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

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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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.

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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

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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.
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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
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limitations of society, and placed emphasis on the importance of the artist’s life over
his work. Although Wilde was not the inventor of the movement, he was a dramatic
leader in promoting it in the late nineteenth century. The author not only taught
Aesthetic values in London from 1879, but he also delivered a series of lectures on
aesthetics across the United State from 1881 in nearly a year, with over 140 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 on October 16,
1854, in Dublin, Ireland in a family of some renown. His father, William Robert Wills
Wilde, was an eminent ear and eye surgeon and an author as well. His mother, Jane
Francesca Elgee Wilde, was a novelist and poet who adopted the pseudonym
“Speranza”. Oscar has a brother, William Robert Kingsbury Wills Wilde ("Willie"),
who was two years older than him, and a younger sister, Isola Francesca Emily Wilde,
who died of a fever and sudden effusion on the brain after her 10
th
birthday in 1867.
Owing to his supportive family, Wilde received a well-rounded education and
also performed brilliantly at his studying. He entered the Portora Royal School at
Enniskillen, where his aptitudes was displayed. He excelled at studying the classics,
took top prize in his last two years, and also earned a second prize in drawing. In 1871,
he was awarded the Royal School Scholarship to attend Trinity College in Dublin.
Here, he continued to shine in classical courses. In 1872, he got the first place in

examination and won Foundation Scholarship- the highest honor for an undergraduate.
In 1874, he was awared the college's Berkeley Gold Medal for Greek and a Demyship
scholarship to Magdalen College in Oxford. He once again proved excellent with the
Newdigate prize for his poem, “Ravenna”. He earned a rare “double first” in Literae
11
Humaniores; and in November of 1878, Wilde was awarded the Bachelor of Arts
degree. During the years at university, he also devoted himself to Aestheticism.
After graduation, Wilde lived in London with his friend Frank Miles, a popular
high society portrait painter. In 1881, he published his first collection of poetry. Being
dedicated to aesthetic movement, in December of the same year, he travelled across
the United States to deliver a series of lectures on aesthetics during nearly a year, with
over 140 lectures given in 260 days. Then he set off on a lecture tour of Britain and
Ireland.
On May 29, 1884, Oscar Wilde got married to Constance Lloyd, the daughter of
a prominent barrister, with two sons, Cyril in 1885 and Vyvyan in 1886. Between
1887 and 1889, he worked for the Woman's World magazine.
The six next years witnessed Wilde’s glittering literary career with his two
collections of children's stories, “The Happy Prince and Other Tales” (1888), and
“The House of Pomegranates” (1892). His first and only novel, “The Picture of
Dorian Gray” (1890 ), and a series of successful plays, i.e. “Lady Windermere's
Fan” (February 1892), “A Woman of No Importance” (1893), “An Ideal Husband”
(1895), “The importance of Being Earnest” (1895), were also produced in this period.
However, disaster struck while the author’s talent was blooming. In April
1895, as a result of his homosexual relationship with Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas, the
third son of the Marquis of Queensberry, Wilde was arrested and sentenced to two
years hard labor, for such relationship was regarded the gross indecency in Victorian
era. The trials and the prison turned him into a broken man and ruined his career. His
his last literary work, namely “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” was published in three
years later as a response to the agony he suffered in prison.
In despair, Wilde spent the last three and a half years of his life wandering in

Europe, living under the assumed name of Sebastian Melmoth. The author died
bankrupt in a Paris cheap hotel on November 30, 1900, at the age of forty-six.
3.3. “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
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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 Scots Observer of July. Those were among numerous negative, if
not abusive responses to the book that forced Oscar Wilde to edit the book by adding a
preface and some new chapters as well as softening the homosexual references
included in it.
The edited version in 1891 faced less criticism and welcomed such first
compliment as a “wonderful book”. Over time, the novel won more and more
approval; and it is now “considered to be at least a pivotal work, if not a 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 beauty and boyish charm, sees the young man as a source
of inspiration for his art. By all passionate love for his fellow, the artist has painted a
portrait of Dorian, which is truly a masterpiece. Dorian, however, under the negative
and immediate influence of Lord Henry, a cynical aristocrat who is a friend of Basil,
absurdly feels hatred for the portrait of himself and utters a prayer for him to remain
young forever and for the portrait to age in his stead. Basil does not dare to exhibit the
picture for fear that his idolatry for Dorian would be realized by the world. Therefore,

