An Analysis of Hedonism in Oscar Wilde's the Picture of Dorian Gray Thesis by Lilis Karlia 120705022 Department of English

Home , Dorian Gray (character), Paradox of hedonism

AN ANALYSIS OF HEDONISM IN OSCAR WILDE’S THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

THESIS

LILIS KARLIA

120705022

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA MEDAN 2018

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA AUTHOR’S DECLARATION

I, LILIS KARLIA DECLARE THAT I AM THE SOLE AUTHOR OF THIS THESIS

EXCEPT WHERE REFERENCES IS MADE IN THE TEXT OF THIS THESIS. THIS

THESIS CONTAINS NO MATERIAL PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE OR EXTRACTED

IN WHOLE OR IN PART FROM A THESIS BY WHICH I HAVE QUALIFIED FOR

AWARNED ANOTHER DEGREE. NO OTHER PERSON’S WORK HAS BEEN

USED WITHOUT DUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IN THE MAIN TEXT OF THIS

THESIS. THIS THESIS HAS NOT BEEN SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF

ANOTHER DEGREE IN ANY TERTIARY EDUCATION.

Signed:

Date: December 26th, 2018

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA COPYRIGHT DECLARATION

NAME : LILIS KARLIA

TITLE OF THESIS : AN ANALYSIS OF HEDONISM IN OSCAR WILDE’S

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

QUALIFICATION : S-1/SARJANA SASTRA

DEPARTMENT : ENGLISH

I AM WILLING THAT MY THESIS SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR

REPRODUCTION AT THE DISCRETION OF THE LIBRARIAN OF

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDIES,

UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA ON THE UNDERSTANDING THAT USERS

ARE MADE AWARE OF THEIR OBLIGATION UNDER LAW OF THE REPUBLIC

OF INDONESIA.

Signed:

Date: December 26th, 2018

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

All praise to The Mightiest Allah SWT who has given me the mercy and blessing until I can complete this thesis as one of the requirements to achieve the Bachelor‘s Degree from English Department at Faculty of Cultural Studies, University of Sumatra Utara.

Sholawat and salam be with our properth Muhammad peace be upon him who has guided us from the darknest to lightnest in this world as well as in the next world.

My sincere gratefulness is devoted to my beloved family. My father & mother who always supporting me in all aspects especially in finance so that I can complete this thesis well. My sister who always complaining about my graduation, finally here I am.

My gratitude goes to the Dean of Faculty of Cultural Studies, Dr. Budi Agustono,

M.S., the Head of English Departement Prof. T. Silvana Sinar M.A.,Ph.D, the Secretary of

English Department Rahmadsyah Rangkuti, M.A., Ph.D., and I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Siti Norma Nasution, M.Hum. and Dra. Diah Rahayu

Pratama, M,Pd. And also to all the lectures of English Department for all assistances, valuable knowledge and facilities during my academic year.

I would also like to give much appreciation to Bapak Sukirno as the staff of English

Department for his contribution in accomplishing the administration matters.

I want to thank my all my marvelous friends The Denim Squad, the beginng of my hedonistic behaviour (the leader ; Dwi Lestari Yanto, S.S., members ; Yoana Tasya Fietra,

S.S., Frissilia Ayesa, S.S., Rizky Khairunnisa, S.S., Nurhajijah Simatupang, S.S., Suci

Indriani,S.S.,). Special thanks to Gayatri Ofisowina (soon S.S.), and Agus Salim, S.S who help me so much in completing this thesis.

iii

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Thank you for togetherness of my amazing 2012 in English Department: Sanjaya,

Rinaldi, Inco, Rosa, Irfan, Ovi, Daniel, Wahyu Maulana, Cici, Dian, Yayu, Miranda, Wiwid,

Tifanny, Fenny, Osi, Dini, Refi, Kevin, Edo. Thank you for the plato‘s : Ayyub, Dika, Jetro,

Juan, Basta, Suci, Imas, Dewik, Puput, Rina. Also thank you for my friends in Asrama Putri

USU : Misnah, Supi, Dedep, Iky, Lasnay, Tini, and Munan. My apology for the rest of names that I can`t mention particularly.

I realize for everything the weakness of this thesis. Therefore, advice and suggestion for this thesis will be appreciated.

Medan, December 26th, 2018

Lilis Karlia Reg. No. 120705022

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA ABSTRACT

This thesis entitled An analysis of Hedonism in Oscar Wilde`s The Picture of Dorian Gray. In this paper the writer analyzes about hedonism. Hedonism is the view that the pursuit of pleasures are the primary or most important goals of human life. Oscar Wilde delivers the tenet of hedonism in the novel through the life of beautiful main character. The Picture of Dorian Gray talks about a young and beautiful man named Dorian Gray who obsessed with his appearance and he embrace hedonism in his life. In doing the research, the writer uses psychology of literature and qualitative descriptive as the method to discover how the idea of hedonism is portrayed and bad impacts of hedonism through the main character in the novel. After doing the research by using the theory, there are three types of hedonism depicted in the novel including egoistic, ethical, and aesthetic hedonism and the bad impacts of hedonism leads the main character, Dorian to be a figure of selfish, lack of empathy, and self- destruction person.

Keywords : hedonism, characteristic, impacts

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA ABSTRAK

Skripsi ini berjudul Analisis Hedonisme di Lukisan Dorian Gray oleh Oscar Wilde. Di dalam tulisan ini, penulis menganalisa tentang hedonisme. Hedonisme adalah pandangan bahwa pencarian akan kesenangan adalah tujuan yang palimg utama di dalam kehidupan manusia. Oscar Wilde menggambarkan prinsip hedonisme melalui kehidupan karakter utama di dalam novel. Lukisan Dorian Gray menceritakan tentang seorang pria muda dan tampan yang terobsesi dengan rupa fisiknya dan dia memeluk prinsip hedonisme di dalam hidupnya. Di dalam melalukan penelitian ini, penulis menggunakan teori psikologi dan teori kualitatif deskriptif untuk menggambarkan hedonimse dan pengaruh hedonisme melalui karakter utama di dalam novel. Setelah melakukan penelitian meggunakan teori tersebut, ada tiga jenis hedonisme yang digambarkan di dalam novel, termasuk egoistik, etikal dan estetika hedonisme serta pengaruh buruk dari hedonisme tersebut yang mempengaruhi karakter utama, Dorian menjadi tokoh yang egois, kurang empati dan menghancurkan dirinya sendiri.

Kata kunci : Hedonisme, tipe-tipe hedonisme, pengaruh

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA TABLE OF CONTENTS

AUTHOR’S DECLARATION ...... i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... iii

ABSTRACT ...... iv

ABSTRAK ...... v

TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... vi

1. CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study ...... 1

1.2 Problem of the Study ...... 6

1.3 Objective of the Study ...... 6

1.4 Scope of the Study ...... 6

1.5 Significance of the Study ...... 6

2. CHAPTER II - REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1 Theory of Literature ...... 8

2.2 Novel ...... 9

2.3 Psychology of Literature ...... 10

2.4 Victorian Age………...... 13

2.5 Hedonism ...... 15

2.5.1 Types of Hedonism……………………………...18

2.5.2 Characteristics of Hedonism…………………….20

CHAPTER III–METHOD OF STUDY

3.1 Research Design ...... 22

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UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 3.2 Data Sources ...... 22

3.3 Data Collecting Procedure ...... 23

3.4 Data Selecting Procedure...... 23

3.5 Data Analyzing Procedure ...... 23

CHAPTER IV–ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

4.1 Types of hedonism ...... 26

4.4.1 Ethical Hedonism ...... 26

4.4.2 Egoistic Hedonism...... 30

4.4.3 Aesthetic Hedonism...... 32

4.2 Bad impacts of hedonism ...... 36

CHAPTER V–CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

5.1 Conclusion ...... 45

5.2 Suggestions ...... 46

REFERENCES ...... 47

APPENDICES i. Biography of Oscar Wilde ii. Summary of The Novel The Picture of Dorrian Gray

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UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

In 21st century, the word of ‗Hedonism‘ is really popular among young people. This word is commonly used to describe the lifestyle of having fun and fussing like shopping for things are not needed or important, prioritizing personal pleasure regardless of the environment.

Apparently the word hedonism has been known for a long time. It can be seen from the novel by Oscar Wilde entitled The Picture of Dorian Gray, which the main character of this novel described as a man who has an opinion of happiness can be achieved by doing a lot of fun and avoiding painful things in the world. Hedonism has synonymous with worldly wealth, freedom, satisfied, sexual and power.

Hedonism collectively believes that everybody should get ―pleasure‖ as much as possible in ―his life‖. In other words the happiness in one‘s life can be defined based on the amount of pleasures he achieved. Watson describes hedonism and claims that the ultimate goal in human life should be achieving happiness.

The first tendency of man is to expend the pent-up energy with which he is endowed, in building up for himself an ordered world of customs, institutions, and laws. And what is true of the race is also true of the individual. A man throws himself into some pursuit: the accumulation of a fortune for himself and his family, the ascent of political or social power, the achievement of fame as a man of science, an artist, or a thinker; but the assumes in all of these cases that what he seeks is worth striving for, and the life he lives worth living. It may be sure that the energy and enthusiasm of youth is spent, and has been succeeded by the sober reflection of more mature years. Happiness is doubtless the end which all men seek, but it is an end which no man ever attained, or can attain.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Hedonism motivates people to do their best for reaching happiness, joy, delight, and bliss in their life. Traditionally, hedonism is divided into two types: psychological hedonism and ethical hedonism. The psychological hedonist says that as a matter of psychological fact, people are always motivated by the eternal desire to gain pleasure, either short-term or long- term one. The ethical hedonist says two things: first, that the only state of affairs that is good for its own sake is pleasure, that is nothing is good unless it is itself a pleasure or a means of producing pleasure; second, that one should act for the sake of producing maximum pleasure either for oneself or for people. When the term ‗hedonism‘ is used in modern literature, or by non-philosophers in their everyday talk, its meaning is quite different from the one it takes when used by philosophers. Non-philosophers tend to think of a hedonist as a person who seeks out pleasure for themselves without any particular regard for their own future well- being, or for the well-being of others. According to non-philosophers, then, a stereotypical hedonist is someone who never misses an opportunity to indulge of the pleasures of sex, drugs, and rock ‗n‘ roll, even if the indulgences are likely to lead to relationship problems, health problems, regrets, or sadness for themselves or for others.

