Essay

The novel The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is a tale of moral corruption by the means of aesthetic beauty. It is a story of how a naive young man sells his soul for the price of eternal beauty.In this novel, Basil Hallward presented a young Dorian Gray with a portrait of himself. After speaking with Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian made a wish that changed his life forever. This story emphasizes its disapproval over the love over aesthetics, which has many negative impacts on the main characters and their lives. The three key characters meet some form of personal tragedy as a result of their love for aesthetics. Basil Hallward's aestheticism is visible in his dedication to his artistic creations. It is Dorian’s love for physical beauty and carefree lifestyle that destroys the lives of all who he comes in contact with. It is these physical obsessions that destroy the lives of each character in this novel. In the end we find out that maintaing all the earthly pleasures isn't the way to live. In the road of life, there are many paths to be taken, but one needs to make a path of their own. Young adults are pressured into taking this leap from following other’s paths, to create a path of their own, and to finally discover who they are and to live how they want to live. Society, from the moment a person is born, puts ideal lifestyles in one’s head, and shows the different ways to live, not yet giving one the opportunity to discover who they are. This creates turmoil in teenagers’ lives, since it’s hard to create their own personal identity without being influenced by others’ morals and values on how to live their lives. This novel stresses the importance of aging and wisdom by showing the death and destruction that pleasure can eventually bring. I believe that we all need to understand that in life we all get to enjoy our youth and beauty but it will fade.