their new look and inhibitions. At the beginning of Chapter one of the book, Dorian is portrayed as a professional and personal figure (Wilde 24). The art exhibited in her identity reveals that he becomes attractive after managing to hide his status to lure others. Dorian also manages to manipulate others through his reputation for the physical beauty that precedes him and other attributes that are built to create a resonate depiction of his being. Through the book, although it seems strange for the author to categorize a character through paintings, Dorian makes an implicit metaphorical shape up to the identity to manipulate others.

Religion is a person's life that helps in regulating values that are pertinent in a person's daily life as well as create an exceptional ethical framework. Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” religion is depicted as an agency of building values such as respect, harmony, empathy, and love as well as an agency of socialization. Throughout the novel, the life of Dorian is seen to be deteriorating as he gets into a lifestyle of sin. As the story opens, Dorian is portrayed as a moral young man, but after meeting with Lord Henry Wotton, significant changes have been seen in his life. However, the introduction of religion in his life was aimed at shaping his attitude to view the importance of things in his life (Wilde132). The craftiness of Harry, which is seen in his secretive talk with Dorian reveals he intended to spoil him as well as influence him. But Wilde holds that the regardless of these influences that have been depicted in Dorian life, through religious dystopia which holds that the position and experience a man is dependent on his spiritual connotations, religion is seen to shape the moral virtues and make him a new being. The changes that are brought about by religion act as a transition in Dorian’s life from the immoral lifestyle to a moral one with increased focus change of behaviour.

Moreover, Dorian espouses a philosophy aestheticism. Wilde, in his presentation, reveals that the philosophy of aestheticism in a more universal and produces materials which are essential for the intervention of thoughts exhibited by a person as evil. Through his condemnation, Wilde argues that all men who behave as metaphorical machines as depicted in the life of Dorian are programmed to act so based on the ideas of society in property possession as opposed to relieving them from misery. This philosophy espoused by Dorian often leads to the promotion of adoption, which is purely based on an aesthetic life without qualifications. The overall, evaluation of the philosophy is shallow to analyze and interpret. Notably, such lifestyle experiences massive ramifications and experiences high levels of inevitability (Riquelme 603). The aesthetic virtues of this life are always questionable and associated with grave implications. Dorian Gray's ruination in the philosophy embodies unbridled aestheticism. The lifestyle condemns unnecessary desires that deteriorate morals and exhibition of numerous constraint necessities. Overall, through the exploration of paintings to depict aestheticism philosophy exposes one to undefined relationships that are associated with contingent concepts.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” use of metaphors makes the novel insightful and emphatic. The combination of different paintings and words makes the novel appealing as well as makes it peculiar. The role of Dorian in the books, however, explains hiding identify affects ones social life, and the part of religion is shaping such concepts.

Works Cited

Riquelme, John Paul. "Oscar Wilde's Aesthetic Gothic: Walter Pater, Dark Enlightenment, and The Picture of Dorian Gray." MFS Modern Fiction Studies 46.3 (2014): 609-631.

Wilde, Oscar. The picture of Dorian gray. OUP Oxford, 2016.