The idea of hedonism is pretty much explored in The Picture of Dorian Gray. This novel is one of the most popular novels by Oscar Wilde that published in 1890. Oscar Fingal

O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in 16 October 1854 in Dublin, Ireland. He is an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of

London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, he passed away in 30

November 1900 at Paris hotel because of meningitis. Wilde was buried in the Cimetière de

Bagneux outside of Paris. In 1909 his remains were disinterred and transferred to Père

Lachaise Cemetery.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Oscar Wilde prefaces to his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray with the reflection of art, artist and utility. Wilde enclose that the principles of aesthetic motion popular in Victorian

England era. Here, aesthetic suggest all kind of behavior to make maximize beauty and happiness life of someone in tradition of hedonism. In this novel tells about a young man named Dorian Gray who has a portrait painted of himself. The artist, Basil Hallward, thinks

Dorian Gray is very beautiful, and becomes obsessed with Dorian. One day in Basil's garden,

Dorian Gray meets a man named Lord Henry Wotton. Lord Henry Wotton makes Dorian

Gray believe that the only thing important in life is beautiful. Dorian Gray is sitting for a portrait painted by his friend Basil Hallward and converses with Lord Henry who considers that the purpose of life is uninhibited self development and beauty and youth are the highest values. Dorian is strongly attracted to these ideas and wishes his portrait might age while he might keep his youthful appearance.

In his clever aphorisms Lord Henry supports free thinking, selfishness and a rejection of the norms. Art is the central theme of the Aesthetic movement and hedonists, in search of pleasure, enjoy art. Dorian Gray is fascinated by Lord Henry‘s philosophy of life and is irresistibly influenced by him. One day he sees an actress, Sibyl Vane and he is so impressed by her talent that he confuses this passion for her art with true love and eventually they become engaged. He proudly invites his friends Basil and Lord Henry to a performance but as her acting on that particular day is terrible, he decides to leave her for ever. Sibyl is so much affected by his parting that she commits suicide. He seems to be attracted to her aesthetically as he doesn‘t admire her personality but her acting talent and when she no longer appeals to him from this point of view, he abandons her unscrupulously. The first change in the portrait is noticed by Dorian before hearing the news about Sibyl‘s death: a touch of cruelty in the mouth. Lord Henry settles his ―pupils‖ doubts and gives him a greater sense of detachment and in the next eighteen years Dorian enjoys the life of a prosperous

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA man. His portrait mirrors the corruption of his soul and, in order to hide it from the others, it is locked up in a room at the top of the house. Finally vice and evil become means of experiencing intense sensual and aesthetic pleasure for Dorian and Basil‘s calls for repentance make him so enraged that he finally kills his friend.

After the murder, the portrait has a bloodstained hand and Dorian becomes obsessed with it. He stabs the picture and a cry is heard . When the servants come into the room they can see a beautiful portrait of Dorian and the corpse of a man with a knife in his heart, his face wrinkled. His body has become very aged. However, the portrait has returned to the way it was when it was first painted.

Dorian Gray, the character of The Picture of Dorian Gray, is a decadent dandy of the

Victorian era, Victorian era covers the duration of Victoria's reign as Queen of the United

Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, from her accession on 20 June 1837 after the death of her uncle, William IV, until her death on 22 January 1901, after which she was succeeded by her eldest son, Edward VII. Her reign lasted for 63 years and seven months, a longer period than any of her predecessors. The term 'Victorian' was in contemporaneous usage to describe the era. The era has also been understood in a more extensive sense as a period that possessed sensibilities and characteristics distinct from those adjacent.

A crucial event in his life comes when Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton in the studio of

Basil Hallward, an artist, who has painted a portrait of the breathtakingly beautiful Dorian, in his early twenties. He expresses a willingness to surrender his soul if he can maintain his youth and physical beauty and have his portrait age in his place. Dorian hardly expects to have his wish granted and thinks little more of it. In the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray,

Dorian indulges in hedonistic pleasures and devotes himself to the study of perfumes, embroideries and other aspects of fine art, the pursuit of pleasure being a dominating motive

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA behind the actions of the characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray. The originator of this aesthetic ideal was Epicurus who declared that pleasure was man‘s greatest good and rejected pain as being evil. Dorian‘s collections of jewellery and art are nothing but ―means of forgetfulness, modes by which he could escape, for a reason, from the fear that seemed to him at times to be almost too great to be borne.

Oscar Wilde makes a deep analysis of aestheticism in The Picture of Dorian Gray, insisting upon the idea of the hypocrisy of the English upper classes. The middle classes air their moral prejudices over their gross dinner-tables, and whisper about what they call the profligacies of their betters in order to try and pretend that they are in smart society and on intimate terms with the people they slander

There are some reasons why the writer chooses this novel as the object of study. Firstly, the writer interested to know the definition of hedonism and the bad impact of hedonism.

Secondly, the writer interested to explore what happen in Oscar Wilde‘s The Picture of

Dorian Gray by explore in the main character. As Lord Henry had prophesied, a new hedonism that was to recreate life and to teach man to concentrate himself upon the moments of a life that is itself but a moment. Indulging in life‘s momentary pleasures and not caring about their fatal consequences, the carpe diem sentiment holds true for both Wilde and his main character. Wilde proclaims sensualism, the worship of the senses as a new spirituality, of which a fine instinct for beauty was to be the dominant characteristic. Wilde‘s novel The

Picture of Dorian Gray is ― the tragedy of aestheticism‖ and ‖the aesthetic novel by excellence, not in espousing the doctrine, but in exhibiting its dangers.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 1.2 Problem of the Study

Based on the background of the analysis above, the problem of the study in this research are:

1. How is hedonism portrayed through the main character in Oscar Wilde‘s The

Picture of Dorian Gray?

2. What are the bad impacts of hedonism portrayed through the main character in

Oscar Wilde‘s The Picture of Dorian Gray?

1.3 Objective of the study

The object of writing is important to achieve. The objective of the study in this analyze are:

1. To find out the hedonism portrayed through the main character in Oscar Wilde‘s

The Picture of Dorian Gray.

2. To find out the bad impacts of hedonism portrayed through the main character in

Oscar Wilde‘s The Picture of Dorian Gray.

1.4 Scope of the study

In research, it is important to limit the analysis on specific data that has been chosen.

This research is focused on the main character of Oscar Wilde‘s The Picture of Dorian Gray and how the character portrayed the hedonism and the bad impacts of hedonism that happened with Dorian Gray as the main character of the novel.

1.5 Significance of the study

1. To give information to the readers who want to understand and appreciate literature in

general and novel as part of literature.

2. To encourage people in understanding hedonism that portrayed through the main

character in Oscar Wilde‘s The Picture of Dorian Gray.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 3. To encourage people know about a bad impacts of hedonism that portrayed through

the main character in Oscar Wilde‘s The Picture of Dorian Gray.

4. To be used as reference for the readers who want to study literature.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

In doing an analysis, it is very important for reviews or theories that are related to the subject of discussion to support the study.

2.1 Theory of Literature

Literature is one of the parts of human life, part of the form of human beings like the story, express emotion, imagination, and social criticism of the society itself. A lot of literary works that are made to entertain only without seeing what the purpose and the meaning of that made, but there are some people who think that the literary works are the form of human life which should be understood by the people. Humans interact and socialize to each other, so many stories and inspiration should be expressed because it is the fundamental of human nature as social beings. Therefore, it creates the literary works like novel, poetry, and others which are used as a tool to express ourselves and to reflect the reality of the life.

The word literature etymologically comes from the Latin word ―litteratura‖ and it is derived from ―littera‖ (letter), which is the smallest element of alphabetical writing. The word textis related to ―textile‖ and can be translated as ―fabric‖: just as single threads form a fabric, so words and sentences form a meaningful and coherent text. The origins of the two central terms are, therefore, not of gr eat help in defining literature or text. It is more enlightening to look at literature or text as cultural and historical phenomena and to investigate the conditions of their production and reception.

In Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing written by Roberts and Jacobs

(1993:1) gives an explanation about literature. Robert and Jacobs state that literature refers to

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA compositions that tell stories, dramatize situations, express emotions, and analyze and advocate ideas. Literature helps us grow, both personally and intellectually. It provides an objective base for knowledge and understanding. It links us with the broader cultural, philosophic, and religious world of which we are a part. Literature may be classified into four categories or genre; poetry, drama, prose fiction, and nonfiction prose. Each genre still has subgenres and one of the subgenres of fiction prose is novel. Literature represents the culture and tradition of a language or a people. It's difficult to precisely define, though many have tried, but it's clear that the accepted definition of literature is constantly changing and evolving. By this way, we can understand that a literary study will reveal the question such as

―how‖, ―what‖, ―why‖, and ―who‖ which all the things have a base of theory and related to human life. Meanwhile, the literature is the creative‘s activities, art, which can be seen and enjoy the result and the unique.

2.2 Novel

Novel as a literary work provides the readers reflection reality of human life through beauty of art writing. As Taylor in the book of Understanding the Elements of Literature

(1981:46) state,

―A novel is a normally a quite length of complexity which attempt to reflect and express something of the quality of value of human experience‖. It means that a novel is made by the writer to express their idea about something based on their experience or people‘s experience around them. Human experience in life may influence the whole life of human including the way of life. Novel as a part of the fiction can be defined as a work of prose fiction which tells story or uses incidents to dramatize human experience and individual character. According to Robert and Jacobs, there are several elements in a fiction. Here are some of them such as character, setting, plot, dialogue, and idea or theme.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 2.3 Psychology of Literature

Psychology of literature is a combination of psychology and literature. Psychology is the study of human behaviors, while literature is the work that is characterized in written or oral form. Written literary can contain poetry, novels and drama, while oral can contain folklore, riddle and others. So it can be concluded that literary psychology is analyzing the work of humans by using psychology by looking at the characters from the results of these works.

Psychology is also an important role in analyzing a literary work based on the elements of the author, the characters, and the readers.

Literature and Psychology is one of the literature‘s extrinsic approaches out of the other two, which are: Literature and Biography, and Literature and Society. Literary works are not only as an entertainment, but also to invites the readers to understand about the characters in the story. In literary work, the character has problems and an emotional feeling in their life, same as with other human in real life. Psychology of literature is the analysis of the text by considering the relevance and role of psychological studies. In the other words, psychology played a role in analyzing a literary work, the author's psyche from the elements, characters and readers of literary works. Psychology is also an important role in analyzing a literary work based on the elements of the author, the characters, and the readers. There is a close relationship between psychology and literature. Psychology deals with the study of observable patterns in human‘s behavior, and Literature exhibits how human beings behave in dealing with their problems and environment.

Literary works are no longer considered only as a mere entertainment, but also to invites the readers to understand about the characters in the story. In literary work, the character also has problems in living a life, have the same emotional fluctuation with other humans in real life. This is possibly to learn a literary work by connecting literature with the science. And novel is one of the literary works written by the literary worker. A novel discusses something

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA that describes the human life, although for something fictious, but it becomes as something that people may understand with the same principle in daily life, such as psychological truth or holding the mirror up to nature, a consciousness of moral values and many more. Wellek and Warren consider analysis of characters the only legitimate application of psychological analysis in literary study. Such an analysis, however, they find lacking on its own merits: individual characters do not fit psychological theories of the time they are written. Works which are true to certain psychological theories, meanwhile, are not necessarily better

(Warren and Wellek, 1990).

