The Picture of Dorian Gray: Use of Mirrors Essay Example

notices the picture is slightly different than earlier as it now bears a elusive smear “The shaking. ardent sunshine showed him the lines of inhuman treatment unit of ammunition the oral cavity every bit clearly as if he had been looking into a mirror after he had done some awful thing. ” ( 78 ) His want has come true. as the portrayal will age with each wickedness Dorian commits. while his outward visual aspect of an highly good looking immature adult male stays integral. The picture maps as mirror because it reflects the spectator’s ( Dorian’s ) sins. and besides expresses the evil of his psyche. On the reverse. an existent mirror merely reflects back what is in forepart of it. and nil more.

With the usage of the portrayal and mirror. these points help with the character development of Dorian Gray. A reader can see how Dorian positions himself when he faces a mirror: “and base. with a mirror. in forepart of the portrayal that Basil Hallward [ has ] painted of him. looking now at the immorality and aging face on the canvas. and now at the just immature face that laughed back at him from the polished glass. ” ( 109 ) The mirror aids Dorian to acknowledge that he still is a fine-looking looking immature adult male. while the portrayal portrays the evil workss that Dorian commits. The subject of hedonism arises besides. which is where pleasance is the extreme of import end in life. and Dorian seeks this pleasance from his visual aspect and can accomplish this by looking at a mirror.

Hedonism is a major subject in the novel. and

mirrors help to set up and keep this subject throughout the book. Character development is besides acknowledged through the usage of mirrors. every bit good as how art is in the oculus of the perceiver which is described in the foreword. The art is in the oculus of the perceiver phrase is fascinating. as Oscar Wilde’s book is controversial confronting monolithic unfavorable judgments. such as people concerned with homosexualism. during the publication of his book. The phrase within the foreword refering mirrors helps shed visible radiation on the contention associated with the book. Mirrors reflect us. yet as portrayed in this book they can reflect our inner ego.

Plants Cited

Wilde. Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. New York: Oxford University Press. 1998.