The Picture and Dorian Gray
"Split personality?seems to become a popular theme for the Victorian writers as that in Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde. . One possible reason is that, after the rise of the individualism, Englishmen are attached to privacy, so they recluse themselves. Little by little, they separate their lives into private and public life as Wemmick does in
He also becomes another Faustian hero offering his own soul in search of eternal beauty. When Dorian remains young and looks pure all the time, the picture reflects the inside of Dorian, who in fact is a cruel murderer. Secondly, after the murdering of Sibyl Vane, Dorian notices a change in the picture, thus, the picture becomes a "visible symbol of the degradation of sin,?the "ever-present sign of the ruin men brought upon their souls?(109). In this way, the picture becomes the doppelganger of Dorian-his alter-ego. In Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, we can also see the doppelganger motif in light of the discrepant outlook between the picture and Dorian himself. Finally, the picture is also a reflection of Dorian's self-loathing. Therefore, Dorian becomes a worshipper of his own image. First of all, the picture reveals to Dorian his own beauty and awakens his narcissism. When Dorian dies senile, the picture of his looks pure to reflect Dorian's repentance. In addition to the split- personality, the picture also offers Dorian new perspectives on himself.
Common topics in this essay:
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Dorian Gray,
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