According to Harjana (1991: 60) the psychology literature can be interpreted as a way of analysis based on the viewpoint of psychology and proceed from the assumption that literature always discusses the events of human life which is emitted in living and dealing with life. Here the function of psychology itself is conducting exploration conducted into the inner soul of the figures contained in literary works and to learn more about the intricacies of human action and its response to other measures.

Psychology of literature is not only focused to solve the psychological problems of character, but also to understand psychological aspects contained in a literary work.

Psychology itself was made to learn about the human physics, which is human becomes the object of the psychology study. And Literature was based on the social problem, which means the authors as the human being are the social people who create the literary work.

Psychology Literature is the analysis of the text by considering the relevance and role of psychological studies. That is, psychology played an important role in analyzing a literary work by working from the corner of the psychiatric literature both elements of the author, the characters, and readers. By paying attention to the figures, it will be analyzed the inner conflict inherent in literature. It is obvious enough that psychology, being the study of psychic processes, can be brought to bear upon the study of literature, for the human psyche

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA is the womb of all the sciences and arts. We may expect psychological research, on the one hand, to explain the formation of a work of art, and on the other to reveal the factors that make a person artistically creative. The psychologist is thus faced with two separate and distinct tasks, and must approach them in radically different ways.

Wellek and Warren (1995: 95, in their book Theory of Literature) says that psychology of literature has four meaning. First, study about psychology of the author as a type or as an individual. Second, study about creative process. Third, study about psychology is applied in literary works. Fourth, study about the impact of literature toward the readers. The third meaning of psychology of literature has the most connection to literature.

Jatman (1985, in Endraswara, 2013:97) in his book entitled Metodologi Penelitian Sastra:

Epistemologi, Model, Teori, dan Aplikasi, says that literary works and psychology have a close connection, indirectly and functional. Indirect connection, because literature or psychology have the same object that about human behavior. Psychology or literature have functional connection because have same study about the condition psychological human being. The different is in psychology the symptom is real and in literature imaginative. So, literary psychology is a literature that reviewing psychology of behavior, attitude, and mind, and human through literature. It can be psychological of the writer, reader, or the character on a literary work.

Psychology Literature is the analysis of the text by considering the relevance and role of psychological studies. Psychology of literature is not only focused to solve the psychological problems of character, but also to understand psychological aspects contained in a literary work. Psychoanalysis is the term to discuss about the relation between human and psychology, which are definitely has a close relation to talk about. According to the study,

Psychoanalysis is a branch of science was developed by Sigmund Freud as a psychological study of human behavior. Freud said that our personality develops from the interactions

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA among what he proposed as the three fundamental structures of the human mind: the Id, Ego, and Superego. Conflicts among these three structure and our efforts to find balance among what each of them ―desires‖, determines how we behave and approach the world.

2.4 Victorian Age

Victorian age is a period of Queen Victorian‘s reign. This period start from 1837 until

1901. This period was marked by a long period of peace, prosperity, glory of Britain in the international arena, and the high national confidence of British citizens. Victorian period also has several roles for technology, literary and social change, such as revolution industry and expansion of English kingdom, their furniture and arts are free of renaissance influence.

Social structure in this period divided into three class. They are high class, middle class and labourer class. Labourer class in this period working at factory.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of the most popular novels by Oscar Wilde that published in 1890. Oscar Wilde is an Irish poet and playwrights. He was born in 16 October

1854 in Dublin, Ireland. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. He passed away in 30

November 1900 at Paris hotel because of meningitis. Wilde was buried in the Cimetière de

Bagneux outside of Paris. In 1909 his remains were disinterred and transferred to Père

Lachaise Cemetery.

Literary works in this period including novel, drama and poetry. Famous novelist of this period such as Charles Dickens, George Elliot, Jane Austen, Charlotte and Emily Bronte, others. Genre of this period including romantic and gothic. Romantic genre is talking about love and woman attitude faced up man, such as Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Gothic genre in this period is talking about mystery, ghost, the end of the day, mad, curse such as

Oscar Wilde‘s The Picture of Dorian Gray.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA In this novel, Dorian Gray has been blessed with the ideal image of a male in Victorian society. Lord Henry wants Dorian to embrace his beauty as a gift. Dorian has not considered that one day his gift will no longer embody the Victorian ideal when he becomes old, but after Lord Henry tells him to embrace it, he realizes he will not stay young and beautiful forever:

―How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young. It will never be older than this particular day in June…If it were only the other way! If it were I who was to 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!‖ (Wilde, 1890:34) Dorian‘s wish comes true. His pretty face stays youthful while his portrait grows wrinkles and grows old; through this twist of fate Dorian is able to have a double life. His physical life revolves around the vanity of his youth and beauty, and involves living strictly for pleasure. His portrait, on the other hand, grows older, and Dorian‘s is able to see his conscience inside of it, causing him to feel guilty for the sins he has committed. The portrait ties him between the two lives of youthful beauty and sinful ugliness caused by the practicing of Lord Henry‘s theories and philosophies of pleasure.

Later on, Dorian decides to stop doing bad things in the hopes that this will make his portrait become beautiful again, but it only makes it worse. Dorian thinks that only a full confession will make the portrait beautiful again. However, he does not feel guilty for anything he has done. So Dorian picks up a knife and destroys the portrait.

― He looked round, and saw the knife that had stabbed Basil Harward. He had cleaned it many times, till there was no stain left upon it.It was bright and glistened.As it had killed the painter, so it would kill the painter‘s work and all that that mean. It would kill the past, and when that was dead he would be free. He seized it, and stabbed the canvas with it, ripping the thing right up from top to bottom‖ (Wilde, 1890:197)

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA When his servants hear a scream from Dorian's room, they call the police. The police find Dorian's body on the floor with a stab wound in his heart. His body has become very aged. However, the portrait has returned to the way it was when it was first painted.

―When they entered, they found hanging upon the wall a splendid portrait of their master as they had last seen him, in all the wonder of his exquisite youth and beauty. Lying on the floor was a dead man, in evening dress, with a knife in his heart. He was withered, wrinkled, and loathsome of visage. It was not till they had examined the rings that they recognized who it was.‖(Wilde, 1890:198)

2.5 Hedonism

The term ‗hedonism‘ is used in several contexts. In moral philosophy it denotes the view that a good life should be a pleasurable life. In psychology it stands for the theory that pleasure seeking is a main motivator of human behaviour. Hedonists are people who are positive about pleasure and who pluck the fruits of pleasure when possible. The reverse is asceticism, which involves the moral rejection of pleasure and abstinent behaviour.

The term ‗hedonism‘, from the Greek ἡδονή (hēdonē) for pleasure, refers to several related theories about what is good for us, how we should behave, and what motivates us to behave in the ways that we do. All hedonistic theories identify pleasure and pain as the only important elements of whatever phenomena they are designed to describe. If hedonistic theories identified pleasure and pain as merely two important elements, instead of the only important elements of what they are describing, then they would not be nearly as unpopular as they all are. However, the claim that pleasure and pain are the only things of ultimate importance is what makes hedonism distinctive and philosophically interesting. (Weijers,

2017: 16)

There is a longstanding discussion about the merits of this hedonism. Some praise it as natural and healthy, but others equate hedonism with overindulgence and moral decay. The mixed feelings about hedonism are reflected in the connotations surrounding the word. On

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA one hand hedonism is associated with good taste and the art of living well, on the other hand with addiction, superficiality, irresponsible behaviour and short-sighted egoism.

Philosophical Hedonists tend to focus on hedonistic theories of value, and especially of well-being—the good life for the one living it. As a theory of value, hedonism states that all and only pleasure is intrinsically valuable and all and only pain is intrinsically dis-valuable.

Hedonists usually define pleasure and pain broadly, such that both the pleasure of reading a good book and the pain of reading a bad thesis are included. Thus, a gentle massage and recalling a fond memory are both considered to cause pleasure and stubbing a toe and hearing about the death of a loved one are both considered to cause pain. With pleasure and pain so defined, hedonism is intuitively appealing as a theory about what is valuable.

When the term ‗hedonism‘ is used in modern literature, or by non-philosophers in their everyday talk, its meaning is quite different from the one it takes when used by philosophers.

Non-philosophers tend to think of a hedonist as a person who seeks out pleasure for themselves without any particular regard for their own future well-being, or for the well- being of others. According to non-philosophers, then, a stereotypical hedonist is someone who never misses an opportunity to indulge of the pleasures of sex, drugs, and rock ‗n‘ roll, even if the indulgences are likely to lead to relationship problems, health problems, regrets, or sadness for themselves or for others. Philosophers commonly refer to this everyday understanding of hedonism as ‗Folk Hedonism‘. Folk Hedonism is a rough combination of

Motivational Hedonism, Hedonistic Egoism, and a reckless lack of foresight.

When philosophers discuss hedonism, they are most likely to be referring to hedonism about value, and especially the slightly more specific theory, hedonism about well-being.

Hedonism as a theory about value (best referred to as Value Hedonism) holds that all and only pleasure is intrinsically valuable and all and only pain is intrinsically dis-valuable, or more simply, ‚pleasure is the only prudential good and pain is the only prudential bad‛

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA (Moore & Crisp 1996, p. 599). The term ‗intrinsically‘ is an important part of the definition and is best understood in contrast to the term ‗instrumentally‘. Something is intrinsically valuable if it is valuable for its own sake. Pleasure is thought to be intrinsically valuable because, even if it did not lead to any other benefit, it would still be good to experience.

Money is an example of an instrumental good; its value for us comes from what we can do with it (what we can buy with it). The fact that a copious amount of money has no value if no one ever sells anything reveals that money lacks intrinsic value. Value Hedonism reduces everything of value to pleasure. For example, a Value Hedonist would explain the instrumental value of money by describing how the things we can buy with money, such as food, shelter, and status-signifying goods, bring us pleasure or help us to avoid pain.

Hedonism is not only about freedom, wealth, sexual, power and satisfied but also said everything that cause happiness is good and everything that cause sadness is bad. Hedonism appears at the beginning of the history of philosophy around the year 433 BC. Hedonism wants to answer the philosophical question "what is the best thing for humans?" It begins with Socrates who asked about what really be the ultimate goal of man. Then Aristippus of

Kyrene (433-355 BC) said that the best thing for a human becomes a pleasure. Aristippus explained that humans since childhood always looking for fun and if they do not achieve it, people will look for something else. Views on the 'pleasure' (hedonism) was then followed another Greek philosopher named Epicurean (341-270 BC). According to him, the human actions that seek pleasure is the true nature. Nonetheless, Epicurean hedonism wider because not only include physical pleasure alone -like The Aristippos-, but also spiritual pleasure, such as release of the soul from the unrest.

