Key Characters:
Dorian Gray. Poisoned by the influence of the hedonistic Henry Wotton, Dorian’s innocence is lost when persuaded that ‘beauty’ and ‘youth’ is the only thing truly worth having. On the surface of diving into sin and corruption, he is kept afloat by the pure Sibyl Vane and her awe-rendering acting skills, but when she finds true love in Dorian and denounces and abandons her previous portrayals of love, Dorian is torn apart by her new outlook and throws away their engagement. Sibyl’s suicide that follows is viewed through warped eyes as Dorian convinces himself it is more ‘art’ than ‘tragedy’. What follows is Dorian’s complete and utter descent into the sin and temptations of London’s underworld, guided by the ‘yellow book’ handed to him by Henry. Dorian’s sin climaxes in the remorseless murder of his long-time friend Basil Hallward in spite of his creation of the portrait that taints and clings to Dorian’s mind and conscience. The younger brother of Sibyl Vane, James Vane, stumbles upon Dorian in the opium dens of the east-end trying to purge himself of Basil’s blood and sets about taking vengeance for the death of his sister. James dies unexpectedly and the event sparks Dorian to renounce his sinful ways and begin anew in hopes that if his soul could be ruined, it could also be repaired. Again, from the influence of Henry, Dorian is made to believe his new ways are not from true self-reproach but just another way in which he can explore and manipulate his own soul. With confirmation from the introspective portrait of him, Dorian is convinced repentance is futile and stabs the portrait, killing himself.
Lord Henry Wotton. The enigmatic and highly-influential upper-class Lord changes little throughout, serving as the story’s voice of narcissism, hedonism and aestheticism from beginning to end. Ever controversial, he seeks to plant the seed and spectate how it will grow, he opens the door of the maze to Dorian and lets Dorian close the door behind him.
Basil Hallward. If Henry was the devil on Dorian’s shoulder, Basil is the angel. Distanced from Dorian after Dorian finds more entertainment in sticking close to Henry, Basil sinks to the background of the story, hardly talked about and talked about unimpressively. But when chance brings Basil and Dorian together again, Basil acts as Dorian’s last voice of good and reason, before meeting a gruesome end drawn from the hatred of his greatest work.
Sibyl Vane. A young and tender girl working a modest acting career in one of London’s less glamorous boroughs, her naivety of the world around her brings a purity and truth to her acting that entices and enthrals Dorian into falling recklessly in love with her. But upon finding real love, she realises the superficiality of her work and the genuineness from that is moved to her love for Dorian.
Character Motivation:
Dorian Gray. Like an untainted child, Dorian has little direction or conception of the world at the beginning of the novel, his concerns are that of getting his portrait taken by the equally unadventurous Basil. Having met Henry however, he is disillusioned with the fear of his mortality and decay; so much so he wishes to that his portrait take the burden of years in place of him. Upon realising the portrait will do just as he desired and act as the visible symbol of his soul, he seeks about relishing in every delight and temptation that his body takes. A puppet to Henry and the ‘yellow book’ he receives from him. When by chance, he escapes a vendetta, he is driven to cleanse himself but finds in that the futility of living a moral life when he threw morals to the ground years ago.
Lord Henry Wotton. Henry is motivated by little but the simple satisfaction of his interests, the main one being the observation of Dorian under his direction. He views life as something to experience from the outside than the in. Little impacts Henry as his fulfilment of being a bystander to life leaves him impervious to its events, those that surround him are left to be his audience whilst Basil is the only word of good around him and is the only one shocked by his ideas and lifestyle.
The Plot:
Oscar Wilde realises his introspection on morality and retrospection on the 19th century aristocracy wonderfully in the plot. It’s difficult to say whether the story was as I thought it would be because I’ve read it previously and even then, had some knowledge of its story before that. The plot takes us from the early days of a developing Dorian straight to fifteen or so years later, after his accumulation of sin and material goods has given him an infamous reputation of scandal and moral misconduct around London’s upper class. The story develops from the realisation of one’s gifts to the entertaining of every temptation on an immoral encompass to the reproach of these sins and the emptiness in trying to walk back down the path of time and degradation on one’s soul.
Key Themes Emerging:
Hedonism. Aestheticism. Narcissism. Vanity. Sin. Purity. Moral. Art. Social Class. Love. Hate. Temptation. Crime. Youth. Supernatural. Corruption. Soul.
