The Picture of Dorian Gray #8

The final pages of The Picture of Dorian Gray suggest that Dorian is suffering from his insubordination in following the guidelines of aestheticism. It can be inferred that Oscar Wilde uses Dorian as an example for the audience to distinguish the consequences of not enjoying art for its true meaning and beauty. Throughout the novel, Dorian has been so fixated on the fact that he does not want to age that he allows the portrait Basil paints for him to become corrupt.  It conceals the evil nature of Dorian behind a wall of paint and frames. When Dorian becomes frustrated with the paintings irreversible effects, he stabs the portrait only to be found “lying on the floor…in [an] evening dress, with a knife in his heart” (165). However, it is understood that when Dorian’s caretakers find him in the attic, the portrait resembled “a splendid [picture] of their master…in all the wonder of his exquisite youth and beauty” (165). The roles of the portrait and Dorian have changed. Now that Dorian has committed all of his wrongdoings and realized this, he tries to escape the madness by destroying the portrait he believes to be the source of his corruption. However, with Dorian dead and the portrait in mint condition, it is understood that the portrait was not corrupt, but simply concealing the true identity of the hedonistic fiend that has fallen before it. This role change exemplifies the purpose of the book, where one should only find the beauty in art. Dorian has made little effort to search for beauty he originally sought as a young man, and now that he has become increasingly more corrupt, the consequences have finally caught up to him. Perhaps the death of Dorian is merely a representation of our moral and personal hedonistic feelings, where in fact one should be searching for the beauty in art, not letting the pleasure that accompanies it control our desires.