The Epiphany of Dorian Gray

     In life, many regard morality as something that is essential to every human being. Yet, there are also people who defy this natural ability to tell what is right or wrong; like in the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde. Having read a small portion of this classic, I can definitely say that Oscar Wilde can be accounted as a disturbed individual. I believe his life experiences have been described in this story through Dorian Gray, the main character. Like the protagonist in this story, I believe Oscar Wilde suffered corruption of his soul. Through a unique story, he tries to convey to his readers that materialistic desires will only trap you deeper into the darkness of greed.

     Dorian Gray is introduced into the story as a pure, innocent, petulant adolescent boy. He had "kept himself unspotted from the world" with his youthful purity (Pg. 18). Almost everyone who laid eyes on Dorian Gray fell in love with his energetic self. He was definitely handsome, had perfectly shaped scarlet lips, crisp blue eyes, and refreshingly gold hair; Dorian was the definition of beauty. The artist who effectively captures his soul into canvas is Basil Hallward, who is also a Dorian worshiper. When Basil's old Oxford friend Lord Henry Wotton, too, is captivated by such a charming young fellow, he unknowingly makes it his mission to corrupt such a pure soul. Achieving his goal with a few convincing words, the unstable Dorian experiences an epiphany and begins to realize his real beauty, gained from youth. With a sudden change of heart, our esteemed protagonist becomes vain and following, the deterioration of his soul. Dorian is convinced by Lord Henry that youth is the most important thing in the world, especially for someone so enticing as him:

The common hill-flowers wither, but they blossom again... But we never get back our youth... We degenerate into hideous puppets... Youth! Youth! There is absolutely nothing in the world but youth!  (Pg. 25).

Now fearing the natural process of aging, Dorian makes a wrong decision and states that he would give everything, even his soul, to stay forever young; instead, his picture will grow old. Dorian becomes jealous of undying beauty and curses himself for the rest of his life. He will forever drown in his own hedonism as well as continue to strive for more and more handsomeness.

     The character Dorian Gray reminds me of the Queen in the movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, based on the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. The Queen has always been considered as the "fairest one of all", and was pleased. This is like when Dorian had no knowledge of his own beauty, but with a few persuasive arguments, he becomes self conscious about himself. He is alarmed by the everlasting youth captured by the painting done on him and begins to have an obsessive need for his own attractiveness. When the Queen knows of Snow White's exceeding beauty, she gets jealous and orders her huntsman to kill and bring her Snow White's heart. Both of their goals are to stay the fairest ones; as a result, they both "set death traps for themselves", so to speak, when they take action. The Queen disguises herself as an old lady, like how Dorian's painting shows how his soul decays as time passes and as his enchanting looks curse him forever.

     Though this book was not accepted at the time it was published, I am sure this story can apply to many people today. Dorian Gray displays strong amounts of greed and envy when he wishes the painting to change, and for him to stay what he is now. Overpowering his sense of morality, Dorian falls into his own trap, and therefore, his sin is shown through the painted picture of himself. There are no physical similarities between this book and real life, for it has some fantasy elements; for example, the picture that decays in Dorian's stead. I can compare this with my own greed and envy because sometimes, I don't think I can ever have enough of something, like how Dorian can't ever have enough of his beauty. I think Oscar Wilde tries to remind us that we need to be careful of what we wish for as well, because it just might happen. Dorian stays in his youth forever and we can also dream forever about what we can't have but ultimately, that is our downfall because there are just some things we need to let go of.

     I believe that in every book, there is something that one can learn from, whether it applies to the reader or not. To keep our sense of humanity, we avoid the truth until it is too late but with realization and help from friends, I believe we can overcome this obstacle. We will never have enough of what we want because there`s always going to be more to have. So as people with morality, we should be happy of what we have and beware of feelings that may eventually destroy us.