Dorian gray – the symbol of sin and redemption in the picture of dorian gray by oscar wilde

Among diverse subjects of research in literature, the novel “The picture of Dorian Gray” with the study subject entitled “Dorian Gray the Symbol of Sin and Redemption” is chosen by the researcher for this thesis. The love for the classic novel and the interest in the theme of sin and redemption symbolized by Dorian Gray have adequately accounted for the researcher’s choice. Firstly, “The picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde is a thoughtprovoking novel that leaves worldwide readers, particularly the researcher, a distinct and favorable impression from its very first story lines. The novel, in spite of undergoing harsh criticism for the socalled abusive and immoral book right after its first appearance in 1890, still lives through time to capture literaturelovers’ hearts after more than 120 years. Oscar Wilde’s only novel also receives broad support and appreciation from a number of famous authors over time. W. B. Yeats, the winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1923, called the novel a wonderful book in the United Ireland of September 26, 1891. Besides, Arthur Conan Doyle, James Joyce and Joyce Carol Oates are among those writers who are supportive of the novel and its author. Nowadays, after more than a century since its first publication, “The picture of Dorian Gray” is “recognized as one of the classics of English literature, a masterpiece of findesiècle Aestheticism and in many respects a harbinger of the Modernist movement” (Allen 2011). With such great honors, the novel proves itself worthy of the study subject. Secondly, among primary themes addressed in the novel, that of sin and redemption deals with the moral value as well as the ethical issue that remains burning in the modern times. Each character in the novel has to pay a particular price for the sins they have committed. Painter Basil Hallward, who commits an “artistic sin” of overstepping the boundary of art to express too much of himself in his work the portrait of Dorian Gray, has to pay his life for that. Other people whose sins are letting themselves negatively influenced and manipulated by Dorian also pay an expensive price, i.e. their tarnished reputations, ruined careers and even tragic ends. Especially, Dorian Gray, the protagonist of the novel who commits numerous sins of murdering and corrupting other people, has to redeem himself by the torment, restlessness and obsession with his horrible sins during his double life, and eventually by his agonizing death. Dorian, with sins after sins and redemption after redemption, has become the symbol of sin and redemption reflected in the novel. Through this main character, readers could see most clearly the tragedy and the tragic end of a sinner; and they could absorb more the valuable lesson of life: a sinner will have to be punished for his sins, sooner or later. In this regard, the researcher deems it meaningful and important to investigate the sin and redemption symbolized by Dorian in details. To sum up, the special interest in the great novel of Oscar Wilde and in the theme of sin and redemption reflected mainly through the protagonist of this novel has motivated the researcher to work on the thesis entitled “Dorian Gray the Symbol of Sin and Redemption in “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde”. This thesis research is carried out with the belief and the hope that it would benefit readers at least by arousing their awareness of the lesson of sin and redemption.

PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Among diverse subjects of research in literature, the novel “The picture of Dorian Gray” with the study subject entitled “Dorian Gray - the Symbol of Sin and Redemption” is chosen by the researcher for this thesis. The love for the classic novel and the interest in the theme of sin and redemption symbolized by Dorian Gray have adequately accounted for the researcher’s choice. Firstly, “The picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde is a thought-provoking novel that leaves world-wide readers, particularly the researcher, a distinct and favorable impression from its very first story lines. The novel, in spite of undergoing harsh criticism for the so-called abusive and immoral book right after its first appearance in 1890, still lives through time to capture literature-lovers’ hearts after more than 120 years. Oscar Wilde’s only novel also receives broad support and appreciation from a number of famous authors over time. W. B. Yeats, the winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1923, called the novel a "wonderful book" in the United Ireland of September 26, 1891. Besides, Arthur Conan Doyle, James Joyce and Joyce Carol Oates are among those writers who are supportive of the novel and its author. Nowadays, after more than a century since its