Picture of Dorian Gray VIII: Ch. 18-20

Morality is not an accumulated quantity; it is a rate of change of quality of the soul. The quality of a person's life is the aggregate of the morality of their actions, and morality is the change in a person's quality over time. If someone is doing an act that is morally right, than their quality is increasing, and vice versa. This is illustrated when Dorian says "I am going to be good" (160). The specific meaning of "good" in this context refers to morality, not quality. The future tense indicates that his future deeds will be "good," and therefore the quality of his soul will, from that point on, be increasing. He is not stating that the overall quality of his soul over all of his life will ever be "good," nor that he can compensate for killing Basil. Instead, he is claiming that he will improve the quality of his soul, that he will be morally good. That he is "going to be" morally sound indicates that he has changed. The judgement of a person's quality of soul is a meaningless value, because people change; Dorian's past self has been morally wrong and his future self will be morally right, but measuring the overall quality of his soul will simply return the average morality of his life. If his "soul," such as it were, were to be judged, then this quality, average morality will not necessarily refer to how he would, theoretically, act in such a place. For a proper judgement, Dorian's soul would have to be judged at every instant in his life, and in those instants in which he is morally sound, he goes to "heaven" or some equivalent, and vice versa. In summary, a person cannot be judged based on their average morality; instead, they must be judged in any particular moment based on the morality of that moment.

Picture of Dorian Gray VII: Ch. 15-17

Wilde uses biblical imagery to describe the scenery surrounding Dorian when Dorian goes to get opium. Wilde describes the scene as having "here and there a lantern gleam[ing]", where "the light shook and splintered" (137). The heavy light here implies the presence of God. Furthermore, the description "shook" provides an emotion of fear and awe that would be invoked by God. Furthermore, "gleam" is a verb that describes intense, bright light - an appropriate term to describe divine light. By contrast, Satan is present in "a red glare" (137). Red is a color that can imply demonic presence, and thus the "red glare" could be interpreted figuratively as "the angry glare of Satan." The presence of both God and Satan implies a scene of judgement, namely of Dorian's soul, for which the possibility of salvation is uncertain. Thus, the biblical imagery call to mind that Dorian will ultimately have his soul face divine judgement, and foreshadows that Dorian will not escape his crimes forever.

Picture of Dorian Gray VI: Ch. 9-11

Oscar Wilde has stated that he sees himself in his character Basil. This is visible in several of Basil's statements, which mirror the preface; Basil expresses views that are indicated to be Wilde's by means of their statement in the preface. For instance, Wilde states that "to reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim" (vii). Basil states that "art conceals the artist far more completely than it ever reveals him" (84). The similar diction - namely, in the phrase "conceal[s] the artist" and the repeated word "reveal" - are illustrative of the word echoes that associate Basil with Wilde. Similarly, Basil states that "art is always more abstract than we fancy," but also that "form and colour tell us of form and colour - that is all" (84). By comparison, Wilde states that "all art is at once surface and symbol" (vii). Both Basil and Wilde discuss the dichotomy of art - that art is simultaneously the direct statement and the underlying meaning. Wilde expresses this through a direct statement of the duality, whereas Basil makes two apparently contradictory statements that come together to form a paradox. Both Basil and Wilde express very similar sentiments regarding the purpose of art, and this is illustrative of the similarities between them that Wilde refers to when he states that Basil Hallward is representative of how he sees himself.

Picture of Dorian Gray V: Ch. 7-8

When Dorian arrives home after leaving Sibyl, he finds his environment to be simultaneously bland and iridescent. When he looks at his surroundings, he sees "the silent Square with its blank close-shuttered windows and staring blinds" (65). Wilde not only portrays the lack of color in this scene, but also does so using strong word choice. Between the silence, the "blank close-shuttered windows" and the "blinds" (due to the other meaning of "blind"), Wilde vividly illustrates a monochromatic, gray color scheme. This contrasts with the "pure opal" of the sky, the roofs that "glistened like silver," the "violet riband" of smoke and the "nacre-coloured" air (65). These terms all describe a colorful, shiny scene, which contrasts with the utterly bland image presented immediately prior. This contrast is symbolic of the two different performances that Sibyl had presented, and the two different attitudes that Dorian held towards her. Initially, Sibyl performed beautifully, and Dorian saw her as his perfect gemstone, both of which are symbolized by the iridescence; later, Sibyl's performance was entirely bland, and Dorian's emotions towards her die completely. Strangely, the order is inverted in this passage, forming chiasmus between the plot of the story and this passage. Chiasmus can sometimes, as here, refer to something that should be self-evident; in this context, the chiasmus would indicate that it should be obvious that this is the clear and inevitable fate of their relationship.

