... how long it was or how many times he got a cut, he always stayed young and flawless. Dorian Gray held a secret that was deeper than any person would ever anticipate. Basil Hallward, an artist and friend to Lord Henry, becomes obsessed with Dorian Gray and wants to paint a portrait of Dorian. Lord Henry and Basil both express to Dorian that they admire his attractiveness and ... youthfulness. Dorian wishes that he could continue to be young forever all while the man in the portrait grew older and uglier. As Lord Henry and Dorian spent more ... and more time together, Dorian saw the ways...

• Word Count: 585
• Approx Pages: 2

... Gray by Oscar Wilde is the story of moral corruption by the means of aestheticism. In the novel, the well meaning artist Basil Hallward presets young Dorian Gray with a portrait of himself. After conversing with cynical Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian makes a wish which dreadfully affects his life forever. "If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! For that ... painting it (Bloom 109). He refuses to display the portrait of Dorian Gray with the explanation that, "I have put too much of myself into it" (Wilde 106). He further demonstrates the extent to which...

• Word Count: 1332
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... not follow his own guideline, contradicting his own statement. The events which occur as a result of an expression of art, display that an artist is not only capable of creating beauty, but also of creating ugliness and evil. Basil Hallward is an artist who paints a portrait of the young and beautiful Dorian Gray. At first, the piece is wonderful, displaying the young mans loveliness perfectly. Both the painting, and Dorian are beautiful, and in ... and fatal in nature. A simple piece of art that once appeared to be wonderful drastically changes the life of a man for the worse, creating...

• Word Count: 486
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

The Picture of Dorian Gray Summary of novel: Dorian Gray, the beautiful, talented, charming young man, has managed to capture the hearts of both men and women alike during nineteenth-century England. His incredible purity has attracted Lord Henry Wotton, who vies for his attention with Basil Hallward, a trusting and gentle artist. Basil, having poured his soul into a wonderful portrait of Dorian, resents the recent ... . He weaves into his plot Greek mythology, comparing his characters to Greek gods and goddesses, or to Shakespearean tragic heroes. The novel is based on "artistic idolatry,"" ...

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... confess upon its owner the fatal power of having all his wishes granted. The talisman can symbolise an idea of the destructive power of thought, a term embracing not only celebration, but also passion, emotion, imagination and exercise of the will. The environment changes in accordance with Dorian's mood. At the beginning we can see Dorian as a happy, vigorous young man so the surroundings adapt to this state. "The ... not know anything about them. They did not exist until Art had invented them- - says Wilde in The Decay of Lying. In the novella this idea is shown through Dorian's fate ...

• Word Count: 2278
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

... do things that they wouldn't normally do. Dorian was a very wealthy, intelligent, man with a very high status. On the other hand, he was quite blinded and somewhat nave when it came to making decisions in his life. He knew the influential and rich people in his town such as Lord Henry and Basil. Unfortunately, Dorian was a very easily influenced person. Lord Henry ... . Basil, the painter of the portrait, influenced Dorian in more of a good, honest way. "Don't spoil him. Don't try to influence him. Your (Lord Henry) influence would be bad. The world is wide, and has many marvelous people...

• Word Count: 511
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

"To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim," writes Oscar Wilde in the famous preface of his classic novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. One might find it a bit ironic the fact that posterity always has looked upon this book as being more or less an autobiography. Wilde was surrounded by scandals until his death, stirring the strict, Victorian society he lived in with ... thoughts, or burn with his natural passions. His virtues are real to him. His sins, if there are such things as sins, are borrowed. He becomes an echo of someone else's music, an actor of a part that has not been writt...

• Word Count: 1464
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... assistant speaks about Georgiana, "If she were my wife, I"d never part with that birth-mark"(Hawthorne 770). In this case, the practical man outwits the scientist in recognizing that Georgiana's "imperfection" was in fact the key to her soul. Without it, she could not live. Thus ... , as his conclusion reveals, an attempt to hide one's true self only results in destruction. Another text that deals with the concept of acquiring immortality is Oscar Wilde's novel A Picture of Dorian Gray. In the novel, an artist, Basil Hallward paints a picture of the young Adonis, Dorian Gray who wishes to...

• Word Count: 1523
• Approx Pages: 6