The Universal Glass Mirror: A Study in the Personification of Evil in Oscar Wildeâs Picture of Dorian Gray

Bethany Dahlstrom

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The Universal Glass Mirror: A Study in the Personification of Evil in Oscar Wildeâs Picture of Dorian Gray

In: I Want to Do Bad Things: Modern Interpretations of Evil

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Bethany Dahlstrom

Bethany Dahlstrom
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 111â119

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9781848883307_012

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George Bernard Shaw wrote, âYou use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul.â Oscar Wilde, a famous British playwright of the Victorian period, wrote one novel, within which he placed a beautiful, rich, young man named Dorian Gray and an even more beautiful painting, a work of art that allowed Dorian to view his soul in a way that no man has ever been able to do so. After exchanging his soul for the youth and beauty of the painting, with sick ambition, Dorian indulges in every vile activity he can, culminating in murder. His behaviour is nearly psychopathic â he practices vice and rejects virtue, he exercises no remorse in his actions or relationships, and his impulses reign unchecked. Society becomes wary of this man who never ages, who always takes what he wants with no thought of the consequences. Yet, even when it seems that Dorian has reached the ultimate corruption, he wrestles with the idea of redemption. This chapter will examine both the corruption that Dorian faces, as well as whether or not human evil can find redemption. Why is it that Dorian stems his psychopathic behaviour and questions whether or not he could be redeemed? Why does he choose to end his own life instead of face the full consequences of his actions? In stabbing his painting, is Dorian exercising control over his pattern of evil or simply becoming even more selfish in his actions? This chapter will examine how the novel acts as societyâs mirror to its soul and show that Dorian himself is a mirror within which we are warned of the decay that human wickedness brings.

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I Want to Do Bad Things: Modern Interpretations of Evil

E-Book ISBN:: 9781848883307

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 01 Jan 2014

Subjects
- Philosophy
  - Ethics & Moral Philosophy
- Social Sciences
  - Cultural Studies

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The Universal Glass Mirror: A Study in the Personification of Evil in Oscar Wildeâs Picture of Dorian Gray

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I Want to Do Bad Things: Modern Interpretations of Evil

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The Universal Glass Mirror: A Study in the Personification of Evil in Oscar Wildeâs Picture of Dorian Gray