Picture of Dorian Gray IV: Ch. 5-6

Wilde's arrogant tone is visible to the reader when he states that "women defend themselves by attacking, just as they attack by sudden and strange surrenders" (46). In context, this is either a direct interjection from Wilde himself or the thoughts of the mother of Sibyl - either from the author or from one of the women in his story; in either case, we can take this to be Wilde's direct opinion, because it is either his statement or it is certainly true in his story. Wilde claims, therefore, to understand the female psyche when he directly declares what women are thinking when they attack or retreat. His declaratory statement on a topic that he cannot definitely understand shows how he believes himself to always know the truth - illustrative of his arrogance.

Picture of Dorian Gray III: Ch. 3-4

As is typical for upper-class society during this time, Wilde was familiar with classical literature and culture. He sometimes uses allusions in order to bring to life an image otherwise presented purely through descriptive language. For instance, when discussing how mistakes make one young, Lord Henry summons the image of  "catching the mad music of Pleasure, wearing, one might fancy, her wine-stained robe and wreath of ivy, danced like a Bacchante over the hills of life" (30). The phrases "mad music of Pleasure," "wine-stained robe" and "danced [...] over the hills" combine to form an image that any educated reader of the time would obtain immediately from the word "Bacchante." The Bacchantes were a group of women who were priests of Bacchus, and they would participate in massive orgies (thus, "mad music of Pleasure") atop Mount Cithaeron ("over the hills") devoted to Bacchus (explaining the "wine-stained robe"). The entire image Lord Henry presents is encapsulated by the single word "Bacchante" for any educated reader. The word "Bacchante," in fact, holds even more power, because the Bacchantes' frenzy is beyond what a less educated reader would perceive merely from the adjective "mad." If the Bacchantes came upon a small animal such as a rabbit, they would tear it to pieces by hand, leaving a bloody mess in their wake; if they, by chance, encountered a man in their frenzy, then at best the man would be castrated - at worst, he could end with the same fate as the rabbit. The description provided by "Bacchante" goes beyond what the other words creating this image provide; in this way, Wilde uses allusions to enhance the intensity of his imagery.

Picture of Dorian Gray II: Ch. 1-2

The characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray are representations of the personified concepts they refer to. For instance, Lord Henry relates Dorian Gray to Beauty and Basil to Genius when they are first discussing him. Later, he says "Beauty is a form of Genius - is higher, indeed, than Genius, as it needs no explanation" (16). This is illustrative of the reason why Dorian Gray is worshipped by Basil: Basil is Genius and Gray is Beauty, so Gray is higher than Basil. Furthermore, Basil frequently needs to explain himself (for instance, when he states that he has put too much of himself into his work), whereas Lord Henry recognizes Dorian Gray's beauty as soon as they see each other; thus, Beauty, Dorian Gray, requires no explanation, whereas Genius, Basil, does. Lord Henry then mentions a third capitalized personification, Thought, that can be considered to be representative of Lord Henry himself. It is likely that as the book continues more personified capitalized Concepts will arise as more characters do.

Picture of Dorian Gray I: Preface

          In the preface of A Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde illustrates his belief that beauty arises from interpretation. For instance, he states that "those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming [and that] this is a fault" (vii). He claims that those who find ugliness in beauty are the poorer for it, in particular compared with the "cultivated," who "find beautiful meanings in beautiful things," and for whom "there is hope" (vii). He does acknowledge, however, that people may find beauty in different things; in particular,  he believes that the artist should be separated from the piece to avoid objectivity, supporting the notion of "Death of the Author," under which the author's intent is irrelevant and only the interpretation of the reader matters. He believes that different people can view different things as beautiful, but that those who find more beauty are more cultivated. he also states that some things are universally beautiful by the implication of his words "beautiful things"; he had previously stated that beautiful things are created by artists, and therefore could easily perceive everything as beautiful. Therefore, while beauty is subjective, those who find more beauty in everything are in general more "cultivated."
          His tone towards the audience in this passage is playful, but contemplative. He toys with the audience, providing direct contradictions, such as when he first states that "the nineteenth century dislike of Realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass," and then that the dislike "is not" said rage (vii). These show how he almost appears to make a point, provide an argument that can be argued with, allowing the audience to finally grasp a concrete statement, then withdraws that statement by claiming exactly the opposite. On the other hand, many of his statements are deeply philosophical, such as that "to reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim" (vii). He seems to be involved with a battle of wits with the reader, in which he speaks many deep truths while making no argument; therefore, the tone of his writing is similar to that which on would find in such a battle: simultaneously humorous and thought-provoking.