A Tragedy of the Artist: the Picture of Dorian Gray

A tragedy of an artist

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A Tragedy of the Artist: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Author(s): Houston A. Baker, Jr.

According to the author, the central message of the Dorian Gray is no mere repetition of moral code, nor can the influences at work be limited to a single drama of damnation and salvation. The Picture of Dorian Gray has been seen as everything from an attack on late Victorian hypocrisy to a story of the domination of an older man by a beautiful youth; this broad range of interpretation seems ample proof that the novel is not so indisputably clear and simple as some would make it out to be. When it is considered within the context of Wilde's essays and the philosophical conception of life that arises from the essays, The Picture of Dorian Gray can be seen as a novel with a serious purpose and a sound message to the artist.

The novel, in fact, can be seen as a tragedy of the artist, a work in which Wilde calls to account the overly self-conscious artist, who projects his own personality too severely on the public. in accordance with Houston, we should read and interpret the novel within the framework of Wilde's major ideas.

Wilde's chief concern was always with art, the artist, the critic, or the effect of art and criticism on society at large, and this can be seen by a brief look at the ideas presented in several of his most important essays. His view of the role that the artist and the critic could play in molding society was extremely sanguine, and his view of the utopian results of the establishment of a socialistic state was optimistic. In the case of the artist, the critic, and society, however, Wilde saw that careful thought and a highly idealistic philosophical position were prerequisites to development. The contemplative life of the critic, the rigorous imaginative-intellectual work of the artist, a high degree of self-culture and careful thought in society-all were necessary if the world was to become a better place. Idealism the primacy of the objective, ordering mind is thus essential in Wilde's Weltanschauung, for idealism leads to self-realization on the part of the individual. In turn, the self-realization of the individual makes for a better society in general, for Wilde believed that the progress of society was dependent upon the progress of the individual.

True, the artist, in Wilde's view, must have a strong personality, but he cannot simply thrust upon the world his own raw emotions in the work of art. What we want is an "imaginative reality," which can act as an ideal for the higher development of society.

For in "The Critic as Artist" Wilde calls for a merging of conscience and instinct, in a sense, Lord Henry Wotton represents instinct in The Picture of Dorian Gray,