Skylar Brooks

Ms. Winter

British Literature, Period 1

3 May 2017

Beauty v. Knowledge

In The Picture of Dorian Gray written by Oscar Wilde, Wilde challenges many ideals of

the Victorian Era. The main character, Dorian, is worried about his appearance so much that he

has a fear to learn, for learning makes you ugly. Not only does Dorian find knowledge to be the

creator of ugliness, so does Lord Henry (Dorians mentor) and most of the Victorian society.

When it comes to beauty versus knowledge in the novel, Oscar Wilde over exaggerates and goes

against the ideals of the Victorian Era.

Oscar Wilde writes about topics such as art, beauty, and sexuality. The Victorians

thought that art was not for emotion but just something to look at. Once art pulled emotion out of

its viewers it was no longer art. Beauty was the number one virtue in this society. A beautiful

woman would get way more for her money rather than an ugly mother. Sexuality was also a topic

the Victorians seemed to know everything about. The woman had her place in the home taking

care of her husband, a man. There was to be no crossing of the sexes. Wilde pushed every single

one of these ideals in not only The Picture of Dorian Gray but many of his other literary works

as well. Wilde pushes the social boundaries, in his exposition of aestheticism, [he] applies the

philosophy in a more universal sense, stressing the positive influences of aestheticism in one's

life beyond mere craftsmanship (Duggan 62). Wilde found art to be something that should affect

ones everyday life. He felt that art should not just be a piece of work, but it should affect every

viewer in some way. In the novel he expresses this ideal through Basil Hayward. Basil was an
artist who was afraid to show his work because his emotion was involved in it. Alireza

Farahbakhsh is one of the many scholars who researched the Victorian Era. Farahbakhsh wrote

an outstanding article using quotes from Modern Painters. The painters felt the Victorian Era

was, much sadder ages than the early ones; not in the noble and deep way, but in a dim wearied

way -- the ennui and jade intellect, and uncomfortableness of the soul and body (Social 2).

During this time there were many discoveries in science and education and it made society and

artists question the new beliefs. Some artists kept with the times of art, but most stepped out of

the comfort of normality. Basil Hayward began to deter from the norm by putting emotion and

himself into his painting. The Victorians felt that once art became personal, it was no longer art.

As many artists began to explore other forms of art an uproar began. There was countless debates

about inappropriate and lewd art that should be forbidden. Most felt, the assembled works of

art provide the excuse to fight some contemporary ideological battles (Kimball 5). If writers

such as Oscar Wilde, never challenged society and its many beliefs, society would have never

moved forward. A society that is unwilling to change becomes dull and depressing. All it takes is

a few influential characters to make that change start.

Wilde enjoyed making the ideas of the time almost unbelievable. As a modern reader, one

would see that the ideals of the Victorian Era were absurd but Oscar Wilde was not only trying to

create a timeless piece but he was also trying to paint a picture to the Victorian people about how

unrealistic they were being. In the novel, Lord Henry is giving another one of his many lectures

and he says, it is better to be beautiful than to be good. But on the other hand no one is more

ready that [he] is to acknowledge that it is better to be good than ugly (Wilde 161). Not only

does Wilde make the reader aware of the Victorian ideals, but he does so in a clever way to make

them sound just as outrageous as they truly are. Throughout many of his works, Wilde goes
against the trends of society. Toward the end of his life, Wilde makes a confession to his trusted

friend, Gide. Gide however did not approve of Wildes homosexuality and felt that, Wilde was

assuring his own destruction - for indeed self-destruction, we now can see, was a definate if

unconscious part of Wildes plan (Marcus 4). Whether Oscar Wilde was over exaggerating or

going totally off of the Victorian grid, he was always including his own views and ideas into his

writing. As many other scholars pondered Wildes look upon life they began to realize that

maybe they to should question the society around them. In the paper titled, Oscar Wilde,

Victorian Fairy Tales, and the Meanings of Atonement written by Elizabeth Goodenough, she

ponders, Why should I not speculate in the only in which means worthy of speculation appear

likely to lie. There is a wide may be around us and every speculation widens the probability of of

changing the may be into the is (Goodenough 10). Because of Wildes inspiring work and his

means of creating it, he inspired other writers and scholars of his time and the time ahead of him.

The quote from the article also shows that if our society does not explore the unknown and the

questionable then in turn our society will never move forward with the times and the ways of the

future.

Through the works of other scholars, one has learned that Wilde not only pushed the

boundaries of homosexuality in The Picture of Dorian Gray, but he also pushed many other

subjects. In the novel beauty and knowledge did not coexist. Wilde expresses that, beauty, real

beauty, ends where an intellectual expression begins. Intellect in itself is a mode of any face. The

moment one sits down to think one becomes all nose or all forehead, or something horrid

(Wilde 7). As a reader, there is once again a sense of exaggeration and sarcasm. Wilde is a well

educated man, so he would most likely disagree with the statement that knowledge makes you

ugly. In the painting below, one could interpret that the painting not only shows Dorians moral
beauty, but also all of the other things that seem to hover him as well as society. Such subjects

are intellect, beauty, and wealth. Through other writers of the Victorian Era we see a common

trend of discussing beauty. In The Blessed Damozel written by Dante Gabriel Rossetti he

shows womens beauty as he writes, Her gaze still strove / within the gulf of pierce / its path;

and now she spoke as when / the stars sang their spheres (Rossetti; line 51-4). He is idolizing

her looks and her loving voice. Notice that nothing about her education or her knowledge is

mentioned. The idea that women only have the value of beauty has been an ongoing thought. In

the Romantic Era, John Keats wrote a poem about an urn. In the poem he related time to paint.

