Analysis of Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray and the concept of death in the novel.
In Oscar Wilde’s novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, concepts of mortality and death are tied to concepts of aesthetics. This paper shows how Dorian Gray fears death but also considers art as a way of overcoming death. He then makes himself into a work of art, while the true artwork, the painting of him produced by Basil Hallward, is subject to all the mortal disintegration which rightfully should be suffered by Dorian himself.
“Gray also embodies the New Hedonism expressed by Lord Henry, another challenge to aging and death. However, aging and death are part of the natural order and cannot be escaped in any way except through art. Dorian does see himself as a work of art, but he lives not for an aesthetic but for the love of self. In the end, age and death come to him because he has not lived a balanced life. Critics point out ways in which ideas of aesthetics are embodied in the novel along with moral issues concerning immortality and the ability to evade responsibility for one’s actions.”