the painter lets Dorian keep the portrait.
After a few weeks befriending Lord Henry, Dorian absorbs Lord Henry’s
poisonous theories and becomes dedicated to the “new Hedonism” and the pursuit of
pleasure. Dorian idolizes a young beautiful actress named Sibyl Vane for her excellent
performance on stage and gets engaged to the girl. However, actually, Dorian only
loves Sibyl’s talent and the heroines played by her. Therefore, when Sibyl fails on
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stage one night because Dorian helps her realize love in reality, Dorian heartlessly
dismisses her. Sibyl, in infinite misery, commits suicide on that very night. After brief
regretfulness of his cruelty to Sibyl, Dorian blames the incident on Sibyl and quickly
forgets it. To his surprise, he realizes after that the changes of the portrait with the
mark of cruelty around the mouth. Knowing that his prayer once in Basil’s studio has
been answered, he hides the portrait in the attic room of his house where he has the
only key so that no one can discover his dark secret.
Lord Henry sends Dorian the yellow book, which serves as the blueprint for
Dorian’s hedonistic life. Eighteen years goes by, and Dorian, poisoned by the book,
devotes himself to pleasure-seeking, regardless of his numerous scandals and bad
reputation of corrupting his intimates’ lives. However, his peers still trust him because
of the purity of his face.
On one night, Basil, before leaving for Paris, comes to question Dorian about
bad rumors about him. After a quarrel between them, Dorian shows the painter the
hideously altered portrait which is the visible image of his decayed soul. Basil asks
Dorian to repent of his sins; however, Dorian refuses, claiming it is too late, and kills
Basil. To cover up the murder, Dorian blackmails Alan Campbell, who used to be his
close friend, forcing him to dispose of Basil’s corpse, which drives Alan to shoot
himself later. The canvas keeps changing loathsomely after Dorian’s sins.
Dorian, on going to the opium den, is almost killed by James Vanes, Sibyl’s
brother who for years has sought to harm Dorian for wronging his sister. After that,
Dorian lives in the horror, obsession and imagination of his up-coming death. Then, he
decides to reform his life, beginning by his sincere love for Hetty, a countryside girl.

However, the portrait still looks more and more disgusting. Dorian, in despair, fails to
seek for forgiveness. Deeming the portrait is the only evidence against him, he
destroys it with the knife he uses to murder Basil, and kills himself. Dorian, in the end
of the novel, is found aging and withering with a knife flung on his chest while the
portrait of his becomes as beautiful and unstained as the young innocent Dorian when
alive.
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CHAPTER 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. His sins are not as obvious to
judge as directly killing others, but they are more veiled and mysterious, since he is
also an indirect murderer.
2.1. Corrupting others’ lives
There are many young men and innocent women who has fallen from grace
under Dorian’s powerful and destructive influence. It is Dorian that has corrupted
them and brought tragedy to their lives.
Holding boyish charm, “beautiful voice” and “passionate purity”, Dorian can
capture heartfelt emotion of anyone who knows him. No one can restrain themselves
under his manipulation. As an ardent follower of Lord Henry’s hedonism and the
yellow book, Dorian yields to temptation. In turn, not a single person in whom Dorian
seeks for pleasure can resist his temptation. In this way, Dorian has exerted such
destructive influence on almost all of his friends and acquaintances that their lives are
eventually ruined at his hands. Most of Dorian’s friendship has ended catastrophically.
His relationship with others brings shame, horror and ruin on them, costs them their
honor, social standing, their career and even their lives. “There was that wretched boy
in the Guards who committed suicide”. There was Lord Gloucester’s wife who “was
dying alone in her villa”, leaving her husband a letter in which Dorian’s name “was

