Beautiful Bodies and Sincere Souls
In his Victorian narrative The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde utilizes syntax to portray the connection between the body and the soul. Wilde employs simple sentences to portray how society cares more about one’s physical appearance than one’s spiritual self. Wilde expresses Dorian Gray’s thoughts on the continuously changing portrait by writing, “For there would be a real pleasure in watching it. He would be able to follow his mind into its secret places… Like the gods of the Greeks, he would be strong, and fleet, and joyous. What did it matter what happened to the colored image on the canvas? He would be safe. That was everything” (Wilde 118). The use of simple sentences gives the reader a sense of virtually being inside society’s mind and allows the reader to…show more content… Thoughts are not censored nor are they grammatically correct when inside one’s brain. Instead, the sentences are short, straight forward, and contain authentic emotions. The simple question “What did it matter what happened to the colored image on the canvas?”, and the simple statements “He would be safe” and “That was everything” suggest that it would be dangerous for one to publicly have an ugly appearance but a clean soul. Society demands each person look their very best, giving no thought to one’s spiritual health. Individuals, during the Victorian Era, expected refined etiquette and dress, otherwise, the opposite gender would deem them as an unsuitable partner. Furthermore, Wilde comprises cumulative sentences into his horrifying novel to display how the body mimics the soul. Wilde explains
