What is significant of the portrait being kept hidden in the house in Dorian Gray?
Firstly, I’d like to pay your attention to the correct name of the novel “The picture of Dorian Gray”. This novel was written by Oscar Wilde at the end of the 19th century. In spite of this year of appearance it’s problematic and ideology wholly belongs to the 20th century and by the artistic language ”“ European symbolism and the same to modernism and neomifologism. In addition the problem of correlation of text and reality as problem of entropy time is first put in this work. In concept of culture of the 20th century developed on the pages of this dictionary “The picture of Dorian Gray” plays a nearly less role in the culture of the 20th century which, for example, “Doctor Faustus” by Thomas Manna.
I’d like to remain briefly the subject of the novel for better understanding the role of the picture and the attitude of Dorian to it. An artist Basil Hallward wrote the remarkable picture of young and noble very handsome guy Dorian Gray. An artist inlaid so much soul in this picture, that wants him nowhere to propose and presented to Dorian. At this juncture appears the university friend of artist lord Henry, who is cynic and immoral, glorifying “new Hedonism”, the man who “always talks immoral things, but never does not do them”. He complains on that beauty of Dorian Gray will dim soon, and a picture always will remind him of his youth. The rhetoric of Lord Henry is so contagious, that Mr. Gray is in despair. He decides to let a portrait ages better, and he remains always young. Lord Henry begins to play an enormous role in antieducation of Dorian Gray, orienting him on aestheticism, hedonism and easy attitude toward morality.
We can’t leave without our attention Dorian’s house, because this place has own atmosphere and house also influence on Dorian obliquely. When the picture was in Dorian’s hands he wanted to take it of. Dorian needed to hide the portrait and he hides his own portrait in a remote upper room of his house, where only Dorian can watch its transformation. I want to mention that Dorian’s house is a symbolic place where the master hides all his new treasures, as well as all, that were collected by Dorian Gray in his previous hobbies. Own house for Dorian Gray is a mystic place where he can’t find a rest because of all things that were there and may be we can say that in Dorian’s house his things lived more than their master.
Let’s talk about the girl Sibyl, because she plays considerable role in Dorian’s life and her appearance influenced on the main character attitude to the life. Sibyl begins badly playing on the stage because of her overcoming love to Dorian, who parts with her without regret, saying her cruel words. Sibyl is ended her living by suicide, and Gray, by chance giving a glance on a picture, notices that a picture’s changed – a hard fold appeared on lips. So, his desire came true – from now will become his conscience on a picture, he will get older, and Dorian will remain always young. Inspired by Lord Henry Dorian Gray allows in all severe. He conducts the dissipated and immoral way of life which only can be imagined and just his charm and strange not growing dim at the years compel society not to turn away from him, although many gossips go about him. Decades pass, but he remains young and wonderful, his picture changes only, becoming all uglier, but about it nobody knows, except for himself; he carefully hid a portrait in the secluded room of the house. An artist Basil comes to exhort Dorian. Dorian shows him a picture, and then in conniption kills an artist. A picture becomes yet more terrible. Submerging all anymore in the abyss of vice, Gray can not stop. On a picture he looks already a disgusting old man. In the attack of fury Gray makes at a picture with a knife, but kills itself the same, growing into the dead body of disgusting old man, while on a picture the look of wonderful youth is restored. I will appeal now to mythological reminiscences of novel. Foremost, Dorian Gray provided with a number of nicknames, by the names of mythological handsome guys who have had such names as Adonis, Paris, Antinoy, and Narcissus. The last name goes near him, certainly, more than all. In a myth it is talked about Narcissus, that a prophet Tiresiy predicted the parents of wonderful youth, that will live to be old, if will never see the person. A Narcissus by chance looks in water, sees in it the reflection and dies from love to itself. Dorian Gray is in love with the “second I” of a picture, for hours looks at him and even kisses him. At the end of novel, when a picture replaces him, Gray growingly falls in love in the beauty and, not surviving beauty of the body and, on a contrast, disgusting of the soul which shows a portrait him, in fact ends by itself, dies, as Narcissus, from love to himself.
Thus, taking into account all above mentioned we can conclude that The Picture of Dorian Gray it is a decadent variant of mythology of Dostoevsky that beauty will rescue the world. Beauty ruins personality, because it is the real not beauty, but devilish, that shows a picture which is kept for Dorian Gray. For a transaction it is necessary to disburse with a devil. All history, happening with Dorian Gray, – it’s a devilish delusion: killed, Gray becomes such ugly, what must be, and a picture again grows into text – rebalancing. For my opinion, Dorian’s house plays also an interesting role in the story because this place, where Dorian lived and collected his treasures, appends the elements of mystic and once more remind us about situations when we become hostages of our things of our own free will and forget that true emotions and feelings concluded in people and relations between them.