first publication, “The picture of Dorian Gray” is “recognized as one of the classics of English literature, a masterpiece of fin-de-siècle Aestheticism and in many respects a harbinger of the Modernist movement” (Allen 2011). With such great honors, the novel proves itself worthy of the study subject. Secondly, among primary themes addressed in the novel, that of sin and redemption deals with the moral value as well as the ethical issue that remains burning in the modern times. Each character in the novel has to pay a particular price for the sins they have committed. Painter Basil Hallward, who commits an “artistic sin” of overstepping the boundary of art to express too much of himself in his work- the portrait of Dorian Gray, has to pay his life for that. Other people whose sins are letting 1 themselves negatively influenced and manipulated by Dorian also pay an expensive price, i.e. their tarnished reputations, ruined careers and even tragic ends. Especially, Dorian Gray, the protagonist of the novel who commits numerous sins of murdering and corrupting other people, has to redeem himself by the torment, restlessness and obsession with his horrible sins during his double life, and eventually by his agonizing death. Dorian, with sins after sins and redemption after redemption, has become the symbol of sin and redemption reflected in the novel. Through this main character, readers could see most clearly the tragedy and the tragic end of a sinner; and they could absorb more the valuable lesson of life: a sinner will have to be punished for his sins, sooner or later. In this regard, the researcher deems it meaningful and important to investigate the sin and redemption symbolized by Dorian in details. To sum up, the special interest in the great novel of Oscar Wilde and in the theme of sin and redemption reflected mainly through the protagonist of this novel has motivated the researcher to work on the thesis entitled “Dorian Gray- the Symbol of Sin and Redemption in “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde”. This thesis research is carried out with the belief and the hope that it would benefit readers at least by arousing their awareness of the lesson of sin and redemption. 2. Aims and objectives This graduation paper aims to give a close and careful investigation into a small aspect of sin and redemption, the basic theme in the novel “The picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde. More specifically, this research is restricted to the sin and redemption symbolized by the leading character Dorian Gray with two major objectives as follow: • To critically analyze the sins Dorian commits in his double life in comparison with other characters’ sins to show that Dorian is the symbol of sin the novel. • To carefully examine Dorian’s redemption for his endless list of sins in comparison with other characters’ redemption to demonstrate that Dorian is also the symbol of redemption in the novel. 2 3. Significance of the study The thesis works on the 19 th -century classic novel of English literature “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, which a lot of Vietnamese readers may not have had the opportunity to taste. Moreover, the study subject of sin and redemption symbolized by Dorian Gray in the novel is quite interesting and meaningful for readers to explore and contemplate. Besides, the researcher’s choice of subject in this thesis is probably the new one among those studies on literature in Vietnam. For these reasons, it is believed by the researcher that the thesis would serve as an useful reference material for those who have read and loved “The picture of Dorian Gray”, as a recommendation and motivation for those who have not gotten access to Oscar Wilde’s only novel to read and enjoy it, and as an available source for future related studies. 4. Scope of the study As a classic and thought-provoking novel, “The picture of Dorian Gray” deserves to be the satisfactory subject of numerous studies. Appearently, any careful and thorough investigation into any aspect of the novel is worthwhile and valuable. Each reader may be struck by each different character, theme and aspect successfully developed in the novel. One may want to explore Lord Henry with his personal influence and manipulation. Others may desire to study the dual nature in Dorian Gray. As for the researcher, the theme of sin and redemption that runs through the novel is interesting and meaningful enough to be investigated. Restricted in a graduation paper within the time constraint, this study only focuses on the sins and redemption symbolized by the protagonist Dorian Gray. What the researcher is trying to explore and analyse in the thesis is expected to focuse on this single aspect of the novel. 