Masaryk University Faculty of Education Department of English Language and Literature
Character Analysis: Dorian Gray as a Symbol of Living a Double Life
Final Thesis Brno 2018
Supervisor: Author: Mgr. Zuzana Kršková, Ph.D. Mgr. Zuzana Charvátová Declaration
/ declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary sources, secondary sources and works consulted as well as listed in the bibliography.
22ndMay 2018, Brno Author's signature Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my supervisor, Mgr. Zuzana Kršková, Ph.D., for her helpful guidance, patience and valuable advice, as well as for motivation and words of encouragement during the process of writing the thesis.
3 Anotace
Román Obraz Doriana Grayenapsaný Oscarem Wildem je v dnešní době považována za jedno z klasických děl anglické literatury a byla akademiky zkoumána z mnoha perspektiv. Cílem této práce je analýza osobnosti Doriana Graye se zaměřením na jeho tajný druhý život v období viktoriánské Anglie. Dále se práce zabývá morálními zásadami a hodnotami tehdejší společnosti se zaměřením na život jaký lidé vedli na veřejnosti a jaký život vedli za tzv. zavřenými dveřmi.
Klíčová slova
Dorian Gray, dvojí život, Viktoriánská společnost, manipulace, veřejný život, život za zavřenými dveřmi, hřích, akt vraždy, sebevražda
4 Abstract
The novel The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is nowadays consideredas British classical piece surveyed by many scholars from various perspectives. The aim of this thesis is to assess the personality of Dorian Gray in relation to his double life on one hand, and the backdrop of Victorian England on the other hand. Moreover, it examines Victorian society moral values and rules of that time focusing on people's public life and their private life behind closed doors.
Key Words
Dorian Gray, double life, Victorian society, manipulation, public life, life behind closed doors, sinful life, the act of murder, suicide
5 List of Contents
1 Introduction 8 2 The Victorian Society 12 2.1 Victorian Morality 13 2.2 The Novel in the Victorian Society 17 3 The Phenomenon of Double Life 19 3.1 Lord Henry Wotton's Double Life 21 3.2 Basil Hallward's Double Life 23 3.3 Dorian Gray's Double Life 25 4 The Dorian Gray Syndrome 37 4.1 Defining the Term "Dorian Gray Syndrome" 37 4.2 The Selfie Phenomenon 40 5 Modern Adaptations of the Novel 43 5.1 Theatre Adaption Selfie 43 5.2 Film Adaptation The Picture of Dorian Gray 45 6 Conclusion 47 Bibliography 49
6 Among the writers identified with the 1890s, Wilde is the only one whom everyone still reads.
(Ellmannl3)
7 1 Introduction
The influential book written by Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde, known as Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray(1890),is one of the most studied novels of all times. The novel was written in the late Victorian period, in the last decade of the Queen Victoria rule. Anne Shepherd describes this historical period as the time full of rapid changes and developments in almost every sphere, "from advances in medical, scientific and technological knowledge to changes in population growth and location" (Shepherd). The Victorian society was based on values represented by Queen Victoria herself "as a young wife, as the mother of nine children, and as the black-garbed Widow of Windsor in the forty years after her husband's death in 1861" (Abrams 1044).Families were large and patriarchal. Hard work, respectability and religious conformity were regarded as important moral qualities. "While this view of nineteenth-century life was valid", as Shepherd sums up,"it was frequently challenged by contemporaries". For example, the way how women were often portrayed was entirely different from the previous periods. Before the rise of the novel, the representation of women in literature was limited both in quantity and in quality: women were not frequently portrayed, and when they were, they were sketched as flat characters rather than developed in any complexity. They were typically seen through male eyes as idealised objects of romantic desire, not as individual human beings with distinctive qualities and peculiarities of their own. In the Victorian period, however, representations of women in literature became more varied. Women were now portrayed at least in two modes:as virtuousMadonnasor as immoral whores. The traditional role of the woman was the one of a loyal wife