15
implicated in the most terrible confession”. “There was Sir Henry Ashton, who had to
leave England, with a tarnished name”. There was Adrian Singleton with his dreadful
end, and Lord Kent’s only son with “shame and sorrow” at his ruined career. There
was the young Duke of Perth whom would be befriended by no gentlemen. There was
Lord Henry’s sister, lady Gwendolen, whom “not a breath of scandal had ever
touched” before she met Dorian, and then neither “a single decent woman in London”
nor her children accompany her. There was also Alan Campbell who was once
seemingly involved in such a terrible deed under Dorian’s influence that he had to
obey Dorian’s evil wills and committed suicide afterwards. The list goes on and goes
on. Three of them have committed suicide, and no one assure that the others will not
end their lives some day when such a miserable life becomes too huge a burden for
them to bear.
Dorian has destroyed his intimates’ career, reputation, dignity and happiness;
however, when being chastised by Basil for these scandals, he “responds with
contempt. He is interested only in the scandals of others; he own so-called scandals
lack “the charm of novelty”. He answers that he is not responsible for the flaws of his
acquaintance” (Baldwin n.d.). After all, Dorian disclaims his responsibility for those
whose lives he has damaged. He is too selfish to take care of their collapse; he is too
self-absorbed to take responsibility for his wrong-doings. He is only interested in
himself.
Given these points, Dorian has committed the sin of ruining lives of many of
his associates. As a person whose soul has been corrupted and rotten to the core,
Dorian is a kind of toxic to those around him. Anyone that only touches him can be
poisoned and corrupted accordingly.
2.2. Indirectly murdering others
2.2.1. Indirectly murdering those who are under his influence
Among Dorian’s victims, as has been indicated, the boy in the Guards, Lord
Gloucester’s wife, and Alan Campbell are those who have paid a life cost for their
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corruption under Dorian’s manipulation. They all choose for themselves the death as
the liberation from the inner torture they have to suffer.
The case of Alan Campbell represents most evidently the death of a victim with
unbearable suffering. Alan Campbell is a knowledgeable scientist about chemistry.
Being Dorian’s once intimate and “inseparable” friend five years ago, Alan used to
idolize Dorian as “the type of everything that is wonderful and fascinating in life”.
However, something happens, making him suddenly disgusted at Dorian and never
want to see Dorian again. The scientist shoots himself after grudgingly obey Dorian's
wants to dispose of Basil’s corpse.
Dorian is the very culprit causing Alan’s death: he abuses Alan to death with
words. Being the tool that Dorian is seeking for to conceal his murder of Basil, Alan is
blackmailed to help Dorian dispose of Basil’s body. He initially steadfastly refuses to
be Dorian’s accomplice. It is not until Dorian mentions “a matter of life and death”
that Alan reluctantly comes to Dorian house. The utterance “a matter of life and
death” implies that if Alan is not at Dorian’s command to come, he will face death.
What helps Dorian be able to decide Alan’s “matter of life and death” is a dark secret
that Dorian holds over the scientist. Being threatened something dreadful involving the
secret by Dorian, Alan felt dizzy: “his face became ghastly pale, and he fell back in
his chair. A horrible sense of sickness came over him. He felt as if his heart was
beating itself to death in some empty hollow”. The threat must involve such a sordid
past of Alan that it can provoke such a strong and nervous reaction of him. The secret
Dorian uses to control Alan must be such horrible things “that the scientist did years
ago while under Dorian's influence” that it gives Alan no choice but to obey Dorian’s
will. Alan is sent into the depths of despair:
A groan broke from Campbell’s lips, and he shivered all over. The ticking of the
clock on the mantel-piece seemed to him to be dividing time into separate atoms of
agony each of which was too terrible to be borne. He felt as if an iron ring was
being slowly tightened round his forehead and as if the disgrace with which he was
threatened had already come upon him. The hand upon his shoulder weighed like a
hand of lead. It was intolerable. It seemed to crush him.