5. Research methodology The qualitative approach is employed by the researcher as the key research methodology for this study. Qualitative research is defined as a type of scientific 3 research that “is concerned with developing explanations of social phenomena” (Hancook 1998). Advantages of qualitative research are acknowledged in the “Qualitative Research Methods: A Data Collector’s Field Guide”: The strength of qualitative research is its ability to provide complex textual descriptions of how people experience a given research issue. It provides information about the “human” side of an issue – that is, the often contradictory behaviors, beliefs, opinions, emotions, and relationships of individuals. Qualitative methods are also effective in identifying intangible factors, such as social norms, socioeconomic status, gender roles, ethnicity, and religion, whose role in the research issue may not be readily apparent. When used along with quantitative methods, qualitative research can help us to interpret and better understand the complex reality of a given situation and the implications of quantitative data. With the qualitative approach applied, the research is conducted through a three-phase procedure as follow: • Phase 1: Collecting qualitative data. The novel “The picture of Dorian Gray” and a number of critical reviews on the chosen research subject were retrieved from reliable sources on the internet. Other necessary reference materials were also found in the library of English department. • Phase 2: Handling qualitative data First of all, the researcher thoroughly and carefully examined the novel to find out all of the sins that Dorian commits and the redemption he has to take up for each of his sin. Besides, the research highlighted the important quotes in the novel to provide evidences for the analysis. Next, the researcher investigated all collected materials and reviews on the study subject to form ideas for the research paper. Valuable opinions of other authors were also quoted and noted to serve as supporting ideas for the analysis. • Phase 3: Analyzing and presenting qualitative data Dorian’s sins and redemption were grouped and analyzed in comparison with other characters’ to demonstrate that Dorian is the symbol of sin and redemption in the novel. 4 PART 2:DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE THEORY 1.1. Literature 1.1.1. Definition of Literature Literature is such a broad concept that there is no precise one ever given among thousands of definitions about it. The subject is so inspiring, charming and appealing to so many people, especially those who are writers, that each of them seems to embrace a different view on it. In the world of British Indian novelist Salman Rushdie, literature is where the author goes “to explore the highest and lowest places in human society and in the human spirit”, where he hopes “to find not absolute truth but the truth of the tale, of the imagination and of the heart”. In the imagination of Colombian journalist Gabriel Garcia Marquez, “ultimately, literature is nothing but carpentry. With both you are working with reality, a material just as hard as wood”. More literally difined, “literature is a performance in words” (Robert Frost ). It may be anything written, either in sense of any writing or in sense of a verbal work of art that mirrors life in every aspect of its. “Literature is a picture, more or less true, more or less inspiring, of actual life” (Naeem 2010). 1.1.2. Functions of literature As a multifunctional phenomenon, literature performs four major functions, namely raising awareness function, educational function, aesthetic function, and communicative function. 1.1.2.1. Raising awareness function The raising awareness function of literature is the ability of literature to respond to human need for knowing about the world. Literature provides humans with the encyclopedic knowledge of life. The reality is faithfully reflected in literary works with the vast knowledge of geography, history, customs, culture, etc. of a people or an era. Notably, behind those paintings of nature, tradition and history underly human spiritual life and destiny. Besides, literature helps readers recognize the general in the particular, the novelty of the familiar. Last but not least, literature helps readers to be 5 intensely aware of the true value of their life and things around them, to strive for happiness, to live a meaningful life and cherish their life. 1.1.2.2. Educational function Literature provokes humans’ emotion and nurtures their soul. Through the reality reflected, literature awakes human’s conscience, teaching them to love, to hate, to share and to sympathize with others. It teaches people to feel contempt for the betrayal, the cruelty, and encourages them to believe in the final victory of the good. Besides, literature helps to cultivate humans’ social attitudes and ethics. People see themselves mirrored in literature; therefore, they realize what is good in them to promote and what is not good to improve. In this way, literature helps people perfect their personality. Secondly, literature helps to shape humans’ views and ideals of politics and society. There once was a generation of soldiers embracing the noble ideal of heroic characters in such famous books as “The Gadfly”, “How the Steel Was Tempered”, “War and Peace” to live resiliently through fierce challenges of war. On the whole, literature, with moral lessons inculcated in people’s mind, uplifts them, helps them to live more positive and meaningful. 