and mother, but because of the increasing educational and employment opportunities,a lot of women gained control over their lives and started to be more independent of their families. It was difficult at first for the Victorian society to accept the changing role and the increasing independence of women. Although this progressive period was open to various technological innovations and scientific discoveries, the Victorian society itself was very conservative. The publication of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Graywas,therefore,a shocking challenge to the society. It has provoked a lot of controversial opinions and criticism. The book was criticised as immoral because its protagonist devotes his life to pleasure,
8 enjoyment and beauty and eventually even becomes a murderer. Readers and critics of the novel thought that the story was inappropriate and that the book did not educate the readerthe way it should. It is, however, important to see Wilde's novel as "a highly serious meditation upon the moral role of the artist - an interior challenge, in fact, to the insouciance of the famous pronouncements that would assure us that there is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book" (Oates 420).Like the Victorian society, Victorian literature was expected to be serious and serve not only as amusement but also asan education. Oscar Wilde, among other late Victorian writers such as Walter Pater, Dante Gabriel Rossetti or Algernon Charles Swinburne, however, challenged this idea. Oates believed that art did not need to serve any particular purpose, such as promoting proper moral values. Instead, he argued that art was of a value on its own. Art should not be criticised as moral or immoral but should be judged based on its aesthetic value.The concept of art was having an intrinsic value on its own nevertheless does not mean that art may not deliver any message, moral or other. The primary value of art is aesthetic, but there can also be an added value in the form of a message to the audience, who might learn something from it. What Wilde seemed to oppose was the demand of his contemporaries that art should be wholesome and moral in content - which was an issue that concerned him personally because a lot of his art was dismissed by the Victorian society as indecent and immoral. In other words, Wilde argues that when his book chooses to show immoral behaviour, it does not mean that this book is immoral itself. Contrary, as in the case of The Picture of Dorian Gray, by showing immoral actions, the book exposes the drawbacks of immoral behaviour and so may lead the reader to conclude that moral actions are a better choice. The Victorian society appeared to be an exemplary one, but this ideal did not always correspond to the reality. A more realistic description of the society at that time is a hypocritical one with secrets that should be hidden. This is connected with the idea of doublelife when a person presents his or her respectable face to the public but secretly indulges in unrespectable or immoral behaviour. The idea of double life in the Victorian period is a way for the writer to explore the essence of the human being. Characters leading double lives typically show, onone hand, what the society requires and, on the other hand, what the individual's wishes and desires are. This idea is famously explored in another Victorian novel, Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case
9 ofDr Jekyll and Mr Hyde( 1886).The protagonist of the novel, the respectable Dr Jekyll, seeks to get rid of his undesirable qualities and in this process, he discovers a way to separate his dark side and materialise it in the shape of seemingly different person, Mr Hyde, who not only looks but also behaves very differently. Dr Jekyll is well-liked, friendly and moral, but Mr Hyde is his opposite. Mr Hyde is selfish and violent and, like Dorian Gray, also in the end murders another person. The drawback of Dr Jekyll's experiment is that he does not realise that he is trying to divide what cannot be divided: it is impossible for a human being to be something else than human that is flawed. Jekyll isolates his suppressed desires and places them in Hyde, which makes Hyde pure evil. Hyde does not have the virtuous qualities that Jekyll has. Therefore, Hyde's behaviour is not controlled by reason, common sense, decency or any other qualities that