The Perilous Consequences of Going Beneath the Surface’s of Art

The Perilous Consequences of

Going Beneath the Surface’s of Art

In the novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde creates a world of epigrams and paradox’s that all runs true to his aesthetic beliefs. Wilde fashionably implements these beliefs through witty epigrams verbalized by Lord Henry, and through his clever aphorism in the preface. Of the many aphorisms that Wilde use’s to begin his novel, it’s the dire and consequential statement, those who go beneath the surface do so at their own peril, which is then quickly juxtaposed with another aphorism, those who read the symbol do so at their own peril, that creates the essence of warning and consequences when considering art. How Wilde represents art and how he believes it should be treated is the heart of the novel, and it is the core of his aestheticism beliefs. Aligning with his beliefs is the forewarning of the “peril” that could possibly come about if one does choose to venture beyond the limits. Through his aphorisms Wilde allows the reader to understand his view of art and how it should be, yet more importantly, how it shouldn’t be, viewed and used. It is these views that Wilde expresses through his novel and in the many instances that test his forewarnings of going “beneath the surface” or “reading the symbol” that point toward the conclusion about the possible consequences.

Firstly, Dorian’s chance meeting and soon to become love, Sybil Vane, is an instance in Wilde’s novel that gives life to his warning’s in the preface. Dorian’s love for Sybil is less of a love for a real person as it is a love for the characters she plays. Dorian saw beneath the surface of the source to Sybil’s beauty once she could not be the art that Shakespeare’s heroine’s were to him; and being true to Wilde’s warning, ruined the very aspect of what she once meant to him. His hand in Sybil’s death alters his portrait and taints Dorian’s soul forever. Another instance of Dorian’s careless calamity, this time ending fatally, occurs during Dorian’s attempt to destroy the “mirror to his soul”. Taken literally, when considering the “surface” of art and what it could be, one could view the portrait itself as a surface, a surface that one should not “go beneath”; Dorian’s attempt to destroy the portrait can be seen as an attempt towards the latter. His act of stabbing the portrait is easily and obviously, yet cleverly referable to Wilde’s aphoristic warning against going beneath the surface of art, and staying true to his warning, like Sybil, lost his life in the act. The changes in Dorian’s portrait and the death’s of Sybil and Dorian proved true to the reader as well as Dorian the “peril” that could come upon one if one seeks too far beneath beauty.

Wilde’s second aphorism that warns about reading too far into art’s “symbol’s’ is also prominently proved to be true in many senses. The portrait, being the greatest source of incident in the novel, can also be seen as the greatest symbol in the novel. Dorian, who begins to “read” the portrait and use it as a mirror to his own soul, turns to it frequently though out the novel and it soon becomes a constant addictive source of reminder to his decadence. By “reading” too far into his portrait Dorian, in the beginning, allows for it to tempt his curiosity as he watch’s it grow old and sinister while he stays young and pure, effortlessly allowing the portrait to take his sins without feeling any remorse for his own soul. His eventual debauchery towards his portrait can be compared to his opium addictions and his obsession over the yellow book, which ruins Dorian much more then his portrait ever could. Dorian’s morals degrade as he becomes more absorbed in the book and as he use’s the book for more then art, he begins to let his life be lead by it; the hedonistic lifestyle and beliefs that come about him as a result begin Dorian’s troubles. His unrestricted pleasure pursuing lifestyle leads Dorian to literally unspeakable places, Wilde does not disclose to the reader the details of Dorian’s eighteen years pursuit of pleasure, but allows the evident alterations in the portrait and London’s rumors to suggest, as if his hedonistic lifestyle it’s too morbid for words. Dorian’s acts of debauchery towards his souls destruction through his portrait and his hedonistic