Le Comte
05-24-2005, 06:07 PM
Dorian Gray is an exceptional work that seeks to invite the reader to see the corruption of youth. But more than that Wilde was making a sweeping social statement on the way life was lived. The famous comment 'Art for arts' sake' can be taken to mean a variety of different things. Firstly it is the lack of emotional morality that is being displayed in the world. Also it shows a lack of direction for the characters themselves and shows an insight into the loss of direction that takes hold of Dorians' character later in the novel. From the slightly nervous, haughty character at the beginning of the book, Dorian mutates after his exposure to Wotton and becomes the wanton, lustful and ultimately deranged character we see at the end of the novel. This is the tragedy of Dorian Gray at his untimely demise. It also leaves me wondering if the youthful portrait at the end of the play becomes a prison for the soul of Dorian. This could be another link to the way Wilde saw the world as of from the other side of a pane of glass, unable to contact or change it.