When talking about a woman who is painted on the urn and has died he says, She cannot fade,

though thou hast not thy bliss, / For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair! (Ode 19-20). In the

poem he later discusses disaster and lost hope for a town. When most of the writers of the past

write about women, it never draws on their education and if it does it is always in a negative

light. The everlasting beauty is the most important thing. Although Wilde does stay on the track

of beauty being key, he challenges the mainstream ideals by focusing beauty to a male. This not

only shows how absurd the ideal is but it also sheds light on the homosexuality shown through

Dorian Gray and Basil Hayward.

Throughout history we have outlined that beauty is the most important thing in this

world. In many eras beauty has been the one thing that can get you what you want and when you

want it. We not only see it through Dorian and his painting in the Victorian Era, but we see it in

the Anglo-Saxon times and the Romantic period. Beowulf was the mighty undefeated warrior of

the Anglo-Saxon time period because of his appearance. He was described of having a very

toned body from head to toe. Yes, Beowulf did win many battles but he was only given the

opportunity to because he had the looks to come with it. In the Romantic Era we see ugliness as
the worst thing anyone could possess. Because the creature that Victor Frankenstein created was

so hideous, he was shunned from society. His own creator made him an outcast because of his

appearance. The creature felt that no matter how much he learned and how much he educated

himself, nobody ever accepted him. Looking around from different points of history, we come to

today. In todays society appearance is everything. Appearance is who you hang out with, how

you act, how you dress, what you look like, and how you choose to spend your free time. If you

study too hard or sound too smart in class you are picked out as the school nerd. The authors

like Oscar Wilde who challenge these ideas are the true heroes of our history. Oscar Wilde wrote

The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1890 and as a modern society we are still relating to the timeless

idea that beauty is key and knowledge is not as

valued.

Work Cited
 Duggan, Patrick. The Conflict Between Aestheticism and Morality in Oscar Wildes The

Picture Of Dorian Gray. (Unknown Time).

Farahbakhsh, Alireza. "Social Protest Through Architecture: Ruskin's 'The Nature of Gothic' as

an Embodiment of His Artistic and Social Views." The Midwest Quarterly, vol. 52, no. 2,

2011, p. 182+. Literature Resource Center, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?

p=LitRC&sw=w&u=eldorado&v=2.1&id=GALE

%7CA248407296&it=r&asid=c8bbd126a08971c6f6d5361f1d4a239a. Accessed 10 May

2017.

Goodenough, Elizabeth. "Oscar Wilde, Victorian Fairy Tales, and the Meanings of Atonement."

Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, edited by Kathy D. Darrow, vol. 212, Gale,

2009. Literature Resource Center, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?

p=LitRC&sw=w&u=eldorado&v=2.1&id=GALE

%7CH1420091785&it=r&asid=2791ded46771676d2d4dc1e82f8fca85. Accessed 26 Apr.

2017. Originally published in Lion and the Unicorn, vol. 23, no. 3, Sept. 1999, pp. 336-

354.

Hill, Debora. "Oscar Wilde: Overview." Gay & Lesbian Biography, edited by Michael J. Tyrkus

and Michael Bronski, St. James Press, 1997. Literary Sources, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?

p=GLS&sw=w&u=eldorado&v=2.1&id=GALE

%7CH1420008631&it=r&asid=f434876776d5ab5595cf88ff61b6669d. Accessed 26 Apr.

2017.

Keats, John. Ode on a Grecian Urn. Romantic Era.

Kimball, Roger. "Undressing the Victorians." New Criterion, vol. 21, no. 2, 2002, p. 13+.

Literature Resource Center, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?

 p=LitRC&sw=w&u=eldorado&v=2.1&id=GALE

%7CA92801624&it=r&asid=f90c6013dd9e68d3c374dd85be3b3103. Accessed 10 May

2017.

Marcus, Steven. "He Resisted Everything Except Temptation." Literature Resource Center,

Gale, 2017. Literature Resource Center, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?

p=LitRC&sw=w&u=eldorado&v=2.1&id=GALE

%7CH1420008641&it=r&asid=c49059df807a7924b61b161b16c5cdce. Accessed 26 Apr.

2017. Originally published in The New York Times Book Review, 17 Nov. 1985, p. 7.

Rossetti, Dante Gabriel. The Blessed Damozel. Victorian Era.

Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. 1891. Norton Critical Edition. Edited by DOnald L.

Lawler.

Picture

http://www.deviantart.com/tag/doriangray