17
The secret at risk of being unveiled can cause Alan such deep anguish, let alone
the unveiled secret. However, disposing of Basil’s body as Dorian orders means doing
another horrid thing, registering another dark secret, for the action is a serious crime in
itself. It also means that one more guilty secret of Alan will be learned by Dorian.
There is no assurance that Dorian will not blackmail Alan again to force him to do
other immoral things. Therefore, Alan woud have to endure those mental sufferings as
long as he is still alive. He can never ease or eliminate them; he can never be free from
them. As a result, the scientist shoots himself in his own laboratory.
Obviously, Dorian is the only reason for Alan’s tragic end. His blackmailing
Alan is the very fatal weapon that kills Alan. “In any case, Dorian is fully aware that
blackmailing Campbell into helping him is dreadful, but he doesn't hesitate for a
moment to do so” (Baldwin n.d.). He even finds pleasure in his domination over Alan:
“Yes, it is my turn to dictate terms, Alan. You know what they are. The thing is quite
simple. Come, don’t work yourself into this fever. The thing has to be done. Face it,
and do it”. He does not care about Alan’s sick feeling at all. The only thing he cares
about is to cover up his murder.
It also becomes evident that the death of Lord Gloucester’s wife and the boy in
the Guards are also attributed to Dorian. Both of them have close relationships with
him and only kill themselves, in wretchedness and loneliness, after getting involved
with him .
Dorian, however, appears irresponsible to tragic ends of them all. When being
queried by Basil Hallward about the death of the boy and the woman, he shrugs his
shoulder indifferently. About Alan’s death, he shakes off his responsibility: “As for
Alan Campbell, his suicide had been his own act. He had chosen to do it. 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.
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2.2.2. Indirectly mudering Sibyl Vane
Sibyl Vane is a pretty and talented actress with all the pure innocence of a
young girl. She is like an angel “with a little flower-like face, a small Greek head with
plaited coils of dark-brown hair, eyes that were violet wells of passion, lips that were
like the petals of a rose”. Her beauty and genius capture Dorian’s heart from the very
first time Dorian watches her performance on stage. Sibyl, in turn, adores Dorian as
her own “Charming Prince”. Being engaged to Dorian, she devotes all her love to him
as an ardent lover. Her love for Dorian is so sincere and great that after realizing her
true love with him in real life, she cannot act on the stage which represents the painted
world any longer. However, a happy ending does not come to her. Sibyl’s passionate
love is ultimately not returned. As a result, poor Sibyl kills herself after being refused
and abandoned by Dorian.
It is Dorian Gray who indirectly leads to the death of Sibyl. He does not kill
Sibyl with any weapons; however, his cruel words and indifference to her are the very
murder weapon- the invisible sharp knife that pierces through her soft heart to death.
Dorian is not a true lover. He actually loves Sibyl’s genius and talent for stage,
not her true self. When Sibyl’s talent shines, he idolizes her, fills her heart with his
passion; he tells about her with such “winged” words as “she is every thing to me in
my life”, “the whole world is nothing to me compared to her” making her the
happiest lover to believe that he loves her sincerely, that she is the most treasured thing
to him, “the loveliest creature” in his life and all the meaning of his life. However,
when Sibyl fails on the stage, he soon tramples on her, over her tender heart. He has
stolen her first kiss, captured her heart, her soul, and even got engaged to her, then he
abruptly shakes her off as shaking off a type of rubbish only because her “bad art” on
stage disappoints him.
Innocent Sibyl is happy to realize her true love with Dorian in real life. That she
can no longer act as brilliantly as she did does not bother her at all. Why being
bothered when from now on she can live the dream, the passion, the love of her true
self with her true love - Dorian, not the life of any heroines, any Rosalind, any Imogen
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or Juliet in any plays any more. However, it turns out to be something that only
happens in Sibyl’s dream and imagination, since what Dorian loves is not Sibyl’s true
self but the aptitude of a “born artist” in her; who Dorian loves is not a real Sibyl with
her own characteristics but the heroines that Sibyl plays : “One evening she is
Rosalind, and the next evening she is Imogen”. To him, she is never Sibyl Vane. What
Dorian calls love is only that in fancy. Therefore, when Sibyl fails to transport him to
the fantasy world of these unreal characters, he refuses and deserts her without any
hesitation.
Dorian, from a seemingly “dedicated lover”, has become a “disgusted critic”
and a “heartless deserters” (Baldwin). He is really ruthless and cold-blooded towards
Sibyl and her love. He pitilessly throws cruel words at the innocent, sensitive soul of
Sibyl:
You used to stir my imagination, now you don’t even stir my curiosity [ ] I love
you because you are wonderful, because you had genius and intellect, because you
realized the dreams of great poets and gave shape and substance to the shadows of
art [ ] what are you without your art. Nothing. [ ] what are you now? A third-
rate actress with a pretty face.
As the terrible insult, each of Dorian’s word is like each sharp needle stinging
Sibyl’s soft heart, choking her, sparing her tremendous sorrow. Being nothing in
others’ eyes is miserable enough for one; being meaningless in her lover’s eyes is
hundreds of thousands of times more miserable. Just not feeling her lover’s concern
and love for her is heartbroken enough; witnessing his coldness and hearing his insults
to her is hundreds of thousands of times more broken-hearted. Poor Sibyl has to
endure all these griefs. Her lover neglects her explanation, her sobbing, pleading and
begging for forgiveness. He heartlessly snubs her, deserts her: “He turned on his heel,
and left the room. In a few moments, he was out of the theatre”. Sibyl, the poor little
soul, is left behind in infinite misery of her love being rejected. Dorian is her
everything; he is the whole world to her. Therefore, being rejected by him means being
rejected by the world; being nothing to him means being nothing to the world. Finding
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no reason to keep living, young Sibyl commits suicide on the very fateful night when
she is deserted.
Regarding the situation, Dorian is the very culprit of Sibyl’s death; he is every
reason for Sibyl’s tragic fate.
However, Dorian takes the indifferent and irresponsible attitude to the incident.
He blames the situation on Sibyl. He accuses Sibyl of making him endure with disgust
at her “bad art” during the three terrible hours. Therefore, it is not his fault to snub her
but her own fault to disappoint him. He even defends himself with the sophistry that
Sibyl has no right to kill herself. Thus, it is not his selfishness but "it was selfish of
her” to do so.
Dorian regards the situation as if he were a bystander. Feeling himself
indifferent, he wonders: “Why is it that I cannot feel this tragedy as much as I want
to? I don’t think I am heartless [ ] I must admit that this thing that has happened
does not affect me as it should”. He himself knows that he should have fallen into
despair over Sibyl’ death. Nevertheless, he still maintains the callous attitude; he views
the tragic death of Sibyl as “a wonderful ending to a wonderful play":
It is one of the great romantic tragedies of the age [ ] she acted badly because
she had known the reality of love. When she knew its unreality, she died, as Juliet
might have died. She passed again into the sphere of art.
Even if he mentions his involvement, the involvement is just the one in the
fantasy world of a drama: “It has all the terrible beauty of a great tragedy, a tragedy
in which I took part, but by which I have not been wounded”.
There are moments when he is “briefly a contrite sinner” to realize the
degradation of his soul and the mark of his sin reflected on the canvas. However, it is
not because he really feels sorry or responsible for what he has done to Sibyl, but
because he fears the sin he commits may hurt himself and the portrait: “A sense of
infinite pity, not for himself, but for the painted image of himself, came over him. It
had altered already, and would alter more”.
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Dorian is selfish by all means and eventually decides not to repent of the sin he

