Aubrey holds a Ph.D. in English and has published many articles on nineteenth-century literature. In this essay, Aubrey discusses how the three main characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray represent in different ways the relationship between art and life, contemplation and action, beauty and ethics.
The Picture of Dorian Gray presents three intriguing characters, all of whom represent in different ways the relationship between art and life, contemplation and action, beauty and ethics. But neither Lord Henry Wotton nor Basil Hallward nor Dorian Gray embodies the ideal to which each aspires, and they all fail catastrophically in one way or another. The Picture of Dorian Gray is not a novel for the optimist.
Lord Henry is often pilloried by critics as a cynic who manipulates Dorian into doing the things that he advocates but is.....
This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 1,965 words. This
study guide contains 8,291 words (approx. 28 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Literature Guide with our The Picture of Dorian Gray Access Pass.
