Friday, September 13, 2013

Summary "The Picture of Dorian Gray" Oscar Wilde

I've just read The Picture of Dorian Gray and i want to write some kind of summary for this book.

Author puts Dorian Grey in a fantastic situation: he gives him eternal beauty and youth. When Dorian gets older it's his portrait becomes ugly and terrible instead of him. Dorian keeps the same look all the long of his life. Rich, handsome young man immerses in the world of pleasures following his teacher Lord Henry Wotton, who suggested him an idea of eternal youth admiring the portrait of Dorian in artist Beliza Hallward's studio. Bezila put purity of Dorian's beauty in the portrait, put his feelings, dreams, his own vision of beauty. Great artwork received part of creator's soul. Dorian loved the portrait and he listened  ideas of Lord Henry who said that people should not just trust the art and not just learn something from its beauty but also to search the art in their own life.


Beliza and Lord Henri were in disagreement about beauty and youth. But Lord Henri won the debate and convinced Dorian to his point of view. Then Lord Henri became his close friend and teacher.


Dorian Grey listened his new teacher without much thinking. He exchanged his soul for eternal pleasures. It happened when he was admiring his portrait and said "If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! For that-for that-I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give! I would give my soul for that!"  And then the portrait created by Basil took the charge of time on its self and also the moral responsibility for the desire of pleasures.


Pleasures always requires sacrifices. The first one was the love with young actress Sybil Vane. But this love passed quickly when Sybil fell in love with young Dorian and was no longer able to act love on the scene. Dorian was upset by her acting and then he left her. Sybil  couldn't get over it and then she killed her-self. It was the first thing that made the portrait uglier and older. When Dorian noticed it he was scared but the next moment his selfishness convinced him, he put the portrait away and started the new life.


This new life was double. In society Dorian was a handsome young man, teen idol that was always looking for new pleasure and feelings. His luxury house was designed greatly with modern furniture. His house was amazing. Dorian assembled the collections of rare perfumes, precious stones and exotic musical instruments. He was heaving a good time by traveling and collecting different kind of things.


Soon, rich and lonely life was not enough for Dorian. From society salons he moved to the dirty brothels and drogue nests. People began to gossip about Dorian's double life. Then he told his secret of the portrait to Bazil. Bazil tried to put Dorian on the right way but Dorian refused and showed his ugly portrait as a mockery. Bazil was terrified buy the real face of Dorian, it was old, almost bald, wrinkled  and evil. But even Gray himself was horrified by this portrait and he said that it's Bazil's fault that he became this kind of person. Then Dorian got very angry, he killed Bazil and destroyed his body. 


To late Dorian felt pang of conscience, he became jealous of all people whose souls were clean and without blemish. In the end he thought that the portrait is his own conscience and decided to get rid of it in order to stop suffering. Dorian took a knife and rushed to the terrible portrait. Servants woke up because of scream and they found the ugly old man next to the portrait of handsome youth. They could realized that it's Dorian Grey's dead body just by rings on his fingers...



No comments:

Post a Comment