has gotten, for he has had the portrait bear the burden of his degeneration. “If the
picture was to alter, it was to alter [ ] he would be safe. That was everything”.
Therefore, he enjoys calmly the Opera with Lord Henry and Lady Gwrendolen on the
very day he hears of Sibyl’s death. Everything about poor Sibyl becomes “horried
subjects” to him and goes out of his mind the next day. He argues with Basil by the
sophistry that: “It is only shallow people who require years to get rid of an emotion. A
man who is master of himself can end a sorrow as easily as he can invent a pleasure”
In short, despite indirectly killing Sibyl, Dorian becomes quite indifferent and
irresponsible for the incident that he should have been responsible for. This signifies
that he has been absorbed and will be totally absorbed in Lord Henry’s immoral
theories. “Sibyl’s death compels Dorian to make the conscious decision to embrace
Lord Henry’s philosophy of selfishness and hedonism 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
“makes life absolutely lovely” to him, and gives to his art “whatever wonder or charm
it possesses”. However, just like Alan Campbell and others who are involved in
Dorian, the painter dies in pain. He is stabbed to death with a knife after knowing
Dorian’s terrible secret, namely the hideously changed portrait of Dorian.
If in the cases of Sibyl Vane, Alan Campbell and his many other intimates,
Dorian just unexpectedly drive them to death, then in Basil’s case, Dorian is a real
murderer who deliberately and savagely kills the painter. His motive for the murder
lies in the fact that Basil has learned his secret - the portrait. The portrait of Dorian,
which is “a wonderful work of art, and a wonderful likeness”, records and changes
hideously after all the sins and degradation of Dorian. It reflects Dorian’s decayed and
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evil soul and becomes the obsession during his life. The picture becomes his life’s the

