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Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all. ~ Henry David Thoreau ~
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4 comments:
Was it the portrait that ruined his life, or the fact that he can actually see his soul? why?
I'm very pleased you asked this one Kevin. I think it is very interesting that Dorian said that the portrait ruined his life, whereas as a reader I would say the opposite. He actually ruined the beautiful portrait. The fact that Dorian blames the portrait shows his inability to accept responsibility for his actions. It's as if he has no ability to view his actions as sin. He knows that his actions are evil, yet is always curious about how they will effect the portrait. Obviously they are going to effect it negatively, yet he is always a little surprised when they do. Finally Dorian becomes so overwhelmed by anger towards the portrait, he determines to destroy it. In so doing, he destroys himself. Again this demonstrates his inability to really understand what is going on. He thinks he can destroy the portrait, but the portrait is his soul, so by destroying his soul, he kills himself. Even at the very end he is still blaming the portrait for his life, "it was the portrait that had done everything." Would Dorian have lived his life differently if he had never made that initial wish/prayer? No, I think not. The portrait has only allowed Dorian to live in sin, yet look spotless. I believe that Dorian would have still heeded the advise of Henry and lived a hedonistic life even if it did ruin his beauty. In the end, he ruins (kills) his life by ruining the portrait. So the answer is a yes to both parts of the question. In his mind the portrait is responsible because it shows him his soul. But to the reader, the portrait is only a reflection of him. The portrait serves as a mirror. He seems unable to grasp that the portrait his truly him. This is demonstrated most dramatically when he shoves a knife into the portrait without realizing that if he does that, he will die.
Who is your favorite character in the book? What is it about this character that interests you?
Great question Daniel! I read the question yesterday when you posted it, and instead of responding then, I decided to wait and really think about it. It has taken me a while to choose between two characters. At first I was thinking Basil was my favorite, because his character serves as the counterpart to Henry's negative influence. It's as though Basil is the good angel on Dorian's right shoulder and Henry is the devil on his left. Basil fascinates me, and I love what he says and does right before Dorian kills him. But, when it comes down to it, Dorian is my favorite.
There would be no book to read, if it were not for Dorian. Dorian fascinates me, he begins the book, not as necessarily good, but as a blank slate. He is not a good person who turned bad, he is a person who gave into his inherently evil tendencies. This is what is so great about the book, the fact that Dorian does not go from a good person to an evil person, but just a person to an evil one. Isn't this how we all start out? "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." Psalm 51:4-6. We all begin life fallen and from that point on are a blank slate for others to write on. Henry would call it "influence." We have to choose carefully who we let influence us. We are entirely responsible for the influences that we allow. We all try to blame others as Dorian tries to blame Basil, but we are responsible. Dorian fascinates me because I know that as a human I have the same capacity for sin that he does. I hope you did a little research about Oscar Wilde, because I also find it so interesting that he wrote a book like this with such an overwhelmingly strong moral message. I know of no other better depiction of the ravages of sin, then the one Wilde penned in this book.
Sorry, got a little off track there. But Dorian is my favorite character because he represents all of us. The portrait of his soul, is the portrait of all our souls. Through Christ we are made clean, but without him, we are all Dorian Gray. Thank you for making me think about this, great question!
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