Scarica The picture of Dorian Grey- Oscar Wilde e più Sintesi del corso in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! The picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde The author of the novel is Oscar Wilde, who was born in Dublin in 1854 and died in Paris in 1900. The message that the author wants to send us is very important: in life we must not think of external enrichment because there will be nothing leG of it, but the most important thing in a man’s life is to be enriched inwardly, to seek in the soul values, feelings that will be indelible and that we can then pass on to those close to us. But we must not forget that everyone is the creator of their own desJny; someJmes listening or being carried away by someone is not the best thing, before following others you must always consult your conscience. An example of the influence of ideas we have when Lord Hanry explains to Dorian the meaning of the influence that people arouse on others. Another example that makes us understand how consciousness someJmes prevails over choices we have at the end of the novel, when Dorian Gray destroys the picture and then killing himself. It must also be said that, in this novel, Wilde expresses his love for art that, someJmes, arouses in the observer a strange sensaJon, almost of hypnosis. An example we have when Dorian Gray is struck by his portrait, to the point of making a real deal with the devil. The story begins in the studio of the painter Basil Hallward, where he decides to paint a painJng to Dorian Gray. Dorian is a beauJful young man who, both for his physical appearance and for his way of thinking, arouses in all a parJcular interest. The portrait given to him by the painter is so successful that the boy, admiring him, expresses the regret of having him grow old while the portrait would always remain young, and makes a real pact with the devil to make it the other way around. Dorian’s life changed radically when he met Lord Henry WoRon, a cynical and unscrupulous nobleman, who manages to change Dorian’s life and youthful purity; he later fell in love with Sybil Vane, but Dorian’s change causes the story to end badly, In fact, he abandons her and she kills herself. The next day, he discovers that portrait has changed ; adding an expression of cruelty; at this point he decided to hide it in the aUc and conJnue his life. One night he kills Basil Hallward, who has tried to reproach him for his behaviour and has his body destroyed by a chemist friend, who then kills himself. Dorian is not discovered but the portrait became increasingly horrible. Dorian, Jred and sickened by that portrait that tesJfies to his faults and his brutality, hits him with a knife, but at the same Jme it fell to the ground dead, while the picture returned to its normality. In this novel the narrator is external. We can noJce all the influence of the aestheJc ideas on the thought of the author; in fact, of almost all the characters we know the physical aspect, above all a detailed descripJon of the protagonist is made; this to make us understand, through the external aspect, The soul of the characters. The portrait represented the soul of Dorian Gray, in fact, when he was guilty of a fault the painJng became increasingly hideous what meant that the inner soul of Dorian was deterioraJng more and more unJl, aware of his change, decided to destroy it; for Dorian, it was a kind of liberaJon to escape from all those remorse that gripped his heart. the one narrated by Wilde, is a real clash between nature and man; in which the first is manifested through his portrait and man tries to fight him trying to be less and less himself but then going against the will to always want to faithfully resemble him. The fact is that the portrait is not taken as an example only for the physical features represented by the author, but for the innocence and purity of there face the protagonist. And the same protagonist who, however, will then be corrupted by an increasingly hosJle society. It is here that the author’s criJque of contemporary English society of the Victorian age fits. Wilde railed against