1.1.2.3. Aesthetic function Literature satisfies readers’ need for the aestheticism and the beauty. It brings to them pleasure and happiness when being touched by a literary work. It gives them a chance to commune with the beauty of life crystallized in a work of art. Literature can also satisfy people’s aesthetic pleasure with vibrant images, interesting storylines, and special characters. Readers’ aesthetic pleasure is also evoked by the reality, whether being pleasant or harsh, transferred from real life into literature. Aesthetic function is performed when readers’ dreams are realized and fulfilled through literature, when readers are aware of the aesthetic value of literature reflected through the language, the symbol used in the literary work, and through the moral and humane messages or lessons that it conveys. 1.1.2.4. Communicative function With the communicative function, literature helps people understand each other and bridge the gap among them. In literary works, there exists two-way interaction 6 between writers and readers. Therefore, reading a literary work, any reader, though has never met or talked with the writer before, can feel what the writer feels as if they were bosom friends. Literature helps to bring the voice of one nation to others so that they can know each other better. Through the novel “How Steel Was Tempered” by Nikolai A. Ostrovsky, people around the world can know the intense fighting spirit, the unshakable belief, the desire to dedicate, to burn a full life for the fatherland, the revolution of the Russian (Lê Lưu Oanh – Phạm Đăng Dư 2008). 1.2. Novel 1.2.1. Definition of novel The word “novel” comes from the Italian word “novella” which means a little new thing, and is related to a French word that gave us “news” (Barnet, Berman, Berto and Cain, 1997). Deriving from this sense, a novel in literature, is defined by Abel Chevalley as “a fiction in prose of a certain extent” of over 50, 000 words ( as cited in Forster, 1954). 1.2.2. Features of a novel A novel is known as a pocket theater in a sense that the language of the novel creates the scene and action in the reader's mind. In other words, the novel can bring readers into the vivid world of characters. It tells detailed stories of characters; however, it is quite distinguished from a short story. “The short story, too, is detailed, but commonly it reveals only a single character at a moment of crisis, whereas the novel commonly traces the development of an individual, a group of people, a world ” (eds Barnet, Berman, Berto and Cain, 1997, p.498). With a lot of characters and subplots, a novel is also longer than a story. Furthermore, there is more time in a novel to tell stories of each character and finally string them together into a unified one. One more feature of a novel is its placing more emphasis on characters than on plot. Last but not least, a novel includes the factor of realism. It tells story of real life and can be regarded as a full and authentic report of human life. 1.2.3. Elements of a novel A novel is made up of a number of fundamental elements, namely plot, character, setting, theme and symbol. 7 1.2.3.1. Plot Plot is the arrangement of events and actions, normally in causal or thematic connection, in a story to reflect a theme. It serves as “the skeleton along which the story moves” (Verma n.d.). Therefore, it contains the most significant things, events of a story. A plot normally includes the beginning, the middle, and the end; the end may or may not be included. 1.2.3.2. Character Characters in a novel are normally human beings. They help to shape the context and plot of the novel and function as novelists’ means of exploring and conveying the value of human experiences. Typically in a novel, one or two main characters (also known as major characters/ round characters/ protagonists) are developed with relationship with other subordinate characters (also known as secondary/ minor/ flat characters). Main characters are those “whose being is central to the action”; they often undergo conflict and are changed by it. Subordinate characters, on the contrary, do not experience considerable change or growth in the story. They are just builded to “provide some sort of contest” for the main characters. In “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, main characters are Basil Hallward, Lord Henry Wotten, Dorian Gray, Sibyl Vane whereas subordinate characters include James Vane, Alan Campbell, Victor, Adrian Singleton, Geoffrey Clouston, Hetty. 