help us to find a balance between the good and the evil. Ultimately, in his attempt to improve himself and become fully the virtuous person that he is perceived to be by others, Dr Jekyll ruins the good in himself so that the evil prevails. The purpose of this thesis is to give an analysis of the elements of Dorian Gray's double life as a crucial motive of the novel.lt will point out the contrast between his life as a member of the noble society and his life behind closed doors that is reflected on the changes in the canvas of Dorian Gray's portrait.The motive of the double life in the novel is closely connected with the period in which the novel was written: the conventions and expectations of the Victorian society prove to be the main reason why the characters in the novel choose to lead a double life. The novel is not pure fabrication but also a reflection of the society of the time. Although the events of the novel are fictional, the pressure of the Victorian society on its members to conform to rigid social standards is not fiction but an actual testimony to what it was like to live in the Victorian era. Wilde, as a highly nonconformist individual, knew this pressure to conformity very well, and his personal experience is to some extent reflected in the novel as well. Therefore, this thesis will focus on the manifestations of double life in the novel and will also show some of the aspects of double life in Wilde's life. At the beginning of the story, Dorian is pictured as a good-loking and honest young man who is able to enchant anyone he wants. As the story describes him, "there was something in his face that made one trust him at once. All the candour of youth was there, as well as all youth's passionate purity. One felt that he had kept himself unspotted from the world" (Wilde 13). The young boy is free from taint, and so was his
10 portrait when it was painted.Basil Hallward, the painter of the picture, knows Dorian's purity and wants Dorian to stay free from taint. However, there is a devilish influence of Lord Henry Wotton on Dorian Gray, and Basil Hallward is powerless against him. Lord Henry gives Dorian a book which describes the immoral and indulgent life of a French man. Due to Lord Henry's poisoning and due to the book, Dorian changes into a selfish person who is only interested in his own pleasure. Dorian studies the book carefully and does whatever the book describes. With each evil action, Dorian's portrait becomes more tainted, but Dorian himself remains young and beautiful. Dorian's actions shock the society, but he is not entirely excluded from them because of his unchanging pleasant and trustworthy appearance. Dorian still appears respectable, and for the hypocritical societythe thing that matters is the appearance. Dorian leads a double life because in the public, he acts as it is expected of him but when nobody is looking, he acts as he likes. He does not openly speak about his immoral pursuits, he keeps them secret and so deceives people around him. It is evident that the way Dorian livesis not in accord with Victorian values. Instead of devoting himself to serious and noble pursuits, Dorian spends his life looking for new experiences and new pleasures. He does not take into account how much his actions influence the lives of the others. He breaks social rules and eventually even law when he commits a murder. This disregard for conventional morality and social rules is what Dorian and his author have in common. In a way, some elements in the novel are a literally mirror of Oscar Wilde's life. Autobiographical elements appear to be crucial motifs of the novel. "Basil and Lord Henry personify two different aspects of Wilde's personality", as Terrence Dawson explains. It is obvious that Basil is fascinated by Dorian in the same way as Oscar Wilde was fascinated by Lord Alfred Douglas. Dawson sums up that Basil, like Oscar Wilde, is an artist who lives for beauty. The ideas of the aesthetic function of literature and the art beauty were essential for Wilde. On the other hand, Lord Henry is an extravagant character who disregards social conventions, as so did Wilde. Lord Henry also reflects Wilde's personality and wit, as Dawson concludes. Wilde's usage of the above-mentioned autobiographical elements in the novel suggests that the issue of double life was significant for the author in his personal life as well as in his work.