dirty secret that he determines to hide forever. It is not until Basil comes to question
Dorian for his bad reputation, his corrupting others’ lives and wishes to see Dorian’s
soul that Dorian shows him his visible soul- the gruesomely altered portrait. Horrified
by the monstrous canvas, overcome with the fact that the loathsome thing in front of
him is his very work of art, and collapsed to know Dorian’s grievous sins and the
corrupt soul, Basil tries to calm down and beseech Dorian to pray for forgiveness.
However, Dorian, in his despair at that moment, looks at the painting, and he is filled
with “the uncontrollable feeling of hatred” for Basil Hallward. It seems to him that
the picture “sends him a command” (Baldwin n.d.) to kill Basil. As a resutl, Dorian, in
that mass moment, savagely murders his only true friend: “He rushed at him, and dug
the knife into the great vein that is behind the ear, crushing the man’s head down on
the table, and stabbing again and again”. It is really hard to imagine that Dorian, from
the innocent young man with “the unstained purity” eighteen years ago, grows to be
so evil. His horrific murder of Basil is the very action of the devil grows in him. As
said by Basil, only God can see one’s soul. For Basil has seen Dorian’s soul, he must
be sent to God.
Given these points, Dorian is the obvious culprit causing Basil’s death. However,
just like after committing other sins, he appears completely indifferent.
After the vicious murder of his friend Basil, Dorian looks cool and indifferent
as if he just killed an ant; it does not matter to him at all: “How quickly it all had been
done! He felt strangely calm, and, walking over to the window, opened it, and stepped
out on the balcony [ ] He did not even glance at the murdered man”. The devil in
him rationalizes that “Basil had painted the portrait that had marred his life”, “had
painted the fatal portrait, the portrait to which all his misery had been due”. Therefore
he could not forgive him. Hence, Basil’s horrible end is inevitable. In the same 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”.
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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 been noted, almost every character in the novel commits a certain type
of sin. However, committing all types of sin, Dorian reaches the level of a sinner
unrivaled by any of them .
Lord Henry, “a charming talker, a famous wit, and a brilliant intellect”, has a
very bad influence over all his friends with his “wrong, fascinating, poisonous,
delightful theories”. However, his follower, Dorian, asserts even more negative
influences on others. Dorian’s relationship with others is even more destructive than
than his mentor’s. Lord Henry just holds and exercises the mere power of words on
other people. He does not dare to apply his poisonous theories and immoral
philosophy into real life; he never ever takes them into actions like his follower.
Dorian, on the contrary, is not afraid of doing anything; he do not hesitate to fulfill any
evil deeds. He initially kills his passionate lover Sibyl indirectly with cruel words, then
his once dear friend Alan with blackmail threat, then even his always good friend Basil
with a knife. He inhumanely tramples on the love of those who love and admire him
the most, driving them to a death that cannot be more agonizing. Even Lord Henry
cannot believe in Dorian’s such egregious sins when hearing his confession. Lord
Henry guides Dorian to live a life with debauchery, vanity and gratification; he takes
Dorian as an experiment to follow such a life that he does not dare to follow. However,
he even fails to know that his experiment is so successful. Dorian is self-absorbed and
decadent beyond Henry’s expectation and imagination. Dorian undoutedly appears far
more cruel than his mentor Lord Henry. The corruption he brings to his intimates is
obviously much more massive than that Lord Henry causes to others. Therefore, his
sin is far more grievous than Lord Henry’s.
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Regarding Sibyl’s death, Lord Henry, like Dorian, is also censurable in the
incident for his immoral behavior.When hearing Dorian’s words that he is perfectly
happy, under the circumstance of Sibyl’s death, instead of resenting such indifferent,
irresponsible and unconscionable attitude of Dorian towards his lover’s tragic end,

Lord Henry even praises and congratulates Dorian on such a thing that he calls “a
very charming artistic basic for ethics”. When hearing Dorian’s confession of
indirectly killing Sibyl, instead of advising Dorian to redeem his sin, Lord Henry tries
to help Dorian to escape from responsibility and torment to view the incident as a
bystander: “Dorian, you mustn’t let this thing get on your nerves. You must come and
dine with me, and afterwards we will look in at the Opera [ ] Don’t waste your tears
over Sibyl Vane”. Instead of counselling Dorian to pay a visit and express his
condolence to Sibyl’s family, Lord Henry even suggests Dorian about seeking for
entertainment at the Opera. In stead of showing grief for dead Sibyl, Lord Henry calls
it a type of wonder and feel something quite beautiful about this.
In the light of his theory and his views about Sibyl’s death, Lord Henry is quite
immoral and cruel. Nevertheless, he is a bystander; these wrong views are those of a
bystander anyhow. Dorian, on the contrary, is undoutedly an insider; he is every
reason for Sibyl’s death. However, he takes the view of an outsider to ultimately hold
the indifferent attitude towards the incident. This is unacceptable and unpardonable of
Dorian.
Actually, Lord Henry’s words to mollify Dorian’s sorrow just coincide the
arguments and sophistries of the devil to evade responsibility that has already existed
in Dorian. Dorian inherently wants to follow the evil’s wants; however he still does
not dare: “I felt all that you have said, but somehow I was afraid of it, and I could not
express it to myself”. It is not until hearing Lord Henry’s “encouragement” that
Dorian live with his true self. “I am awfully obliged to you for all that you have said to
me. You are certainly my best friend. No one has ever understood me as you have” . In
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