The Picture of Dorian Gray 1891 Study Questions

“The Picture of Dorian Gray” (1891) Study Questions MILLENNIUM 2 P. 97

1. What does the aesthetic doctrine theorise? • It theorizes the pursuit of pleasure and beauty as the true purpose of life. Life itself can be the first and the greatest of arts. 2. Which character best embodies this theory in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”? • Dorian himself. 3. Mystery , crime and horror are important elements in the novel. Focus on them. • Mystery is an important element. In the passage, for example, this feeling is well expressed by Dorian creeping upstairs to the locked room. • Mystery and horror are present throughout the novel: in the darkness of the house, in the murders of Dorian’s fiancé and his friend, the painter Basil Hallward, and in Dorian’s decision to destroy the portrait, which will lead to his own death.

4. Is there any moral aim in the novel? • Though it is not explicitly stated in the novel, the ending is intensely moral, and seems to suggest that there is a price to be paid for a life of pleasure. • The portrait may symbolize the immorality of Victorian society hidden behind a mask of purity and respectability represented by Dorian’s eternal youth and beauty. • By stabbing the portrait and killing himself Dorian brings the portrait back to its original beauty confirming Wilde’s assertion that art is neither moral nor immoral, it is immortal and survives life.