Dorian Gray Epigrams

Words: 1529
Pages: 7
Open Document
Epigrams in The Picture of Dorian Gray are used to portray Oscar Wilde’s belief that the society of Victorian England is corrupt because of its over-objectification of beauty and ignorant, narcissistic personality. The epigrams serve as a way for Wilde to directly address the issues that he sees occurring around him. The mentality of those living in Victorian England has a progressive path of destruction. The base issue is their narcissism and obsession with others’ impressions of themselves and this mindset leads to an obsession with aesthetics while simultaneously disregarding intellectual values that one might possess. Disregarding the value of thought and intellect leads one to misinterpret the meaning of art, which is the primary reason …show more content…
Wilde sees this obsession as destructive and utterly absurd. While discussing how life had been quite dull for both Basil and Lord Henry, Lord Henry suggests that, “Sin is the only real colour-element left in modern life” Wilde. Page 42) meaning that sinning is the only aspect of life that is ever to color the dull landscape of what it had become. While subtly foreshadowing the deterioration of Dorian Gray, the reader is introduced to the idea of a most certain tragedy. If sinning is the only way to bring life to a dull and boring world, how is anyone to live peacefully? The foreshadowing then becomes a reality for Dorian Gray after being cursed with infinite beauty and youth. The realness of life had been extracted by the presence of infinite beauty. Upon realizing the lack of emotion, Dorian realized that, “Ugliness that had once been hateful to him because it made things real, became dear to him now for that very reason. Ugliness was the one reality”(Wilde.Pg 215). He had been so caught up in the surreality and of beauty that he lost touch with his life. He was no longer able to live a normal life, craving something to bring him down from his everlasting high on superficial beauty. The use of epigrams outline the key aspects in Dorian’s downfall, which sheds light on Oscar Wilde’s harsh critiques of the over-objectification of beauty in Victorian
Show More

Related Documents: Dorian Gray Epigrams

The Importance Of Being Earnest Epigram Essay

laughs from his audience, who are probably of that class. This epigram probably comes from Wilde’s love of aesthetics to hide truth in what is completely “meaningless.” The use of this epigram is to add a thought to the audience while hiding it as a joke, showing his cleverness. In the late 1800s, England had a very rich high society as did many other European countries, and it could not be entered into by any random peasant. This epigram pokes fun at this idea, as Algernon is clearly not insulting…

Words 682 - Pages 3