11 2 The Victorian Society
The novel The Picture of Dorian Gray was published in July 1890. This period, known as the late Victorian era, was a transitional period characteristic for itscontrasts. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the importance of traditional values and moralitywasweakening, but conservative members of the society still held on to them.The contrasts between conservative thinkers and radical innovators were increasing. Besides differences in theoretical questions of ethics and morality, there were also practical social and economic problems.lt is essential to keep in mind that the Victorian period lasted sixty years and during this time, the country went through different levels of development. Because of the process of industrialisation, almost half of the population moved from farms and villages into towns. There were a lot of problems connected with unemployment, whose rates increased becausea lot of human labour was replaced by machines.That is why families of the unemployed had nothing to eat, and crime rates werehigher than ever before. Other social changes were connected with the increasing level of education and the rise of the women's rights movement.The government started to encourage education,and in 1880, it passed an act which made education compulsory for childrenup to the age of ten (Abrams 1057). This means that education was available for every child.Not only boys but also girls were encouraged to learn. The position of women changed rapidly. Women were partlyallowed to choose their education and decide about their future jobs. They could earn their own money and be more independent.As women were becoming more educated and had more options, the women's rights movement started to form (Mitchell 7). Abrams confirms that womendemanded a more active role in the society, including more education and employment opportunities^ stronger position in the family and the right to vote (1055). This is how Sally Mitchell describes the atmosphere in the late Victorian society and how it was reflected in the literature of the time: The later part of the nineteenth century had a somewhat more difficult and diverse tone than the high Victorian years of mid-century, although not necessarily because times were harder. The balance of domestic political and economic power was shifting, and new groups could make demands of their own. In addition, there seemed to be a cultural transition.... The artists and
12 writers who came to prominence in the fin de siecle (Thomas Hardy, Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, Joseph Conrad, Aubrey Beardsley) produced work of less comforting - more "modern" - tone. (Mitchell 11) As quoted above, Mitchell speaks about a general transition from the status quo of the high Victorianperiod to a mood of restlessness, discomfort and anticipation characteristic of the 1890s. Whereas the society was rapidly changing, the writers at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth century responded to the changes and started to create more challenging writings.Mitchell confirms that some of the "less comforting" and "more 'modern'" writing started to criticise the dark aspects of the Victorian society, including itsinequality, intolerance and hypocrisy(l 1). For example, Thomas Hardy's novels were often preoccupied with strong female characters, such as Tess of d'Urbervilles, and criticised the Victorian society for failing to accommodate independent women and even punishing themfor trying to take control over their own lives. G. B. Shaw's plays are famous for their social criticism and one of his earliest plays, Mrs Warren's Profession, speaks openly about the problem of prostitution, arguing that women do not resort to this profession because they are corrupt but because they simply have no other means to support themselves. These uncomfortable writings were often controversial, which is also the case of Oscar Wilde. Wilde wrote openly about taboo topicsand challenged the conventional morality of the Victorian society. Wilde confirmed to social expectations neither in his writing nor in his private life, which made him a social outcast and eventually led to his imprisonment.
2.1 Victorian Morality
"The phrase 'Victorian morality' is oftenused with contempt. It has come to imply prudery, hypocrisy, sexual repression, and rigid social control" (Mitchell 261). In other words, the main attributes of the Victorian era were a strict social code and a strong sense of morality. For example, "hygiene was cast in moral terms" (Mitchell 265). A lot of anti-feminist propaganda written by men was published to criticise the women's desire for more freedom. Conventional Victorian morality ascribed to the woman the duties of a wife and a mother, and when the woman rebelled against these duties and wished to do something else with her life, she was harshly judgedand dismissed as
13 immoral. The traditional role of the woman was limited to the domestic realm, which is an ideal described ironically for example in Alfred Tennyson's poem The Princess(\%Al):
Man for the field and woman for the hearth; Man for the sword, and for the needle she; Man with the head, and woman with heart; Man to command, and woman to obey; All else confusion. (Mitchell 267)
