In The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, time and youth seem desirable yet prove to be destructive. The gothic novel begins by introducing Lord Henry Wotton and his friend Basil Hallward conversing while Basil paints one of his masterpieces. Lord Henry shows deep interest in Basil’s artistry, curious as to what Basil’s new artistic muse might be. Reluctantly, Basil confesses to having fallen into a deep love with the beauty of a young man, Dorian Gray. When Basil looks upon Dorian’s face for the first time, it is as though he found purpose in painting once more. Skeptical yet curious, Lord Henry wishes to meet Dorian in the hopes of understanding Basil’s excitement and determination.
Listening to Basil, Lord Henry understands that Dorian’s beauty lies within his innocence: Dorian is the young embodiment of Narcissus, who has not been touched by life’s inevitable experiences. Eager to meet him, Lord Henry secretly intends to take advantage of his youth.
Lord Henry is a radical theorist, and upon meeting Dorian, takes him under his wing and entrances him with theories and beliefs on the hedonistic pursuit of new experiences while he is still young. Self-development is the key to avoiding a mundane, miserable life, especially as one gets older, according to Lord Henry. Thus, Dorian begins to live by the vision Lord Henry has set out for him without realizing the moral consequences he will suffer in his future.
The catalyst of Dorian’s downfall is a painting of himself. The painting was marvelously painted by Basil, using Dorian as his model to capture the beauty of youth and innocence before it disappears forever. Basil gifted his painting to Dorian, and as Dorian looked upon himself, the first layer of his innocence disappeared: he realized his beauty would diminish, as he believed the key to a beautiful and pleasurable life was his appearance. At that moment, Dorian proclaimed how he wished to be young forever, to become the version of himself he sees in the painting, and for the painting to age and show his every sin. By saying these words, little did Dorian know his words would come true and would be a curse rather than a blessing.
Before Dorian realized his wish had come true, he continued living his life and testing Lord Henry’s hedonistic theories. Dorian, while in pursuit of them, falls in love with theater actress Sibyl Vane. He watched her every performance, which led to a short-lived romance between Dorian and Sibyl. When Sibyl admits she can no longer act due to her passionate love for Dorian that can never be imitated on stage, Dorian cruelly dismisses her and leaves their relationship. Heartbroken, Sibyl ends her life. After this, Dorian notices a blemish on his painting that was never there before. This blemish, the first of many that will present itself in the painting, represents Dorian’s change of character: from favorable to cruel. As Dorian continued living, every wrinkle, sin, and blood appeared on the painting, while Dorian himself remained young. He locks the portrait away in hopes of restoring its beauty, but his hedonistic pursuits, however immoral, age the painting more and more until the painting looks unrecognizable.
Seeing the ugliness of his soul in the painting, Dorian becomes miserable and kills Basil. After encountering Sibyl’s vengeful brother, Dorian is determined to better himself, but to no avail. The painting showed all of Dorian’s ugliness, both literally and figuratively. Dorian stabs the painting in hopes of ending his curse, but in stabbing the painting, Dorian ends his own life, his corpse now old, wrinkly, and ugly. The painting, however, gleamed with as much beauty as ever.
While we rush to grow up and experience everything we can before our minds tell us it is too late, we never stop and realize that every waking moment is worth living for because that is what makes life so extraordinary: its temporariness.