Dr. Prof. Ruut Veenhoven defines Hedonism in his The four qualities of life. Ordering concepts and measures of the good life: Journal of Happiness Studies as:

―Hedonism is a way of life, characterised by openness to pleasurable experience. There are many qualms about hedonism.‖ (Veenhoven, 2003: 437-457) 17

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Veenhoven explain that the original of Hedonism is a right concept of life. Finding pleasure is meant that inner satisfaction of someone from inside or outside. According to him, in view of the ancient people at the time is search for pleasure with fasting, get closer with

God, and meditation. However, the understanding of pleasure was growing with until this time, the sense of pleasure who defined by Aristippus is finally changed. Veenhoven also explain about the „Paradox of hedonism‟. Veenhoven say that the real truth is not always going to be right, but will have little mistakes that will make the right will be wrong. He was claim that seeking a pleasure will leads to unhappiness where it destroy the real sense of hedonism. If hedonism does not lead to pleasure after all, then the true hedonist should reject it. In this reasoning happiness is often defined, as hedonists would have it, that is, as

'enjoyment of one's life. The claim holds that a hedonistic lifestyle contributes to happiness in the short run, but not in the longer term, with the paradoxical outcome being attributed to several mechanisms. One reason why hedonists might end up unhappy is that pleasure might fade with time. This would leave the pleasure seeker unsatisfied and give rise to an urge for ever-stronger stimuli. This could involve increasingly hazardous behavior and also lead, inevitably, to disappointment, because experience blunts sensitivity, the result for the hedonist being one of emptiness.

2.5.1 Types of Hedonism

Hedonism also has several kinds. These kinds can be classified to different

types of behavior towards hedonism, namely:

1 Ethical Hedonism

Ethical hedonism, point of view is about what is expressed / talks by an

individual. Any kind of opinion was expressed aims to show how high levels of

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA education. Satisfaction achieved was feeling satisfied and happy with ourselves

because we feel smart and genius. The purpose of this attitude is trying to get an

important place in a work group or groups of society. For example, if there is a

claim to someone in a speech event that what is being said that it was a good

speech and the people who speech will feel proud, then he is among those who

embrace the attitude of Ethical Hedonism.

2 Piety Hedonism

Talking about Piety Hedonism then viewpoints is seen that religious or spiritual

aspects of a person. In this Piety Hedonism, someone who has this characteristic

will feel pleasure when he claimed to be someone who pious or devout in his

religious. The original concept of Piety Hedonism actually is a truth which the

calmness of worship is an invaluable comfort. However, at this time that the

meaning of Piety in Hedonism is already shift. People compete for seen by others.

3 Egoistic Hedonism

Egoistic Hedonism aims to get maximum pleasure. The Pleasure here was telling

that it is can be enjoyed with a long time and deep. For example: eating riches

food, amount and a lot of type, provided a long time enough to enjoy it all, as in

the Roman-style banquet. When the stomach is full, there is provided a tool to bite

the throat, so entrails in stomach can thus spewed out, then can be refilled other

foods, until satisfied. Along the development of the era, this character was

modified where people always wasting money in a place which provide a fast

food while hang out.

4 Universal hedonism

Universal hedonism almost similar with ulitarisanisme. The kind of make priority

to maximum pleasure for all, for many people. For example: if dancing, must

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA dance together, all night time, there should be no one was absent, or other

pleasures that can be shared by everyone.

5 Aesthetic Hedonism

Aesthetic Hedonism is a way to get pleasure with emphasis on appearance. What

is meant by Aesthetic Hedonism is someone will feel a pleasure if he looked

beautiful. This type will put everything to make his appearance looks very perfect.

The satisfaction of this type is when others praised his appearance. If we find

someone who feels proud when he was accused of being a good man apparently,

the pride is considered as a form of pleasure of Aesthetic Hedonism. For example,

people feels proud of their beautiful face, such as Oscar Wilde The Picture of

Dorian Gray:

2.5.2 Characteristics of Hedonism

The characteristics of hedonism by Cicerno in Russell (2004: 335):

 Having instant view, see something effort to obtain of assets of the end result

rather than the process to make the final result. This leads to the next attitude,

rationalization or justification to meet the pleasure.

 Become the physical modernity chaser. The person holds that have high-tech

goods is pride.

 Have the pleasure of relativity above average. Relativity means something for

the general public has been entered into the level of enjoyment or can be called

unpleasant, but for hedonist it was not bad.

 Fulfilling many desires that arise spontaneously. In the describing of the pleasure

for very little retaining so when people want something must get it.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA  When get trouble that he feeling unwanted or being hated by people when they

did something wrong/making trouble

 No matter how much money they earned, the hedonist will always find any ways

to spend them over again for many species including clothing, home, luxury

goods, etc.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA CHAPTER III

METHOD OF STUDY

In every study or critical analysis, there is always a research method needed in the process in order to fully understand all the data and finally transform it into a complete study. In analyzing Oscar Wilde`s The Picture of Dorian Gray, the writer will use descriptive and qualitative method. According to Meleong (2005: 6) qualitative research is a research that aims to understand the phenomena that is experienced by the subject of the study through behavior, perception, motivation, action holistically by the way of description through words and language in specific context that is natural by utilizing a variety of natural method. The writer will go through the necessary steps for achieving the most effective study results and these steps involves research design, data sources, data collection, and data analysis.

3.1 Research Design

In this study, the writer will use descriptive method design. The main objective of this type of research is to describe the data that is going to be studied. This type of research also uses qualitative research method because all data are analyzed in the form of words and sentences. With descriptive research, the writer will aim to carry out an exploration of the certain phenomena, which in this case is hedonism and other related issues to The Picture of

Dorian Gray

3.2 Data Sources

The data of this study is primarily from the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. The novel is published in in 1890 by Lippincott's Monthly Magazine. The data in the novel can be in the form of words, phrases, or sentences. However, the writer only focuses on data that indicates the characteristic of hedonism and how the characteristics of hedonism expressed in the

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA major character. Supporting the primary data, the writer also uses some related textbooks, articles, interviews, and film adaption of the novel in reference to further guidance.

3.3 Data Collecting Procedure

In the step of data collecting procedure, the writer will need both primary and secondary data sources. First of all, the writer starts with getting the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde which is the primary data of this research and read it over and over until the writer understands the story well. The writer will also look into secondary data such as gathering data from books, articles, webs and other supporting material that is relevant to the topic of the study.

3.4 Data Selecting Procedure

In this procedure the writer starts to go through the data more thoroughly and takes down any notes for necessary explanations the collection of raw materials,. This involves underlining and highlighting important data as well as quoting from the novel to provide concrete evidence. The data will be selected and organized in accordance with the problem of the study so finally the writer can carry out an analysis.

3.5 Data Analyzing Procedure

In analysis of this study, the writer will arrange the data in accordance to the area of analysis. The writer will then:

1. Classify the data accurately by relating it to the problems and aims of this

study within the novel.

2. Investigate and analyze the phenomenon of hedonism that relates to the novel

and social reality.

3. Identify and interpret the data that suggests characteristics of existentialism

which regurgitates by the major character.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 4. The writer then can make a conclusion from overall data analysis that have

been analyzed and interpreted.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Below is the flowchart of research design:

Source of data: a novel Researcher The Picture of Dorian Gray

Quote/selected text related to themes of hedonism

Data selected: Interpreted analysis using the theories: psychology of literature, hedonism, and also by descriptive and qualitative Conclusion method.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

4.1 Hedonism portrayed in the character of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde is probably the first to raise the issue of hedonism in the nineteenth century.

He dared to talk about subject that already took place in the Victorian society, but was a forbidden topic for discussions. In The Picture of Dorian Gray, the parallels of hedonistic programme of Dorian Gray are observable in the present time. These are on the one hand self-realisation and the motive to be always seeking sensations, and on the other hand the cult of youth and beauty mania. However, the topic on tendencies o Hedonism is the focus that will be examined in this chapter.

The novel opens with Basil Hallward and his friend, Lord Henty beholding the painter‘s new master piece. Basil says the discovery of a new means of art is one of the most extraordinary moments in life, and for Henry Wotton such is the feeling at discovering

Dorian. A means is exactly how he sees his protégé. He realizes his soul through Dorian‘s body; his desires for boundless pleasure find form and expression in the lad, and just like a work of art gains a life of its own, so does Dorian embody his master‘s thoughts so well that he begins to develop them independently.

4.1.1 Ethical Hedonism

Ethical hedonism, refers to point of view is about what is expressed and talks by an

individual. Any kind of opinion was expressed aims to show how high levels of

education. Satisfaction achieved was feeling satisfied and happy with ourselves because

we feel smart and genius. The purpose of this attitude is trying to get an important place

in a work group or groups of society.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA The character of Dorian Gray and the story of his profound degeneration provide a

case study examining the viability of purely aesthetic lives. Dorian lives according to

what Lord Henry professes without hesitation, and what Lord Henry inspires Dorian,

through persuasive rhetoric, is an attitude indifferent to consequence and altogether

amoral. In The Picture of Dorian Gray both aspects are comprised in the Hedonism

envisioned by Lord Henry, which can be understood as a symbol of the decadent

opposition to a prohibition-based society like ours.

A look of joy came into his eyes, as if he had recognized himself for the first time. He stood there motionless, and in wonder ...The sense of his own beauty came on him like a revelation. He had never felt it before. (Wilde, 1992: 23) The strange panegyric on youth through which Lord Henry gains Dorian‘s soul values the individual above everything, and sees in laws an impediment to the full realization of one‘s self. Therefore everyone should have as their primary goal in life to strive for their perfection. As fine means of molding and developing personality, art and criticism have an essential role in that improvement. This is what Henry Wotton does through his perverted notions of Hedonism and individualism. He believes one must live life to the very fullest if one wishes full realization. Dorian thinks that in that new reality sensations would not be cut short, but rather stimulated and elevated into elements of a new spirituality, of which a fine instinct for beauty was to be the dominant characteristic.

How sad it is! Murmured Dorian Gray with his eyes still fixed upon his own portrait. How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young. (Wilde, 1992: 24) Dorian and Lord Henry meet each other when the portrait is just about to be finished. Henry is immediately touched by the boy‘s good looks, and he wishes to influence the boy with his own ideas. He believes what he is doing is bad because to influence a person is to give him one‘s own soul and as a result that person will never develop his own personality. In the conversation with Basil, he expresses his belief that

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA beauty is the most important dignity of the human. At the same time, he meets handsome fellow Dorian and starts to admire his perfect appearance at first sight. Lord Henry assures

Dorian that there is nothing impossible for one who has two privileges: beauty and youth.

Impressionable Dorian easily falls under the influence of his senior fellow and shares these superficial values. To prevent himself from aging, Dorian swaps the imaginary with the real, thus seeing the disjunction between the image and his physical body as a form of envy. In verbalizing this, his body removed itself from the realm of time. Dorian gives his soul for maintaining his physical beauty. Dorian fears that time will strip him of his beauty and youth, the very things that make him the object of attention.