1.2.3.3. Setting Setting can be defined as the time and place that the story is set in. It is the important background for most of significant details of a story. According to Munteanu (2008), it “fulfills most of the core aspects of a story. Without a place there is no story”. Setting serves multipurpose roles from helping with plot, determining and describing character to providing metaphoric links to theme. Setting provides a landscape that binds everything into context and meaning. Without setting, characters 8 are simply there, in a vacuum, with no reason to act and most importantly, no reason to care. “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is set in London, England in 1890s. 1.2.3.4. Theme “Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work” (SparkNotes Editors 2002). Different from moral messages which are purposed by the author to impact the reader, theme is more about what a story is about. In other words, it can be “a statement, or series of related observations about some aspect of the human condition, interpreted from the unique view point of the author”. (American novelist Dean Koontz) The theme of a novel may be made explicit with the exposition or conclusion from the author or one of his characters; nevertheless, theme is normally implicit or indirectly reflected. As a result, it does not embrace the outer but the inner part or “the deeper layer of meaning running beneath the story’s surface”. It is the very underlying message, lesson or conclusion drawn from the novel (Chapman n.d.). “The picture of Dorian Gray” reflects a wide variety of themes, including the Faust legend, the balance of body and soul, man’s dual nature, self-discovery, narcissism, friendship, man’s downfall, sin and redemption, and the dangers of personal influence or manipulation (Baldwin n.d.). The theme of sin and redemption, restricted to Dorian Gray’s sin and redemption, would be discussed in detail in this thesis. 1.2.3.5. Symbol Symbol is loosely defined as something that stands for something else. It can be an objects, a characters, a figure, or color used to represent an abstract idea or concept in the novel (SparkNotes Editors 2002). In other words, a symbol serves to combine the literal and the abstract in the novel. Symbol is classified as traditional symbol, original symbol, and private symbol. Traditional symbol is associated with common things of a society or a culture. This type of symbol is publicly recognized. Original symbol is associated with the context of the work in which it is used. Private symbol is the product of its own peculiar or idiosyncratic system of philosophy or belief. 9 The portrait, the yellow book, the theater run by Mr. Isaacs, the white narcissus, the opera where the singer Patti sings, the Daly’s opium den, and Dorian Gray himself are examples of primary symbols in the novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray. Especially, the protagonist Dorian as a symbol of sin and redemption would be deeply investigated in this thesis. 1.3. Oscar Wilde and “The Picture of Dorian Gray” 1.3.1. Aesthetic Movement (1870-1900) Aesthetic movement is “a loosely defined movement in literature, fine art, furniture, metalwork, ceramics, stained glass, textiles, and wallpapers in later nineteenth-century Britain” (Lachiusa n.d.). The movement has its philosophical foundations set in the eighteenth century by Immanuel Kant, a famous German philosopher. With the aesthetic motto “l'art pour l'art” which was first used in French in 1804, aesthetic movement advocates art for art’s sake, for its own essence and beauty. In other words, art is not something supposed to promote social, moral, or political awareness, and not something supposed to care about this. “Art never expresses anything but itself. It has an independent life [ ] and develops purely on its own lines” (Becker- Leckrone 2002). “At the heart of the aesthetic movement was the belief that art should not have any purpose other than to be beautiful” (Havok 2009). According to aesthetic movement’s claims, the artist’s matter of concern is not the moral, sentimental or educational message conveyed in a literary work but the individual, the self. Regarding this, the movement contrasts sharply with Victorian convention in which arts were assumed to be spiritually uplifting and instructive, and artists must be those who carry out such mission of art. Aesthetic movement was embraced by a number of aesthetes, or its followers, such as: Victor Cousin, J. W. von Goethe, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Thomas Carlyle, Théophile Gautier, Charles-Pierre Baudelaire, Walter Pater, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and James McNeill Whistler and Oscar Wilde. Notably, as a leading aesthete in Britain, Oscar Wilde was one of the most prominent personalities of his day. As an ardent follower of the movement, he advocated freedom from moral restraint and the 10 [...]