Youth: The state of construction of the human being of tomorrow.

In chapter 2 of the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, the author Oscar Wilde states

that beauty and youth are synonymous of power, freedom and rebellion; this

synthesis is based on the fact that having these two qualities, exempt yourself from

obligations linked to the ideals that adulthood represents, such as the responsibility

of actions. In turn, the author wants to reflect the ties that unite youth and freedom,

romanticizing it with the famous phrase " carpe diem, vita brevis "; but, ¿do youth

and beauty really exempt you from the duties and responsibilities that it entails to

live in a society?, ¿is freedom the same as libertinism? From my concession, it is

valid to enjoy, feel and live without inhibition, because freedom is an innate right

with which humans are born, it is the broad sense and capacity to act according to

one's own will; on the contrary, debauchery is the disrespectful attitude of the law,

ethics or morals of those who abuse her own freedom to the detriment of that of

others; therefore, the word freedom must never be confused with libertinism. It

must be understood that actions committed under this thought cause havoc, pain,

and regret; and above all, acting in this way just because you possess beauty and

youth will not exempt you from judicial and social responsibility. The worst thing is

that during youth, you tend to confuse these terms, believing that you have the

world in your hands, that power is eternal, listening to people who only want to ruin

your life, since they would never have that lifestyle. Erroneously one falls into the

thought that enjoying life to the fullest, implies becoming beings without criteria,

rebellious, and irresponsible, acting in the name of freedom; without taking into

account that this time is only a state of formation and construction of the human
being of tomorrow. Today, there are so many cases where during the youth people

lived without limits, under the senselessness, immorality and irresponsibility; and

time and life were abruptly charged for the acts committed in the past. Therefore,

by recognizing the limits of freedom and what debauchery entails, one can

responsibly enjoy the pleasures of youth, knowing that it is not eternal and that

every action has a reaction.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS.

 Abstract: Difficult to understand.

 Anodyne: Insignificant, ineffective, insubstantial.

 Anthropoid: Said of an animal, and especially of an anthropomorphic monkey:

That by its external morphological characters it resembles the human being.

 Asphodelus: It is the common name of several species of plants: any species

of the genus Asphodelus, also known as gamones.

 Berlina (sedán): Car with four side doors. Closed horse carriage, with two

separate seats.

 Caryatids: Statue of a woman in a talar suit, which serves as a column.

 Cavalier: Thinking with intention or depth about something.

 Chacinería: Store that sells or makes salted, dried meat in the air, in the sun or

in smoke.

 Clematis: Medicinal plant, of the ranunculaceae family, reddish-stemmed,

spiky and creeping, opposite leaves and composed of heart-shaped and

toothed leaves, and white, blue or violet flowers and mildly scented.

 Coarse: Rude or in bad taste.

 Cornucopia: horn-shaped vessel representing abundance.

 Dissonance: Unpleasant sound.

 Doublet: clothing covering from the shoulders to the waist, tight fitting to the

body.

 Dryad: Forest nymph, whose life was as long as the tree it was supposed to be

attached to.

 Hedonism: Theory that establishes pleasure as the end and foundation of life.

Vital attitude based on the search for pleasure. An atmosphere of luxury and

hedonism.

 Hellenic: Belonging or relating to Greece or the Greeks. Belonging or relating

to the Hélade or the ancient Greeks.

 Hérmes: In Greek mythology, Olympian god of borders and travellers who

cross them, of ingenuity and trade in general, of thieves and liars.

 Latches: pin with which a door is secured, running as a lock.

 Misanthrope: A person who flees from dealing with other people or has great

aversion to them.

 Onyx: is considered to be a semi-precious stone listed in alternating light and

very dark colours, which is usually used to make cameos.

 Panegyric: A speech given in honor or praise of a person

 Path: A path that is narrower than the pavement and is mainly open to

pedestrians and small livestock.

 Pernicious: Causing a lot of damage or being very harmful.

 Prosaic: Saying of people and certain things: Lack of ideality or elevation.

 Sapphire: Said of a person: Rude or coarse in his manners, or lacking in tact in

his behavior.

 Sonnet: Poetic composition consisting of fourteen hendecasyllabic verses

distributed in two quartets and two thirds. In each of the quartets, as a rule, the

first verse rhymes with the fourth and the second with the third, and in both they

must be the same consonances. In the triplets these can be ordered in different

ways.

 Transfigure: To make someone or something change their figure or

appearance.

 Tremulous: Trembling. Said of one thing: That it has a movement or agitation

similar to trembling; like the light of a candle.

 Unfathomable: That he cannot be known or understood because he is

mysterious, difficult or impenetrable.

 Vivisection: Dissection of living animals, for the purpose of physiological

studies or pathological research.

BIBLIOGRAFÍA

 Julián Pérez Porto and María Merino. (2010 – 2014). Definicion.de: Definition of

debauchery. Recovered: https://definicion.de/libertinaje/. Accessed: 10 May

2020.

 Daniel Fernando (April 18, 2014). Unable to accept that we are free in cages,

we move in worlds of words wanting to be free. Recovered from

https://diariosdeunescritorrevolucionario.blogspot.com/2014/04/el-retrato-de-

dorian-grey-ensayo.html.

 Julián Pérez Porto and Ana Gardey. Published: 2009. Updated: 2009.

Definition.de: Definition of freedom. Recovered: https://definicion.de/liberty/.

Visited: May 10, 2020.

 Wilde, O., (1891). The picture of Dorian Gray. Level 4, England, Edinburgh

Gate Harlow: Associated Companies throughout the world.

 Wilde, O., (1891). Chapter 2 “Jealous of his Own Portrait”. The picture of

Dorian Gray (pp. 5-14). England, Edinburgh Gate Harlow: Associated

Companies throughout the world.