For there would be a real pleasure in watching it. He would be able to follow his mind into its secret places. This portrait would be to him the most magical of mirrors. As it had revealed to him his own body, so it would reveal to him his own soul. And when winter came upon it, he would still be standing where spring trembles on the verge of summer (Wilde, 1992: 86) After their Dorian and Lord Henry‘s first conversation, Basil shows them the finished portrait. By congratulating the artist and calling the sitter to come and take a look at himself, Lord Henry is cunningly enticing the naïve Dorian to become aware of his youth and make the most of it. The lad comes, and the crucial event happens. First, he delights at his extraordinary beauty. Then, he is shocked: for the first time he really feels what Henry had been telling him. As man and picture stand in front of each other, a confrontation takes place. One is the triumph of nature, the other is the triumph of men, but the latter, a mere copy of the first, will remain unspoiled through time while the real person will become dreadful, hideous, and uncouth The irony in their fate strikes Dorian as a great injustice, and moved by this feeling he declares he would give his soul for the eternal beauty that only the portrait can boast having. That prepares the ground for one of the main issues dramatized by Dorian‘s story.

Once or twice every month during the winter, and on each Wednesday evening while the season lasted, he would throw 28

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA open to the world his beautiful house and have the most celebrated musicians of the day to charm his guests with the wonders of their art…indeed, there were many, especially among the very young men, who saw, or fancied that they saw, in Dorian Gray the true realization of a type that was to combine something of the real culture of the scholar with all the grace and distinction and perfect manner of a citizen of the world. To them he seemed to be of the company of those whom Dante describes as having sought to ‗make themselves perfect by the worship of beauty‘. (Wilde, 1992: 103) Dorian is influenced by Lord Henry to take on hedonism. However, arguably his troubles do not arise from the hedonistic life he leads, but from his sentiments, his sense of right and wrong, and want of self-control. Owing to the conservative late-Victorian constrictions, Dorian also entertains fashionable young men of his own rank who were his chief companions and astound the country by the wanton luxury and gorgeous splendor of his mode of life. Dorian‘s giving up his essence for the sake of appearance, though a unique act as he does it, is relatable to the late-Victorian attitude towards life which came to be known as decadence. Though the term has always been controversial, it is a consensus that decadence was a cult of the artificial over the natural.

His mode of dressing, and the particular styles that from time to time he affected, had their marked influence on the young exquisites of the Mayfair balls and Pall Mall club windows, who copied him in everything that he did, and tried to reproduce the accidental charm of his graceful, though to him only half-serious, fopperies. (Wilde,1992: 104) The eternal youth, infinite passion, pleasures subtle and secret, wild joys and wilder sins-he was to have all these thin. Wilde thus introduces the theme of secrets and wild sins, referencing hedonism indulgences. Dorian believe the senses can cure the soul in a cathartic way, but, they argue, the world‘s restrictions have prevented it from happening. Dorian is fascinated by it because its protagonist, a young, wealthy, passionate man like himself, seeks to realize his passions with a combination of both the romantic and scientific temperaments that makes his search a methodic one. Dorian Gray is patterned with such flowers that are associated with particular emotive states or function to

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA induce a particular response based on memory. Flowers have a deeper significance than

their position in the dandy‘s buttonhole.

4.1.2 Egoistic Hedonism

Egoistic Hedonism aims to get maximum pleasure. The Pleasure here was telling that

it is can be enjoyed with a long time and deep. Hedonism collectively believes that

everybody should get pleasure as much as possible in his life. Hedonism motivates people

to do their best for reaching happiness, joy, delight, and bliss in their life. The first

tendency of man is to expend the pent-up energy with which he is endowed, in building up

for himself an ordered world of customs, institutions, and laws. And what is true of the

race is also true of the individual. A man throws himself into some pursuit: the

accumulation of a fortune for himself and his family, the ascent of political or social

power, the achievement of fame as a man of science, an artist, or a thinker; but the

assumes in all of these cases that what he seeks is worth striving for, and the life he lives

worth living. The ethical hedonist says two things: first, that the only state of affairs that is

good for its own sake is pleasure, that is nothing is good unless it is itself a pleasure or a

means of producing pleasure; second, that one should act for the sake of producing

maximum pleasure either for oneself or for people in general.

He has a simple and a beautiful nature. Your aunt was quite right in what she said of him. Don‘t spoil him. Don‘t try to influence him (Wilde, 1992: 15) Lord Henry poisoning Dorian´s mind, he plays a role of a devilish sweet-talker- his

theories awakes Dorian´s inclination to hedonism, this inclination is hiding in a depth of

everyone´s nature. It is more natural, more attractive and more inviting for Dorian to

accept Lord Henry´s understanding of a true nature of life and so he adopts it as his own.

Harry, imagine a girl, hardly seventeen years of age, with a little flower-like face, a small Greek head with plaited coils of dark-brown hair, eyes that were violet wells passion, lips were like the petal of a rose. She was the loveliest thing I ever seen in my life... . . "I have

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA seen her in every age and in every costume. Ordinary women never appeal to one's imagination… Why didn't you tell me that the only thing worth loving is an actress?" ( Wilde, 1992: 42-43)

After meeting Lord Henry, Dorian Gray is a very different man. He is full of passion and eager the know the world. In this spirit, he meets Sybil Vane, a young actress, who sweeps him right off his feet. The question underlines that most of Dorian‘s passion is due not to Sybil‘s matchless beauty or personality, but rather because she can act celebrated females characters of the stage, such as Juliet and Imogen. Dorian knows almost nothing about Sybil Vane the person, but this only makes her more interesting, not only to him but also to Henry. Behind this shallow appreciation of Sybil lies the decadent love of art and artifice. Decadents value things and people not for what they really are, but rather for what they appear to be, even if those appearances serve only as a means to conceal unpleasant realities or, in Dorian‘s words, to multiply personalities. Without her gift of pretending, Sybil would not have become Dorian‘s heroine, but the young naïve girl fails to understand that Dorian values her as a means to have other, more noble, women.

His search for sensation that would be at once new and delightful, and posses the element of strangeness that is so essential to romance he would often adopt certain modes of thought that he knew to be really alien to his nature, abandon himself to their subtle influence, and then, having, as it were, caught their colour and satisfied his intellectual curiosity,… (Wilde, 1992: 106) Dorian Gray puts a perilous price for his blind obedience to the superficial values that cost him his own soul. The fatal final of the novel implies the revaluation of values must be done in order not to end up like the main hero. As it has been already mentioned, beauty and youth had a great importance for the Victorian society Wilde‘s aestheticism, his fanatical cult of beauty, was the deepest and most lasting of his passions, and it is now the most radical thing about him. Dorian encourages to experience all pleasures which life can offer and to enjoy them without considering ethic. His opinion is that the only sense of

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA life lies in finding of the beauty and new excitements. Dorian also deals in the novel with

the idea of absolute freedom that ends in hopelessness, because what is left for the one

who has experienced everything. Someone with experience of such a kind is left with his

boredom and emptiness. Nothing can attract his attention, and nothing can thrill him.

4.1.3 Aesthetic Hedonism

Oscar Wilde‘s novel brings new concepts in traditional way of life in Victorian

England. The author was the first to explore the issue of aesthetic lifestyle). Aestheticism

can be defined broadly as the elevation of taste and the pursuit of beauty as chief

principles in art and in life. This new concept formed in Europe in the nineteenth century

denies moral values and beliefs of the Victorian society, exalting beauty and life pleasures.

Thus, Aesthetic Hedonism is a way to get pleasure with emphasis on appearance. What is

meant by aesthetic hedonism is someone will feel a pleasure if he looked beautiful. This

type will put everything to make his appearance looks very perfect. The satisfaction of this

type is when others praised his appearance. Oscar Wilde shares his thoughts about this

concept through his novel.

You have a wonderfully beautiful face, Mr Gray. Don‘t frown. You have. And beauty is form of Genius – is higher, indeed, than Genius, as it needs no explanation… To me, Beauty is the wonder of wonders. It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible… Yes, Mr Gray, the gods have been good to you. But what gods give they quickly take away…Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you! Let nothing be lost upon you. Be always searching for new sensations. Be afraid of nothing… a new hedonism – that is what our century wants… Youth! Youth! There is absolutely nothing in the world but youth!‘ (Wilde, 1992: 21) The aesthetics values and hedonistic approach to life are emphasized throughout

the novel. The character Lord Henry Wotton is aimed to express the author‘s insights on

moral, aesthetic ideas and hedonistic lifestyle. He enlightens Dorian and teaches him the

philosophy of new hedonism being a proponent of it. Lord Henry easily influences on

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Dorian and gives the young innocent man the faith in life dedicated to seeking forbidden pleasures regardless of reproach from society. Life is worthy only if one lives to its fullest with no fear of disapproval of others. Dorian implements the idea of self-indulgence and egoistic amusements in life. Beauty and sensual pleasures become a main aim in his life.

I am jealous of everything whose beauty does not die. I am jealous of the portrait you have painted of me. Why should it keep what I must lose? Every moment that passes takes something from me, and gibes something to it. Oh, if it were only the other way! If the picture could change, and I could be always what I am now! Why did you paint it? It will mock me someday mock me horribly!‘ (Wilde, 1992: 25) Wilde supports the main principle of aesthetic movement: the worship of beauty.

The Picture of Dorian Gray suggests new moral norms and views that the author shares encouraging aestheticism. The artist is a creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art‘s aim. In this way, those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. Dorian brings an insight that the only aim of art is beauty that brings pleasure without any moral content. Aestheticism advocates whatever behavior was likely to maximize the beauty and happiness in one‘s life, in the tradition of hedonism. To the aesthete, the ideal life mimics art; it is beautiful, but quite useless beyond its beauty, concerned only with the individual living it. The idea of life full of joy and idle pleasure acquires a crucial importance for an inexperienced fellow.

Afterwards these superficial values are the main motivation to act. Dorian recklessly dedicates his life to the chase for new adventures and vain desires.

It was rumoured of him once that he was about to join the Roman Catholic communion; and certainly the Roman ritual had always a great attraction for him.. . . and he would now study perfumes, and the secrets of their manufacture, distilling heavily –scented oils and burning odorous gums from the East…at another time he devoted himself entirely to music… (Wilde, 1992: 106-107) Furthermore Dorian admires beauty to such an extent that he even use it to escape from awareness of the terrifying consequences of his reckless acts. The hero spends a lot

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA of time studying and enjoying the beauty in different things like theatre, music, gems and other luxuries. Appreciation for art and aestheticism is just as adamant as Dorian‘s. Like

Dorian seeks to make himself perfect by worshipping beauty. Dorian also seems to be a follower of the Arts and Crafts movement that exalted luxurious, antique, and exotic art.

His Renaissance tapestries, olive-satin curtains and luxuriously cushioned mirror his new- born feeling for luxury and artistry. On one occasion Dorian takes up the study of jewels, and appeared at a costume ball as Anne de Joyeuse, Admiral of France, in a dress covered with five hundred and sixty pearls. This taste enthralled him for years, and, indeed, may be said never to have left him. He would often spend a whole day settling and resettling in their cases the various stones that he had collected. Dorian‘s dress may be paralleled with embellished theatrical costumes, thus with the help of effeminacy Dorian not only attract the homoerotic gazes of men, but also successfully transforms and transcends his gender.

On one occasion he took up the study of jewels, and appeared at a costume ball as Anne de Joyeuse, Admiral of France, in a dress covered with five hundred and sixty petals. (Wilde, 1992: 108) Dorian‘s admiration of artifacts and jewels are not the only things that are indications of his fascination for aestheticism, but also his dandified dress and performance: The worship of youth and beauty is one of the central ideas in The Picture of

Dorian Gray. Dorian invade the realm of women, which they apotheosize into art. This description of Dorian definitely reflects female conventions of dress, his attire and flair for jewels may be placed into feminine registers. When Dorian dresses up there is hardly any difference between clothing and costume. For a dandy, clothing was the means of dressing oneself up for a performance for the audience. Already in the preface of the novel, Oscar

Wilde brings us an insight of art saying that it‘s only aim is beauty. Thus, the preface serves as a kind of manifest of aesthetic beliefs. Talking about beauty from the aesthetic point of view, the author implies its wider meaning and only its concept in art. For the

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA main characters of the novel beauty is placed over morality. For the sake of beauty becomes a kind of lifestyle, the reason that drives to act in a certain way. Supremacy of beauty and youth is shown straight from the first chapter of the book. Celebrated artist

Basil Hallward bewitched by the great beauty of young man Dorian Gray paints his portrait to immortalize his esthetic perfection. The main hero is a muse for the artist who inspires him to create a masterpiece of art for the sake of its beauty.

And so, for a whole year, he sought to accumulate the most exquisite specimens that he could find of textile and embroided work, getting the dainty Delhi Muslins,..the Dacca gauzes.. - (Wilde, 1992: 111) Aesthetic tendencies have to be taken with prudence and have reasonable limits that imply moral responsibility. Only being controlled is possible to avoid its adverse effects on society and on a person who preaches aestheticism itself. Otherwise, an unconditional application of these ideas can only have negative consequences. Living a pure aesthetic lifestyle without prudence brings destructive consequences. Dorian Gray shows how aesthetic beliefs can ruin the life if to pursue them blindly. In this way, Oscar

Wilde not only demonstrates the Aesthetic movement in all its glory but also tells about its poisonous effect to moral that can occur. Inexperienced, impressionable and untutored

Dorian Gray neglects social norms and moral values being involved in disgraceful affairs driven by lust and forbidden pleasures.

Not one pulse of his life would ever weaken. Like the gods of the Greeks, he would be strong, and fleet, and joyous. What did it matter what happened to the coloured image on the canvas? He would be safe. That was everything. (Wilde, 1992: 86) Dorian`s belief in the power of beauty is reinforced by the adoration of society.

Society of all times highly appreciates beauty and youth. People saw in Dorian, a type of which they had often dreamed. Until Dorian Gray ruins his reputation with his scandalous disgraceful affairs that became known to the public, he is always a guest of honor at the banquets. The hero represents a nobleman and an exemplar for the young exquisites of the

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Mayfair balls and Pall Mall club windows. The great beauty that lies in his appearance,

perfection of his manners and fashionable dresses evokes fascination for him. Moreover

Dorian‘s flawless appearance could not allow suspect him in debauchery, even those who

had heard the most evil things against him can not believe anything to dishonor when they

see him .

4.2 Bad impact of Hedonism for Dorian Gray

Hedonism is a way of life, characterized by openness to pleasurable experience. There are many qualms about hedonism. It is rejected on moral grounds and said to be detrimental to long-term happiness. Several mechanisms for this 'paradox of hedonism' have been suggested and telling examples of pleasure seekers ending up in despair have been given. The environmental argument holds that hedonism gives rise to over-consumption, and that this will add to the ongoing depletion of natural resources and consequently will hasten the destruction of the environment. Following this line of argument it is suggested that hedonism reduces ones awareness of danger, because self-indulgences smothers awareness and critical thinking. Similar claims are made about the deleterious effects of hedonism on society.

At the individual level there are also two lines of critique. The first is that hedonism undermines health. This argumentation applies in particular to the pursuit of sensory pleasures such as drinking alcoholic beverages, smoking tobacco, eating sweets and abundant sex. The second line of criticism is that hedonism reduces happiness in the long term. The claim that pleasure seeking leads to unhappiness takes the attack to the heart of hedonism. If hedonism does not lead to pleasure after all, then the true hedonist should reject it. In this reasoning happiness is often defined, as hedonists would have it, that is, as enjoyment of one‘s life. The claim holds that a hedonistic lifestyle contributes to happiness in the short run, but not in the longer term, with the paradoxical outcome being attributed to several mechanisms. One reason why hedonists might end up unhappy is that pleasure might fade

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA with time. This will leave the pleasure seeker unsatisfied and give rise to an urge for ever- stronger stimuli. This can involve increasingly hazardous behaviour and also lead, inevitably, to disappointment, because experience blunts sensitivity, the result for the hedonist being one of emptiness.

A related theme is that hedonism leads into addiction. For one thing, pleasure seeking can lead one into risky experimentation and to making the wrong friends. Furthermore habituation will lead to craving forever-increasing levels of stimulation, with the risk of self- destruction. This links with the theory that happiness requires first of all that one sees meaning in one‘s life. Since there is little meaning in mere enjoyment, hedonists face bankruptcy in this respect. Such a lack will make itself felt when habituation breaks the spell of lust and when sickness and old age reduce the hedonist‘s capacity for enjoyment, leading to the end of life in an existential vacuum. Still another claim is that hedonism erodes social bonds. In this reasoning the pursuit of individual pleasures makes people less sensitive to the needs of others, which links up with the earlier mentioned notion that hedonism leads to moral decay; and further isolation, with the hedonists left bowling alone. That is obviously not much fun and the lack of companionship may make the hedonist even more vulnerable to addiction.

In this sense, the opening scene of the novel shows both Hallward and Wotton working on their masterpieces. Ignoring the monstrous pact that gives Dorian eternal beauty, Lord

Henry is satisfied at the fact that he is the one responsible for turning Dorian into the ideal of his age in chasing a life of hedonism. However, the ideal represented by Dorian Gray can be seen to be the evil side of man stirred by the passions and made more dangerous by the very thing society depends on, reason.

You can dine with me tonight, Dorian, can`t you? He shook his head. ‗Tonight she is Imogen.‘ he answered, ‗and tomorrow night she will be Juliet.‘ ‗When is she Sibyl Vane?‘

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA ‗Never‘ (Wilde, 1992: 45)

Along the story, it is noticed that dorian falls in a love to a girl named Sybil Vane.

Dorian pursues Sibyl from first sights, intent on acquiring her before he ever attempts to truly know her. Indeed, Dorian‘s love for Sibyl is overtly superficial. Dorian is not attracted to

Sibyl‘s character of personality, but rather her acting talent and enthralling performances; this is what enchants the aesthetically inclined Dorian.

I know you are surprised at me talking to you like this. You have not realized how I have developed. I was a schoolboy when you knew me. I am a man now. I have new passions, new thoughts, new ideas. I am different, but you must not like me less. I am changed, but you must always be my friend. (Wilde, 1992: 88) Lord Henry Wotton‘s aestheticism echoes to a certain extent the Rousseauean idea that civilization mars the individual‘s innate good. When first marveled by Dorian Gray‘s beauty,

Lord Henry thinks the face on the portrait belongs to someone unspotted from the world, one whose mind has been preserved from the degrading intelligence of civilization, as if Dorian never thought at all. On the other hand, when the painter Basil Hallward confronts his sitter to explain the great amount of calumny being spoken against him, Dorian retorts by saying Each of us has Heaven and Hell in him, Basil‖ arguing that also evil is an inborn feature of human nature

He grew more and more enamoured of his own beauty, more and more interested in the corruption of his own soul… he would place his white hands beside the coarse bloated hands of the picture, and smile. He mocked the misshapen body and the failing limbs….(Wilde, 1992: 103) Totally under Lord Henry‘s spell, Dorian Gray with high ideals adopts his mentor‘s words to the best of his ability. Easily adopting a clear hedonistic approach to life, Dorian

Gray makes a step to the way of degradation. He tries to escape from all unpleasant things that occur in his path and unconsciously seeks for new sensations and amusements. His behavior is characterized by evasiveness. Dorian does not want to be aware of any

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA consequences of his actions and take any responsibilities of his deeds. Dorian seeks for shelter from all his evil deeds‘ effects in art. He sticks to pure aestheticism in life. The moral conduct of traditional society does not have any importance for him. Dorian remains indifferent to everything and everybody excluding himself and his vain wishes. Dorian attempts to implement these beliefs in his life. However, he only quenches the thirst for appearance pleasures, whereas the soul remains contaminated by his misleading acts.

"You have killed my love. You used to stir my imagination. Now you don't even stir my curiosity. You simply produce no effect. I loved you because you were marvellous, because you had genius and intellect, because you realized the dreams of great poets and gave shape and substance to the shadows of art. You have thrown it all away. You are shallow and stupid… What are you now? A third-rate actress with a pretty face." ( Wilde, 1992: 71) Dorian who obsessed with aestheticism watches Sybil`s performance ruins his aesthetic ideal and he leaves the girl with no regrets. Dorian‘s blind obedience to aestheticism is contrary to morality while the hero remains unconscious about it. Dorian‘s relationship with the actress Sibyl Vane plainly illustrates this marked change in personality. Dorian pursues

Sibyl from first sights, intent on acquiring her before he ever attempts to truly know her.

Indeed, Dorian‘s love for Sibyl is overtly superficial, as evidenced by Dorian‘s own description of his infatuation with Sibyl. Dorian is not attracted to Sibyl‘s character of personality, but rather her acting talent and enthralling performances; this is what enchants the aesthetically inclined Dorian. When Sibyl leaves the stage, then, she no longer serves a purpose in Dorian‘s aesthetic life, and thus, Dorian abandons her unceremoniously. Dorian does not regret informing Sybil that.

Cruelty! Had he been cruel? It was the girl`s fault, not his. He had dreamed of her as greta artist, had given his love to her because he had thought her great. Then she had disappointed him… Why should he troubled about Sybil Vane? She was nothing to him now. (Wilde, 1992: 72) Later his compassion after the news about the suicide of desperate Sibyl transforms into indifferent observation of this as if it could be a dramatic play. After Sybil‘s death, Dorian

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA says, as if he had forgotten what he had brought upon her, that his affair with the girl was a wonderful experience. After the incident, still dominated by anger, Dorian roams around

London, and eventually finds himself in the marginalized areas of the city. This is when he starts becoming a monster: the dark side of his nature is taking over him and he loses power over his actions. Described as a lair to all sorts of bad creatures, the rough areas of the city are to become his proper habitat. Here, the adverse consequences of aestheticism surface in

Dorian‘s life. In his pursuit of his own pleasures, a distinctly narcissistic attitude emerges, and the incompatibility of morality and unconditional aestheticism becomes all the more apparent.