... 2: DORIAN GRAY – THE SYMBOL OF SIN In The Picture of Dorian Gray , almost all characters commit a certain kind of sin However, no one can outrank Dorian with reference to the diverse and monstrous nature of sins Dorian s sins, as reflected in the novel, are not only multifarious in types but also complicated from many different angles His sins range from ruining his associates to murdering his intimates... convergence of all types of sins that committed by other characters, but there are also grave sins that only Dorian can be cruel enough to commit No one can surpass him at the level of diversity, complexity and seriousness of his sins Accordingly, Dorian has become the symbol of sin in the novel CHAPTER 3: DORIAN – THE SYMBOL OF REDEMPTION 26 Under the bad influence of Lord Henry and the yellow book, Dorian. .. classic” (Baldwin n.d.) 3.3.2 Summary The picture of Dorian Gray tells the story of the downfall and tragic life of the young man Dorian Gray under the bad influence of his mentor Lord Henry and the yellow book sent by Henry Dorian Gray first appears in the novel as an innocent and extraordinarily handsome man, who is the sitter for the artist Basil Hallward Basil, adoring and treasuring Dorian s exquisite... tempting them into debauchery, ruining either their career or their reputation, and indirectly leading them to death Overall, as compared to other characters in the novel, Dorian is the one that commits the most various types of sins, from corrupting other lives to murdering others His sins are complicated at multiple angles, ranging from indirect to direct murders In his indictment, there is not only the. .. It was nothing of him” In all cases, Dorian takes the view of an onlooker Given these points, Dorian is the obvious culprit causing all deaths of Alan Campbell, Lord Gloucester’s wife and the boy in the Guards Their lives have been spoilt and eventually lost at the hands of Dorian 18 2.2.2 Indirectly mudering Sibyl Vane Sibyl Vane is a pretty and talented actress with all the pure innocence of a young... too They have committed the sin of letting themselves loose in plesure-seeking under Dorian s influence In stead of resisting the young man’s temptation, they yield to it to be corrupted They let themselves be manipulated by Dorian and do immoral deeds under his control However, after all they are just Dorian s victims Dorain, as compared to them, has committed the greater sin of manipulating them,... way as reacting to the deaths he has brought to others, Dorian takes the position of a bystander at the death of Basil The friend [ ] had gone out of his life That was enough” 23 On the whole, by killing his close friend Basil savagely, Dorian has committed the most hideous sin of a sinner His sin is even greater when he denies reponsibility for his brutal action 2.4 Dorian - The symbol of sin As has... The Picture of Dorian Gray 3.3.1 General introduction The first version of the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray was published in July 1890 issue of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine However, it was initially bitterly 12 criticized as an immoral and “poisonous book” with the so-called "prosy rigmaroles" of the story "Why go grubbing in muck-heaps?" was the mocking question for the novel raised by The. .. lectures given in 260 days Beyond question, aestheticism was heavily marked in Wilde s works, for instance “Intentions”, The picture of Dorian Gray , The Soul of Man Under Socialism” With his substantial contribution to the movement, Wilde s death in 1900 was seen as marking the end of the Aesthetic Movement 3.2 Oscar Wilde s life and career Oscar Wilde, or Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde, was born... wholeheartedly” (Baldwin n.d.) 2.3 Directly murdering Basil Hallward Corrupting and indirectly killing his intimates are not all sins of Dorian He reaches the highest and cruelest level of a sinner: killing Basil Hallward directly, deliberately, and savagely Basil Hallward is Dorian s only true friend who paints the portrait that carries the burden of age and sin in Dorian s stead Basil absolutely adores Dorian who . meaningful and important to investigate the sin and redemption symbolized by Dorian in details. To sum up, the special interest in the great novel of Oscar Wilde and in the theme of sin and redemption. symbols in the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. Especially, the protagonist Dorian as a symbol of sin and redemption would be deeply investigated in this thesis. 1.3. Oscar Wilde and The Picture. reflected mainly through the protagonist of this novel has motivated the researcher to work on the thesis entitled Dorian Gray- the Symbol of Sin and Redemption in The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar