The Picture of Dorian Gray #1

The youth and beauty of Dorian Gray says a lot about the novel as a whole. Not only does it flow smoothly with Wilde’s adherence to the aesthetic movement, but it provides a basis for the audience to sensually capture the meaning of the text. The aesthetic movement is characterized by the belief that art serves only as a purpose to be beautiful and appealing to the senses. Oscar Wilde incorporates this theme rather quickly in his only novel. As Lord Henry admires Dorian’s beauty in person he acknowledges that Dorian was “wonderfully handsome, with his finely curved scarlet lips, his frank blue eyes, [and] his crisp gold hair” (11). Lord Henry’s fixation on Dorian’s beauty, not only in the portrait that he saw, but also in person says a lot about how Oscar Wilde preferred his work to be interpreted. The very delicate adverbs, “wonderfully” and “finely” display a soothing sense. Wilde’s ultimate goal is to make the readers of his novel understand the true importance of the aesthetic movement and to understand art in its most simplistic form: its beauty. By using extravagantly clean and smooth adjectives and imagery, Wilde is successful is making the appearance of Dorian Gray, both in the portrait and in person, appealing. Without such purpose, the meaning behind the aesthetic movement would be lost and the words of Oscar Wilde would only be remembered as stark imagery that carried little to no meaning.