He remembered wandering through dimly-lit streets, past gaunt black-shadowed archways and evil-looking houses. Women with hoarse voices and harsh laughter had called after him. Drunkards had reeled by cursing, and chattering to themselves like monstrous apes. He had seen grotesque children huddled upon door-steps, and had heard shrieks and oaths from gloomy courts.(Wilde, 1992:72) The description, particularly the choice of adjectives, show the novel is conscious of the issue of monstrosity it deals with. Dorian becomes a liaison between the two different worlds, the poor and the wealthy, showing that crime and degradation are not necessarily triggered by poverty and savagery: having their roots in every human being, they also belong to the rich and cultivated in the most calculating ways.

‗Harry,‘ cried Dorian Gray, coming over and sitting down beside him, ‗why is it that I cannot feel this tragedy as much as I want to? I don‘t think I am heartless. Do you?...The lad frowned. ‗I don`t like explanation, Harry, ‗he rejoined, ‗but I am glad you don`t think I am heartless. I am nothing of the kind. I know I am not. And yet I must admit that this thing that has happened does not affect me as it should. It seems to me to be simply like a wonderful ending to a wonderful play. It has all the terrible beauty of a Greek tragedy, a tragedy which I took a great part, but by which I have not been wounded.‘ (Wilde, 1992: 81). Here, excessive disposition to unconditional aestheticism and hedonism start to poison his soul and mind. Seeking for his egoistic pleasures Dorian turns to be really selfish, narcissistic and indifferent to the adversities of others. Thus, the imminence of the conflict

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA between the moral values and pure aestheticism becomes obvious. In arrogance, Dorian discloses lack of moral in his actions. The portrait illustrates the process of degradation of the hero and withering of his soul whereas Dorian enjoys his youth and beauty that seems to be eternal. Nevertheless, the retribution is not long to wait. Afterwards when the hero decides to start a new life and attempts to destroy his portrait he kills himself. The only heritage that is left after his death is his jewelries as a symbol of his real essence lies in admiration of the pure aesthetic life.

‗Stop, Basil! I won`t hear it! Cried Dorian, leaping to his feet. ‗You must not tell me about things. What is done is done. What is past is past.‘ ‗You call yesterday the past?‘ (Wilde, 1992:87) After Sybil‘s death, Dorian says, as if he had forgotten what he had brought upon her, that his affair with the girl was a wonderful experience. Sybil‘s death is the example of how

Dorian‘s evil is a union of passions and perverse intellect. This perverse appreciation of a terrible event like suicide is possible to them because they value experiences in general, regardless of their results. Dorian seems to have dismissed these two aspects, for his sole aim is to have form and pleasure for their own sake. This implies that in his search for experiences he saw no barriers in ethics, laws, self-denial, or morals, things that would make an ordinary person give up a pursuit like his.

As soon as he got behind him, he seized it, and turned round. Hallward stirred in his chair as if he was going to rise. He rushed at him, and dug the knife into the great vein that is behind the ear, crushing the man`s head down on the table, and stabbing again and again. …..How quickly it had all been done! He felt strangely calm and walking over the window (Wilde, 1992: 126) Dorian Gray by following Lord Henry´s ideas becomes more and more rotten in his heart. From the beginning thoughts of Lord Henry seem to be quite harmless, but due to them a monster is created at the end of the novel. In thiie quotation, Basil‘s reproach annoys

Dorian, especially when the painter says that in order to really know his friend he would have to see his soul. Dorian is appalled by those words, but the irony is so piercing that he is

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA encouraged to invite Basil to look at his soul. Since the painter will not stop rebuking him,

Dorian thinks it is appropriate that he should look at canvas he himself painted. Thus Dorian reminds Basil that the artist himself spoiled his ideal by teaching it to be self-conscious, and by putting into the portrait. Basil‘s shock at seeing his masterpiece so terribly altered fills

Dorian with rage and regret, and he murders his creator. The room, so far a place where

Dorian will hide supernatural evidence, now becomes the scene of a bloody crime and a capital sin.

Your life? Good heavens! What a life that is! You have gone from corruption to corruption, and now you have culminated in crime. In doing what I am going to do— what you force me to do— it is not of your life that I am thinking. (Wilde,1992: 135- 136)

Hedonism for its sake is the chief tenet and the main force moving Dorian to fulfill his passions, sear his soul, and cause his and other people‘s ruin. As he indulges in forbidden pleasures and sins, Dorian is searching to fulfill his passion for beauty in every moment and through every means of the body. anything is beautiful that is fitted to give pleasure and satisfaction to the soul Dorian seems to have dismissed these two aspects, for his sole aim is to have form and pleasure for their own sake. This implies that in his search for experiences he saw no barriers in ethics, laws, self-denial, or morals, things that would make an ordinary person give up a pursuit like his. In light of this, Dorian‘s disrespect of morals, among other things, becomes particularly serious because by trying to sever them off he is actually attempting to break with nature and God, and the consequences of doing so prove the worst both to himself and society, for in order to achieve his ideal Dorian embraces evil simply as a mode through which he could realize his conception of the beautiful and starts to subject people to the most cruel methods he can fancy.

There were blood on the painted feet, as though the thing had dripped – blood even on the hand that had not held the knife. Confess? Did it mean that he was to confess? To give himself up, and be put to death? He laughed. He felt the idea was monstrous. Besides, even if he did

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA confess, who would believe him? There was no trace of the murdered man anywhere…. But this murder – was it to dog him all his life? Was he always to be burdened by his past? Was he really to confess? Never. There was only one bit of evidence left against him. The picture itself – that was the evidence. He would destroy it. (Wilde, 1992: 176)

The moment that Dorian notices the division between self-representation and self-image, he turns into a degenerate and overly decadent young man. He transgresses into a world of destruction and self-abuse. The grotesque condition of the portrait intimidates and scares Dorian, so he yearns to liberate himself from the images that recorded his destruction. Hence, Dorian murders his best friend who created the painting and finally destroys the portrait. Dorian avenges himself and stabs the painting. As Dorian stabs the portrait that reveals his secret, the complex configuration of the images, which also reflect his corruption, are erased and Dorian breaks free.

Even though he tries to preserve his good name in society by being an impecable host,

Dorian can no longer conceal the monster he has become. His prolonged absences give rise to bad conjectures, his name becomes a byword for infamy, and his circle of acquaintances begins to ostracize him. Dorian, who believes to be in a mission against the ―uncomely puritanism‖ of his age, is not bothered by that; he is rather encouraged to seduce friends into his corrupted lifestyle, which he easily does with his charm. Then, he delights at witnessing the distortions grow on the portrait locked up at the top of his house.

. . . Basil Harward`s disappearance would soon pass away. It was already warning. He was perfectly safe there. Nor, indeed, was it the death of Basil Harward that weighed most upon his mind. Basil had painted the portrait that had marred his life. He could not forgive him that. It was the portrait that had one everything….As for Allan Campbell, his suicide had been his own act. He had choosen to do it. It was nothing to him. (Wilde, 1992: 175) Dorian is a confirmed sinner and criminal, and he is troubled by conscience. He has the picture to give form to his evil essence, and being hunted down and almost killed urges him to change. However, conscience is not able to open his heart to humaneness; it just scratches his huge egotism, for he wants to keep his lifestyle at the same he eliminates the constant

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA reminder of his monstrosity, the portrait. At the end of the novel, Dorian thinks that his recent good action, sparing a country girl from an affair with him, might have restored the painting.

He looks at it, but finds it as terrible as before, for he had spared the girl out of vanity.

Realizing that the portrait will be there all his life to ashame and humiliate him, Dorian thinks just like his soul is in it, so is his conscience. This role of the portrait is emphasized throughout the novel, but only at the ending does Dorian conclude that he must get rid or it in order to be free.

By bringing together artistic, scientific, and political issues into a story which he himself recomends, ironically, should be on the surface, Wilde created a monster who embodies not only the worst vices, but, crucially, the best virtues and triumphs of the civilized human being, to produce weatlh, to abstract, and to create beauty. Perhaps Dorian Gray's biggest sin was to take hold of these virtues and corrupt them to the worst possible end, the lessening of the individual.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTION

5.1 CONCLUSIONS

After analyzing the novel, the writer has conclusion and suggestion that related to the result of the previous chapters. In this chapter, the writer presents the conclusion based on the whole analysis and the suggestion to the further researcher related to this study. Hedonism as a theory about value holds that all and only pleasure is intrinsically valuable and all and only pain is intrinsically dis-valuable, or more simply‚ pleasure is the only prudential good and pain is the only prudential bad. The term ‗hedonism‘, from the Greek for pleasure, refers to several related theories about what is good for us, how we should behave, and what motivates us to behave in the ways that we do. All hedonistic theories identify pleasure and pain as the only important elements of whatever phenomena they are designed to describe.

The Picture of Dorian Gray clearly demonstrates the tenet of hedonism and fatal result of leading a pure aesthetic life on the example through the main character. Along the story there are three tenets of hedonism portrayed, ethical, egoistic, and aesthetic hedonism. In The

Picture of Dorian Gray, the character of Dorian Gray expounds his thoughts on morals, aestheticism, art, and life as a hedonist. At the beginning of the novel, Dorian appears for the reader as an innocent and inexperienced in life fellow of great beauty. However, he does not realize it yet. The situation changes dramatically when he meets an eloquent and tricky Lord

Henry a stickler of a new hedonism. Thus, it can be derived that the main idea of the novel is the celebration of delight, pleasure and pleasure seeking. Based on the analysis of the novel, there is also bad impact in seeking for aesthetic tendencies where it has to be taken with prudence and have reasonable limits that imply moral responsibility. Only being controlled is possible to avoid its adverse effects on society and on a person who preaches aestheticism

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA itself. Dorian worships of aesthetic ideals way too much, where his passionate desires and ambitions to have the most enjoyable life inevitably lead to some immoral acts. Living a pure aesthetic lifestyle without prudence brings destructive consequences and that is portrayed in

Dorian where he turns into apathy, self-destruction person.

5.2 SUGGESTIONS

Based on the overall analysis, the writer would like to suggest for those who are interested in literature work especially in the form of novel. Oscar Wilde is one of greatest writer that illustrate the phenomenon of hedonism in the nineteenth century. These issues demonstrate the relation of hedonism and aestheticism, a philosophy based in the simplistic beauty of things. The novel discusses the view that a good life should be a pleasurable life. In which pleasure seeking is a main motivator of human behavior.

Finally, the writer hopes that this thesis will be useful and be a precious knowledge for all, in developing and enhancing critical thinking skills and ability to analyze and interpret literary themes and also becoming more comfortable with examining abstract concepts and ideas especially themes in literature for the students of English Department, University of

Sumatera Utara.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA REFERENCES

Abrahams, M.H. 1999. A Glossary of Literary Terms. United States of America: Earl McPeek

Endraswara, S. 2013. Metodologi Penelitian Sastra: Epistemologi, Model, Teori, dan Aplikasi. Yogyakarta: Center for Service Academic Publishing

Hamalian, Leo dan Karel Frederiok.1967.The Shape of Fiction. New York: Naograw-Hil Book Company

Jatman, Darmanto. 1985. Sastra, Psikologi, dan Masyarakat. Bandung:Alumni UGM

Meleong, Lexy J. 2005. Metodologi Penelitian Kualitatif, Edisi Revisi. Bandung: PT. Remaja Rosdakarya

Meyer, Michael. 1990. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Boston: St. Martin‘s Press

Muchtar, Muhizar et.al. 2012. Pedoman penulisan Proposal dan Skripsi. Medan: FIB USU.

