Concetti Chiave
- Dorian Gray meets Lord Henry Wotton, who influences him to value beauty above all else, leading Dorian to wish his portrait ages instead of him.
- Dorian's wish is granted, and while he remains youthful, his portrait ages with every evil act he commits over 18 years.
- Despite attempts to reform, Dorian realizes only a confession might restore his portrait, but he feels no guilt and ultimately destroys it.
- After Dorian stabs the portrait, he is found dead with an aged appearance, while the portrait is restored to its original beauty.
- The novel faced criticism and censorship, prompting Wilde to include a preface in later editions, outlining his aesthetic philosophy that art transcends morality.
Meeting with Lord Henry
The Picture of Dorian Gray is about a young man named Dorian Gray who has a portrait painted of himself. The artist, Basil Hallward, thinks Dorian Gray is very beautiful, and becomes obsessed with Dorian. One day in Basil's garden, Dorian Gray meets a man named Lord Henry Wotton, who makes Dorian believe that the only thing important in life is beauty.
Dorian realizes that he will become less beautiful as he grows older, so he wishes the portrait Basil painted would become old in his place.
The Portrait Ages
Dorian's wish comes true. However, every time Dorian does something evil or selfish, his picture ages. For 18 years, Dorian does not age. But he does many bad things, while his portrait becomes more aged with each bad thing. So Dorian decides to stop doing bad things in the hopes that this will make his portrait become beautiful again, but it isn’t possible.
Dorian thinks that only a full confession will make the portrait beautiful again. However, he does not feel guilty for anything he has done. So Dorian picks up a knife and destroys the portrait.
The Death of Dorian
His servant hears a scream from his room, so he calls the police. The police finds Dorian's body on the floor with a stab wound in his heart. His body has become very aged, instead the portrait has become beautiful again.
Dorian is an hedonist, who research pleasure and who thinks that life has to be live in every aspect. Furthermore in this work there the theme of dualism (Victorian age) because there’s a corrispondence between Dorian and the portatrait.
The critics said that it was a bad book, in fact it was censored; so Wilde published one other time the novel with a preface where he explained the main ideas of aesthetics and that a book can’t be moral or immoral, it could only be a work of art or not. For there reasons the preface is considered the manifesto of English aesthetics.
Domande da interrogazione
- What pivotal moment leads Dorian Gray to wish for eternal beauty?
Dorian Gray's pivotal moment occurs when he meets Lord Henry Wotton, who convinces him that beauty is the only important aspect of life. This realization makes Dorian wish that his portrait would age instead of him.
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