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Literary Analysis

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde

Jawad Assiri

March 28, 2010


Mrs. Timm



-Write who wrote this book, and was it the idea of the book in my point of view.

- Summary of the book and explain the main characters.

-Also talk about the themes, motives, symbols and finally the seven deadly sins.



1. The purpose of art.

2. The supremacy of youth and beauty.

3. The superficial nature of society.

4. The negative consequences of influence.


1. Homoerotic male relationship.

2. The color white.


1. Knowledge.

2. Love.

Seven Deadly Sins

1. Envy

2. Vanity

3. Gluttony

4. Avarice

5. Wrath

6. Lust

7. Sloth


The Picture of Dorian Gray was written by Oscar Wilde. Book talks about many things and the main concentration of it is the true human reaction to life. The story is about a young boy whom self portrait is drawn. The painting bears all of his sins, and painting gets ugly as his behavior changes. Dorian Gray is the main character in the book. He is a very handsome wealthy young man. At first he is a very caring person, but because of Lord Henry's control over him he become more concerned about his wants and pleasure over everything else. Lord Henry is a nobleman who plays a major role in the change of Dorian Gray. Basil is an artist a friend of Lord Henry; soon he becomes very obsessed with Dorian. In this essay I will be talking about the.

Every book has themes, and in Dorian gray the main theme (in my point of view) is the purpose of art, this is why basil draws a painting of Dorian gray, because he found beauty in him to be shown to the world. "it often happens that the real tragedies of life occur in such an inartistic manner that they hurt us by their crude violence, their absolute incoherence, their absurd want of meaning, their name entire lack of style" page 88. Most moments in life are represented as art. The second theme is supremacy of youth and beauty, this theme is where Dorian is most proud of his beauty and of himself. "If it were only the other way! If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! For that---for that---I would give my everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give! I would give my soul for that" Page 31. Here it shows that Dorian would give anything just to live forever and stay the same youthful man he is without growing old forever. Another quote that explains this theme better is "and now you had better dress, and drive down to the club. We are rather late, as it is." Page 91. This part shows you how much Dorian is proud of his looks, as he is dressed well and going to a club. The next theme is the superficial nature of society, which can be explained by, "The ugly and the stupid have the best of it in this world." Page 15. This tells you that the rich in this world, the ugly and stupid tend to have the best things in life. To make this theme even clearer, "I should fancy that the real tragedy of the poor is that they can afford nothing but self-denial. Beautiful sins, like beautiful things, are the privilege of the rich." Page 71. It explains to you that the poor are always nothing in life, all of life's happiness and joy is for the rich only. And the final theme in this book is the negative consequences of influence, many people in this life tend to do stuff which the action is done by his surroundings. "Your influence would be bad. The world is wide, and has many marvelous people in it. Don’t take away from me the one person who gives to my art...
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