Dorian Gray
The only novel by Oscar Wilde is The Portrait of Dorian Gray
The first publish version, although sanctioned, had caused a huge scandal in the Victorian society for being too explicit
The complete version only came in print in 2011
I have yet to read this book
The story is well known
People typically use the theme as a cautionary tale
"Don t sell your soul to the devil for beauty and youth"
Dorian Gray became synonymous for vanity and moral corruption
The above I know not from reading the book but from bits and pieces gathered over the years on the subject
This is how influential this book has been
People who have never read it know what Dorian Gray is about
The 2009 movie treatment of Dorian Gray has an interesting twist
The screen writer pushed the time frame all the way to British women suffrage movement thus making Dorian older in age when he s back from self imposed exile
Also the symbol of redemption was changed from a young lass unrelated to any central character to Lord Wotton s only daughter
I thought about the many themes and influences in the book and in Oscar Wilde while watching the film
It s hard to separate a writer from his work in this case
Wilde was a controversial figure in Victorian England
He s a man ahead of his time
He loved beauty and had his own set of value system
I got the feeling that he had first hand knowledge in debauchery in the repressive Victorian era
From all accounts it seems that the more the public condemns, the more some want to break the rules or are intrigued by pushing the limit in sensory pursuit
Think of the 60 s and 70 s, the sexual freedom, hippie movement, and drug use
They all seemed to be symbols of rebellion against the value from the 40 s and 50 s
The following is my take of Dorian Gray the 2009 film, not the book
*the genesis*
Dorian is but a misguided youth who came into a sudden wealth
He didn t have a strong positive influence growing up
A cruel grandfather who hated the sight of him beat him savagely and left him to be raised by paid caretakers
Despite his upbringing, Dorian is basically a romantic; wide eyed and full of good intention
But he lacks the moral conviction and the ability to discern bad intention
His youth and lack of sophistication made him an easy target in decadent London society and easily influenced by a mentor figure in Lord Wotton
The painter Basil who painted Dorian s portrait represented God
He saw good and beauty in young Dorian
He thus "created" Dorian as how he saw him for the portrait
When he hung out with Dorian and Lord Wotton, he s often the voice of reason and caution
Like God, Basil didn t strong arm Dorian to go his way, the decency way
Basil allowed Dorian the freedom to choose
*the downward spiral*
The first chink in Dorian s destruction was love
He fell for an actress and she him
It was a blush of first love full of hope, discovery, and joy
Dorian, unfortunately, was tempted by Wotton to smoke opium and let loose in a whore house
As a result he became tainted and discredited the actress declaration of love for him
She of course was disillusioned and heartbroken
She killed herself
After, Dorian saw the first worm under the skin of his face in his portrait
When Dorian killed Basil after Basil saw the beautiful picture he had painted of Dorian turning nasty, it signified a turning point for Dorian
Dorian turned away from God and completely gave himself to hedonism
The death of the painter also crystallized the difference between Dorian and Wotton
Up until then Wotton seemed a leader and enabler
But once Dorian gave in to the dark side
Dorian was no longer a follower
He s on his own to debauch and destroy others
Wotton, as cynical and amoral as he appealed to be, was in fact a talker, not a doer
Basil the painter had warned Dorian early on not to believe half of what Wotton said to him because Wotton himself didn t believe in half of what he had said
Haven t we all known some people like Wotton?
They talk big a great deal
They say things to make them sounding like rebels and rule breakers
However, they don t do half of what they say they believe
Lip service not back up by action
Many revolutions were carried out not by those who originated the ideas but by the followers who took the ideas to heart and acted upon them
Who sins more when the matter is moral corruption and debauchery?
Dorian who had spent decades doing the dirty or Wotton the propeller who led Dorian to the path?
*the redemption*
Is it possible for Dorian to redeem himself?
The purity of his first brush with love was what he thought he needed to redeem his life
The love from Wotton s daughter was it to Dorian
It was as if she has the power to restore him back to the idealistic youth he once was
She said she saw the good in him
To a drowning man these words formed a life boat in a stormy sea
Yet realistically can he really??
In the film we saw flashes of ugliness after he and Emily Wotton had consummated the love
All the bad things he had done haunted him
Emily s love and devotion didn t wash away the past deeds
How could he forget all the things he had done to himself and to others?
Emily s trust and admiration may only exacerbate the conflict inside him
The allegory lifted from the Bible by the screen writer was evident
The wage of sin is death
The redemption is only from God, not from men
Dorian had tried to get forgiveness from a priest in the confession chamber
Priest could not forgive him if he could not confess his sins
He could not
Dorian s death by fire is also a form of purification
To protect Emily from seeing the monster on the painting and certain death by gas explosion, Dorian turned her away and chose to die when the fire in the attic hit the ripped out gas lamp
Assuming the alternative is that Dorian and Emily made it to America (the new world) with the portrait
Could they really live happily ever after, with Dorian retaining his youth and the portrait with all the decay and maggots?
How long can young Emily be in the dark? That her beloved is actually an old man with an extremely sordid past that involved murder, addictions, and sex acts of every kind
I think my own cynicism is showing by asking this sort of questions
I don t believe it s possible for Dorian to redeem himself with Emily s love
Anything short of Alzheimer s won t do
Yet if Bible and God s promise are to be believed, to be whole and clean a sinner must confess his sins
Dorian, if he could have shown Emily his portrait, may have gotten his forgiveness and redemption
Emily could have been the angel that would have saved him
Just like Basil could have been God himself to create that portrait and warn him of Wotton s duplicity
*conclusion*
Dorian Gray could be Oscar Wilde s cautionary tale, self fulfilled prophesy, his own harshest critique, and the sharpest observation of human s weakness facing temptation and inability to obtain redemption
Do you see Dorian Gray in your reflection in the mirror?
I think we all have some Dorian inside
The love of beauty
The pursue of forever young
The failure to turn from destructive path
The inability to own up to mistakes and to make a clean break
The yearning for acceptance, love, and a moral life
*bonus*
Oscar Wilde is the king of Bon mots
His life was short and not all his years productive
But in what he had written he was brilliant in dropping the most delicious one liners
I can t believe how many of them in this movie that I ve heard of being said and used
I had no idea they came from Wilde
No wonder he got so much mileage out of his scant output
He s probably more quoted than King Shakespeare |
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