Peck, John and Martin Coyle. 1984. Literary Terms and Criticism. London: Macmillan Education Ltd.

Stanton. Robert. 2007. Teori Fiksi. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar

Sudjiman, Panuti. 1984. Kamus Istilah Sastra. Ende-Flores: Nusa Indah.

Taylor, Richard. 1981. Understanding the Elements of Literature. London: Macmillan Press Ltd.

Veenhoven, Ruut. 2003. Journal of Happiness Studies. Netherland: Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Warren, Austin and Rene Wellek. 1995. Theory of Literature. New York: HarcourBrace and Company Inc.

Weijrs,D.M. 2012. Hedonism and Happiness in Theory and Practice. New Zealand: Victoria University of Wellington.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA APPENDICES

i. Biography and Works of Oscar Wilde

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born on October 16, 1854 in Dublin,

Ireland. His father, William Wilde, was an acclaimed doctor who was knighted for his work as medical advisor for the Irish censuses. William Wilde later founded St. Mark's Ophthalmic

Hospital, entirely at his own personal expense, to treat the city's poor. Oscar Wilde's mother,

Jane Francesca Elgee, was a poet who was closely associated with the Young Irelander

Rebellion of 1848, a skilled linguist whose acclaimed English translation of Pomeranian novelist Wilhelm Meinhold's Sidonia the Sorceress had a deep influence on her son's later writing.

Wilde was a bright and bookish child. He attended the Portora Royal School at

Enniskillen where he fell in love with Greek and Roman studies. He won the school's prize for the top classics student in each of his last two years, as well as second prize in drawing during his final year. Upon graduating in 1871, Wilde was awarded the Royal School

Scholarship to attend Trinity College in Dublin. At the end of his first year at Trinity, in

1872, he placed first in the school's classics examination and received the college's

Foundation Scholarship, the highest honor awarded to undergraduates.

Upon his graduation in 1874, Wilde received the Berkeley Gold Medal as Trinity's best student in Greek, as well as the Demyship scholarship for further study at Magdalen

College in Oxford. At Oxford, Wilde continued to excel academically, receiving first class marks from his examiners in both classics and classical moderations. It was also at Oxford that Wilde made his first sustained attempts at creative writing. In 1878, the year of his

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA graduation, his poem "Ravenna" won the Newdigate Prize for the best English verse composition by an Oxford undergraduate.

Upon graduating from Oxford, Wilde moved to London to live with his friend, Frank Miles, a popular portraitist among London's high society. There, he continued to focus on writing poetry, publishing his first collection, Poems, in 1881. While the book received only modest critical praise, it nevertheless established Wilde as an up-and-coming writer. The next year, in

1882, Wilde traveled from London to New York City to embark on an American lecture tour, for which he delivered a staggering 140 lectures in just nine months.

While not lecturing, he managed to meet with some of the leading American scholars and literary figures of the day, including Henry Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes and

Walt Whitman. Wilde especially admired Whitman. "There is no one in this wide great world of America whom I love and honor so much,'' he later wrote to his idol.

Upon the conclusion of his American tour, Wilde returned home and immediately commenced another lecture circuit of England and Ireland that lasted until the middle of

1884. Through his lectures, as well as his early poetry, Wilde established himself as a leading proponent of the aesthetic movement, a theory of art and literature that emphasized the pursuit of beauty for its own sake, rather than to promote any political or social viewpoint.

On May 29, 1884, Wilde married a wealthy Englishwoman named Constance Lloyd.

They had two sons: Cyril, born in 1885, and Vyvyan, born in 1886. A year after his wedding,

Wilde was hired to run Lady's World, a once-popular English magazine that had recently fallen out of fashion. During his two years editing Lady's World, Wilde revitalized the magazine by expanding its coverage to "deal not merely with what women wear, but with what they think and what they feel. The Lady's World," wrote Wilde, "should be made the

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA recognized organ for the expression of women's opinions on all subjects of literature, art and modern life, and yet it should be a magazine that men could read with pleasure."

Around the same time that he was enjoying his greatest literary success, Wilde commenced an affair with a young man named Lord Alfred Douglas. On February 18, 1895,

Douglas's father, the Marquis of Queensberry, who had gotten wind of the affair, left a calling card at Wilde's home addressed to "Oscar Wilde: Posing Somdomite," a misspelling of sodomite. Although Wilde's homosexuality was something of an open secret, he was so outraged by Queensberry's note that he sued him for libel. The decision ruined his life.

When the trial began in March, Queensberry and his lawyers presented evidence of

Wilde's homosexuality—homoerotic passages from his literary works, as well as his love letters to Douglas—that quickly resulted in the dismissal of Wilde's libel case and his arrest on charges of "gross indecency." Wilde was convicted on May 25, 1895 and sentenced to two years in prison.

Wilde emerged from prison in 1897, physically depleted, emotionally exhausted and flat broke. He went into exile in France, where, living in cheap hotels and friends' apartments, he briefly reunited with Douglas. Wilde wrote very little during these last years; his only notable work was a poem he completed in 1898 about his experiences in prison, "The Ballad of Reading Gaol."

Wilde died of meningitis on November 30, 1900 at the age of 46. More than a century after his death, Wilde is still better remembered for his personal life—his exuberant personality, consummate wit and infamous imprisonment for homosexuality—than for his literary accomplishments. Nevertheless, his witty, imaginative and undeniably beautiful works, in particular his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray and his play The Importance of

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Being Earnest, are considered among the great literary masterpieces of the late Victorian period. ii. Summary of The Novel The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray is the story of one beautiful, innocent young man's seduction, moral corruption, and eventual downfall.

We meet our three central characters at the beginning of the book, when painter Basil

Hallward and his close friend, Lord Henry Wotton, are discussing the subject of Basil's newest painting, a gorgeous young thing named Dorian Gray. Basil and Henry discuss just how perfectly perfect. Dorian is totally innocent and completely good, as well as being the most beautiful guy ever to walk the earth. Lord Henry wants to meet this mysterious boy, but

Basil doesn't want him to; for some reason, he's afraid of what will happen to Dorian if Lord

Henry digs his claws into him.

However, Lord Henry gets his wish Dorian shows up that very afternoon, and, over the course of the day, Henry manages to totally change Dorian's perspective on the world.

From that point on, Dorian's previously innocent point of view is dramatically different he begins to see life as Lord Henry does, as a succession of pleasures in which questions of good and evil are irrelevant.

Basil finishes his portrait of Dorian, and gives it to the young man, who keeps it in his home, where he can admire his own beauty. Lord Henry continues to exert his influence over

Dorian, to Basil's dismay. Dorian grows more and more distant from Basil, his former best friend, and develops his own interests.

One of these interests is Sybil Vane, a young, exceptionally beautiful, exceptionally talented and exceptionally poor actress. Though she's stuck performing in a terrible, third-rate

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA theatre, she's a truly remarkable artist, and her talent and beauty win over Dorian. He falls dramatically in love with her, and she with him.

For a moment, it seems like everything will turn out wonderfully. However, this is just the beginning of Dorian's story. Once he and Sybil are engaged, her talent suddenly disappears she's so overcome with her passionate love for Dorian that none of her roles on stage seem important to her anymore. This destroys Dorian's love for her, and he brutally dumps her.Back home, he notices a something different in his portrait it looks somehow crueler. In the meanwhile, the distraught Sybil commits suicide, just as Dorian decides to return to her and take back his terrible words.

Sybil's suicide changes everything. At first, Dorian feels horrible but he rather quickly changes his tune. On Lord Henry's suggestion, Dorian reads a mysterious "yellow book," a decadent French novel that makes him reevaluate his whole belief system. The protagonist of the book lives his life in pursuit of sensual pleasures, which intrigues Dorian. From this moment on, Dorian is a changed man.

Dorian starts to live as hedonistically as his wicked mentor, Lord Henry, does. The only thing that documents this turn for the worst is the portrait, which alarmingly begins to exhibit the inward corruption of Dorian's soul; the beautiful image changes, revealing new scars and physical flaws with each of Dorian's dastardly actions. As years pass, the man in the picture grows more and more hideous, as Dorian himself stays unnaturally young and beautiful. Rumors start to spread about the various people whose lives Dorian has ruined, and his formerly good reputation is destroyed.

On Dorian's 38th birthday, he encounters Basil, who desperately asks his former friend if all the horrifying rumors about him are true. Dorian finally snaps and shows Basil the portrait, in which the horrible truth about his wicked nature is revealed. Basil recoils, and

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA begs Dorian to pray for forgiveness. In response, Dorian murders Basil, stabbing him brutally. He blackmails another of his former friends into disposing of the body.

Dorian retreats to an opium den after dealing with all of the evidence, where he encounters an enemy he didn't know he had—Sybil Vane's brother, James. Through a rather complicated turn of events, James (who's on a mission to punish Dorian for his mistreatment of Sybil) ends up dead. Dorian isn't directly responsible, but it's yet another death to add to

Dorian's tally of life-wrecking disasters.

Dorian is relieved that his enemy is out of the way, but this event sparks a kind of mid-life crisis: he begins to wonder if his vile but enjoyable lifestyle is worth it. He actually does a good(ish) deed, by deciding not to corrupt a young girl he's got the hots for, which makes him question his past actions even more. Seeking some kind of reassurance,

Dorian talks to Lord Henry, who's not any help at all, unsurprisingly. Dorian even practically admits to murdering Basil, but Henry laughs it off and doesn't believe him.

That night, Dorian returns home in a pensive mood. Catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror, he hates his own beauty and breaks the mirror. Again, he vows to be good, but we find out that his various crimes don't really haunt him, because he doesn't consider them his fault. Instead, he selfishly wants to be good so that the painting will become beautiful again.

Heartened by this thought, he goes up to see if his recent good deed has improved the painting. In fact, it only looks worse. Frustrated, Dorian decides to destroy the picture, the visible evidence of his dreadful crimes, and the closest thing to a conscience he has. Dorian slashes at the painting with the same knife that killed Basil, trying to destroy the work as he did the artist.

A tremendous crash and a terrible cry alert the servants that something very, very bad has happened, it's even audible outside the house. Finally, they go upstairs to check it out, and are horrified by what they find: a portrait of their master, as beautiful as ever, hangs on

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA the wall, and a mysterious, grotesquely hideous dead man is lying on the floor with a knife in his heart. Upon close examination, the rings on the dead man's hand identify him as Dorian

Gray.

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