#6

   In Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde argues that the death of the conscience and the soul culminates in the death of the person.  The prime example of this concept is Dorian Gray.  Dorian comes to an epiphany after his time at Selby.  When his prime enemy and source of vengeance, James Vane, is killed, Dorian feels he has been given a second chance at life.  He can now work to be a good better and redeem himself of the sins which hold him back.  He begins working toward this through acts of denial.  Slowly he leaves the hedonistic lifestyle behind.  his only hindrance is his soul.  His soul is found in the portrait done for him by Basil Hallward.  All of the sins Dorian has ever committed are record through the marring of the portrait.  Dorian believes that if he destroys the portrait, he destroys the record of his sin and thus can move on with his life.  Dorian sees the portrait as the last bit of evidence of his sins.  This holds him back from true repentance.  He refuses to confess to the crime of killing Basil and instead determines to destroy the portrait, his soul, and thus destroy all evidence against him so that he can progress into a pure life.  Dorian proceeds, he takes a knife and decides, "As it killed the painter, so it would kill the painter's work and all that it meant.  It would kill the past, and when that was dead he would be free...he would be at peace.  He seized the thing and stabbed the picture with it" (Wilde 164).  This is the misconception Dorian holds.  He thinks he can be absolved of his sins through the destruction of his soul.  In reality, the soul holds life.  It is the record of one's deeds.  It's elimination is the termination of life.  Dorian wants to take the easy way out.  He refuses to repent and do the right thing.  In the end he must pay for his refusal to deal with his iniquities in the correct manner.  He pays for the effacing of his soul through death.

#5

  In Oscar Wildes, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde deals with the concepts of atonement  and guilt.  Dorian Gray is a character representative of the sinful man.  Dorian has committed his share of iniquity.  Dorians sinful lifestyle comes to a a crossroads when he murders his old friend Basil Hallward.  The motive for murder is that Basil chooses to chastise him for the wickedness that Dorian has allowed into his life.  After murdering Basil, Dorian is faced with options.  He can either atone for his sins and turn from his wicked ways, or he can move deeper into a lifestyle of debauchery.  Dorian chooses the latter path.  He decides that he will live by pleasuring his senses.  He will stamp out his sin by committing more sins that please his physical senses.  Upon reflecting on his choice Dorian comes to the conclusion that, "His soul, was certainly sick to death.  Was it true that the senses could cure it?  Innocent blood had been spilt.  What could atone for that?  AH! for that there was no atonement; but though forgiveness was impossible, forgetfulness was possible still, and he was determined to forget to stamp the thing out, to crush it as one would crush the adder that had stung one" (Wilde 135).  Dorian feels that atonement for the sins he has committed is impossible.  Instead of working toward making right what he has done, he adopts an attitude that leads to destruction.  This attitude is one in which a person refuses to repent for one's sins and instead proceeds to sweep wrong doings under the carpet and ignore them as if they never happened.  In doing so sin is allowed to fester.  Dorian does not learn from the incident.  Instead, he learns that he can commit a sin as egregious as murder and then get away with it.  This all comes back to the fact that Dorian lives a hedonistic lifestyle.  Sin and guilt do not bring pleasure, repressing sin and guilt over wrong doing does bring pleasure.  It allows one to operate as if an error were never committed.  This is Dorian's intent in stamping out the memory of murdering Basil Hallward, to please himself and feel no pain or remorse.  

#4

    Oscar Wilde's, The Picture of Dorian Gray, talks of the concept of sin manifesting in the physical appearance of the sinner.  Often times people say that the looks of a man speak for his character.  Basil Hallward affirms this statement when he says, "Sin is a thing that writes itself across a man's face.  It cannot be concealed" (Wilde 109).  Dorian Gray would be the epitomy of this statement.  Instead Dorian's portrait takes on the physical manifestation of sin.  As Dorian delves further into a lifestyle of iniquity, his portrait bears the marks of his sins.  Each act of evil weathers the portrait further.  Dorian is able to hide the portrait of his soul from the world.  He goes about wearing the face of an innocent boy.  Through the portrayal of sin in Dorian Gray, Wilde argues that the lack of accountability born out of humanism does not produce better human beings.  Rather it creates more evil people.  Since Dorian calculates all actions based on the amount of pleasure that they will yield to him, he is willing to mar his soul at any cost.  He is not impeded by conscience because he is able to hide his actions from the world.  No one has proper proof of the wrongs committed by Dorian.  Wilde argues that people were held publicly accountable for their actions,society would be better.  In the case of Dorian Gray this is especially true.  If Dorian's portrait were publicized for the world to see, because of all the shame and guilt, he would be forced to stop engaging in immoral conduct.  In reality, Dorian is able to privately revel in his sin.  He watches his soul transform into the very likeness of evil.  He is not accountable to himself or to the world in which he lives, therefore he is able to continue to operate as an evildoer.  Dorian is a model for those in society that wear an outward mask of purity, yet on the inside hold souls of corruption.  If their souls were held open for all the world to see they would cease from immorality.