The Picture of Dorian Gray is a philosophical moral fantasy novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde,

published in an early form in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine in 1890. The story revolves around
a portrait of Dorian Gray painted by Basil Hallward, a friend of Dorian's and an artist infatuated
with Dorian's beauty. Oscar Wilde’s only novel is the dreamlike story of a young man who sells
his soul for eternal youth and beauty. The book remains to this day a classic example of gothic
horror, a Victorian-era novel in the Gothic genre.

The title refers to two portraits; the literal picture of Dorian painted by Basil Hallward, and the
literary “picture” the author creates in the novel. Both of these artworks show the readers the
“real world” can’t see the truth of Dorian’s soul. This shows that Dorian’s beauty remains
untouched, but his soul is the thing being corrupted, because it is his nature.

Dualism
Oscar Wilde’s novel, Picture of Dorian Gray, portrays the dichotomy of the double life led by
Dorian Gray.The contrast between the portrait and Dorian personifies the universal battle of sin
versus morale and ultimately serves as a moral compass for society. Dorian’s development of a
double life identifies with the results of sociological oppression leading to confinement.Oscar
Wilde’s exaggeration of the effects of the double life of Dorian Gray within his novel Picture of
Dorian Gray ultimately conveys the degradation due to a confinement of the soul, and
personifies the dualism between private and public lives.

The portrait is the main symbol at work here. It's a kind of living allegory, a visible interpretation
of Dorian's soul. Basically, the picture represents Dorian's inner self, which becomes uglier with
each passing hour and with every crime he commits. It is the image of Dorian's true nature and,
as his soul becomes increasingly corrupt, its evil shows up on the surface of the canvas. It
seems that Dorian is not completely free of the picture's influence: as it becomes uglier and
uglier, Dorian pretty much loses it. It becomes a kind of conscience, and it reminds Dorian
constantly of the evil at the heart of his nature.

Art
Throughout history, art has played a major role in portraying the structure of society and the
different roles people play in it. In this book, art seems to dictate the life of young Dorian Gray to
the point of moral insanity and eventually death. The novel examined the relationship between
art and reality, highlighting the uneasy interplay between ethics and aesthetics as well as the
links between the artist, his or her subject and the resulting image on canvas. The entire novel
revolves around the question of whether art is life or life is art. This theme links to aestheticism,
morality, and influence.

In the novel, the characters each have different views on life and on art. Lord Henry and Dorian
both believe that life revolves around art. We see this first in Dorian when he discovers his
beauty. Dorian rejects Sybil when she becomes real to him. He didn’t fall in love with her, but
with the fantasy she provided in art through her ability to become different characters and
people.
 Sybil, on the other hand, starts to act badly when she realizes how fake her art is. Once she is
able to sense reality and live in it, she loses interest in art. This shows how she believes the
opposite of what Dorian and Henry believe, which is life is a support system for art.
When Basil says he doesn’t want to display his art for all to see because he has put too much of
himself into it, we know he sees life to be more important than art. He regrets creating the
painting later in the novel when he discovers what it has become. This shows that despite being
an artist, he would choose life over art.

The Faust legend is reflected in the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray because of the
similarities between Faust and Dorian throughout the novel. Both Faust and Dorian sell their
souls: Faust sells his soul to the devil in exchange for power and knowledge, and Dorian trades
his soul in exchange for eternal youth and beauty. Lord Henry acts as the devil in Dorian Gray,
manipulating Dorian and playing with him. Faust and Dorian also each seduce a young woman
and manipulate her, then lead her to her death. Neither Dorian nor Faust thought or cared about
the consequences that selling their soul meant. They only thought about what they craved most.
Both Dorian and Faust eventually want to escape the deal they have made, but cannot

Basil is the painter of Dorian Gray's portrait. From the beginning of their relationship on, he feels
that he found his muse in Dorian, who, in Basil's eyes, embodies the Greek ideal of harmony
between body and soul.It can be argued that Basil's feelings for Dorian go even further. He
might be drawn by a homoerotic desire, which is suggested in a conversation. Basil fails as an
artist when he faces real life. Only in the last conversation with Dorian, when the painter is
forced to look at Dorian's soul in the picture, he realises that he has lived with an illusion all
along. Since he met Dorian, Basil only saw what he wanted to see in him.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is one that has many purposes in it. One purpose in
the book shows how individuals can slowly deteriorate because of the evil lying within
themselves. The major purpose of this novel is how much power art has over others.