Jeffrey Shih

E3EL - European Literature

Pd. 3

3/14/11

The Sinful Dorian Gray

In Oscar Wilde’s The Picture Dorian Gray, the focal character, Dorian Gray, develops

into a sinful person from one of good nature. He is first introduced as a character of immaturity

and naivety about the world around him, yet his soul remains pristine and uninfluenced.

However, things take a different turn for him after Dorian is acquainted with Lord Henry, a man

with many intriguing yet perplexing insights on the world of his time. Gradually seeking the

meanings behind Lord Henry’s philosophies, he undergoes an evolution involving the

committing various sins. Thus, Dorian Gray can be viewed as a human manifestation of the

Seven Deadly Sins that eventually leads to his downfall, especially envy, lust, gluttony, and

wrath.

Envy was the first of Seven Deadly Sins represented by Dorian in the novel. Perhaps it

was envy that resulted in his greatest misfortune: the separation of his body and soul. In Chapter

2, after Dorian examines his own portrait painted by Basil, he becomes infatuated with his own

appearance. Consequently, he despairs at the fact that his beauty is not everlasting while his

painted image on the canvas remains as it is for a lifetime. “I am jealous of everything whose

beauty does not die,” he says. “I am jealous of the portrait you have painted of me. Why should it

keep what I must lose?” (Wilde, 29) Blinded by this abnormal feeling of envy, Dorian is driven

to subconsciously make a wish that will impact him for the rest of his life. “If the picture could

change, and I could always be always what I am now!” (Wilde, 29) he cries. Dorian has unwarily

made a deal with the devil, detaching his soul from his body and implanting it within the

painting. Along the course of the novel, the painting transforms as Dorian becomes corrupted by

life’s trials while Dorian himself retains a youthful countenance. Without the fear of his own

appearance changing, Dorian commits further sins and steps further into the darkness.

Lust is the next sin that propels Dorian into the darkness. He first experiences such sexual

desires upon encountering Sibyl Vane. A stunningly beautiful and moving actress, Sibyl arouses

Dorian immediately upon first sight, and he could not help but fall in love. Dorian tells Henry,

“She was the loveliest thing I had ever seen in my life. You said to me once that pathos left you

unmoved, but that beauty, mere beauty, could fill your eyes with tears” (Wilde, 53). He

continues on to poetically describe in detail her voice, her acting, and incessantly spills out her

love for her. Without becoming familiarized with Sibyl, Dorian has already developed a

seemingly undying passion for her. No doubt this is lust; Dorian loves Sibyl solely due to her

physical features and her display of such bodily pleasures in her acting. Little does he know that

such a feeling, despite its intensity, is so fleeting. When Sibyl, out of her responsive love to

Dorian, forfeits her mindset as an actress, Dorian’s love for her shifts into disdain. “I loved you

because you were marvelous, because you had genius and intellect, because you realized the

dreams of great poets and gave shape and substance to the shadows of art,” (Wilde, 88) Dorian

remarks harshly to Sibyl. ”You have thrown it away.” His speech indicates his “false love”

towards Sibyl, caring not about her heart but all that encircles it. From this point, Dorian begins

to more freely manipulate a new sin, wrath.

Aside from with Sibyl, Dorian’s wrath is represented by his actions towards Basil

Hallward. By Chapter 13, Dorian has already plummeted midway into in abyss with evil rumors

about his way of living being spread across his city. Though his face has not changed, his soul

has, and for the worse. When Basil is shown his own painting that contains Dorian’s soul, he

observes a “hideous face on the canvas grinning at him,” filling him with “disgust and loathing”

(Wilde, 155). Though the art is done by his own hand, Basil almost fails to recognize it for its

gruesome appearance. He exclaims to Dorian, “You have done enough evil in your life. My God!

Don’t you see that accursed thing leering at us?” (Wilde, 155) Feeling as if his soul is provoked

by this statement, Dorian furiously stabs Basil to death. Unable to steady his anger towards Basil,

he unleashes it and delivers wrath to his longtime companion.

The final sin most evidently represented by Dorian is gluttony. Compared to the rest of

the sins Dorian commits, gluttony’s effect on Dorian’s life is not as influential. Although implied

in Chapter 11, Dorian’s gluttony, namely, his indulgence in opium, is not revealed until Chapter

16. This is shown by his positive reaction to the drug. As he navigates through an opium den,

“the heavy odor of opium meets him,” yet he nevertheless “heave[s] a deep breath, and his

nostrils quiver[s] with pleasure” (Wilde, 186). Besides his own addiction to the drug, Dorian

seems to have influenced others to fall into the same state as he has, especially Adrian Singleton.

Basil hints this in Chapter 12, when he asks Dorian, “What about Adrian Singleton and his

dreadful end?” (Wilde, 149). Now, Adrian is a complete victim to opium, allowing the drug to

dominate the core of his life. He expresses this, saying, “As long as one has this stuff, one

doesn’t want friends.” We can see how not only Dorian has committed gluttony, he passes on his

sins to those around him.

Dorian expresses the other three sins, greed, sloth, and pride insignificantly within the

novel. Yet, even with the four he does commit abundantly, we can see how the Seven Deadly

Sins will indeed lead to one’s moral corruption. One leads to the other; in this case, envy and lust

lead to wrath, and eventually Dorian’s darkness overwhelms him and leads him to gluttony.

Although he eventually gains the righteous to eventually destroy his own soul at the end of the

book, at that point, his soul is pitched black. Dorian has already fallen, and his foul aura has in

turn led to fall of others.