Tennyson's poem begins as an argument for women's rights in that it presents a strong- minded young woman who leaves the society of men and goes to study at a women- only college. This one starts as a story of a woman's liberation,however, ends up with a reaffirmation of traditional values: the woman is found by her fiance and eventually accepts and returns his love. As to the social role of man, he was the breadwinner and the master of the house who decided about all matters. As Felicia Appell sums up in the internet article Victorian Ideals: The Influence of Society's Ideals on Victorian Relationships: "Being able to work through any hardships and succeed financially providing for the family reflected that a man was successful in the workforce as well, which made him respectable by his peers and other men in society.Providing for a woman and a family were the ideals of the Victorian society, and not only men compared each other to meet these ideals, but women dreamed of marrying these types of men as well." Thus it is evident that men tended to be defined by their social and economic status, while womenwere defined by the status of their fathers and later husbands. Many young people getting married werealmost ignorant about sexual matters because it was a taboo topic. On the surface, the Victorian society strictly adhered to a puritanical and religious way of life. Behind closed doors, however, the family life was often entirely different from the publicly displayed ideal. It became known that many men, women and even children died of syphilis, which unfaithful husbands contracted from prostitutes and then handed the disease over to their wives. London's outskirtswere filled with drugs, prostitution, homosexual love and other experiments
14 which respectable members of the society kept secret. The Victorian era was a period of hypocrisy,and almost every noble person kept a secret double life.Some noble people who held the highest position in the society demanding the strictestsocial code indulged in immoral practicesbehind closed doors.Leading a double life applied to aristocracy rather than ordinary people, since aristocrats valued their reputation in the high society, and if their secret indulgences had been publicly revealed, their reputation would have suffered. The commoners already occupied the lowest social positions, so they did not have much reputation to lose. If an aristocrat had been however revealed to take part in indecent and immoral behaviour, he or she would have been excluded from the society and would have lost their position and influence. Victorian morality was so strict and binding that for most, it remained an ideal that could not be achieved. There was no room for enjoyment and pleasure, but human beings are naturally inclined to indulge at least occasionally in what brings them joy. In the case of Oscar Wilde, the thing that caused his downfall was his preference for the company of young men rather than women. The Victorian society regarded homosexual love as sodomy, and such relationships were branded and punished. Oscar Wilde led a double life because he married a woman and had children with her, yet he had liaisons with men, which he preferred to keep secret, although he was suspected of inappropriate relationships with men and eventually convicted and imprisoned. These, as Wilkinson in the article Homosexuality in the Victorian Era confirms, were regarded as outsiders of the society. This specific issue is also one of the motives that are used in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Although homosexual love is not directly described in the novel, there are a lot of hints that the relationships between some of the male characters in the novel areimmoral, as the Victorian society would see it. Both Basil and Lord Henry are fascinated with Dorian's beauty and purity to the degree that wasunacceptable to the Victorian society. Therefore, both Basil and Henry prefer to keep their suspicious relationships with Dorian secret. Leading a double lifeis one of the main motives in The Picture of Dorian Gray.Besides the tension between individual desires and social demands - as illustrated in the above-mentioned examples of Basil and Henry, who seem to be infatuated with Dorian but choose not to reveal their forbidden desires - there is the tension between spontaneously acting on one's primitive impulses and controlling one's behaviour based on reason, propriety and morality.This is the case of Dorian who starts to indulge in his
15 primitive impulses and low drives when he realises that he can do so without consequences. Dorian leads a double life in that he seeks pleasure and corruption, yet he offers a face which shows innocence and purityto the world. Dorian's first major act of cruelty is when he abandons his former love interest, the actress Sibyl Vane, who is devastated by Dorian's heartlessness. Wilde describes the scene by showing how "she crouched on the floor like a wounded thing, and Dorian Gray, with his beautiful eyes, looked down at her, and his chiselled lips curled in exquisite disdain" (Wilde 72). This is when Dorian first finds out that his portrait changes, although he remains unchanged: "In the dim arrested light that struggled through the cream-coloured silk blinds, the face appeared to him to be a little changed. The expression looked different. One would have said that there was a touch of cruelty in the mouth" (Wilde 73, 74). The portrait serves as a mirror of Dorian Gray's soul, a symbol of the double life that everybody is prohibited to catch a glimpse of. When Dorian realises that the only evidence of his increasingly immoral actions is his portrait, he hides the painting from sight and does not allow anyone to see it. In public, Dorian remains an extraordinarily beautiful young man with an honest face, and his position in the respectable aristocratic society remains unchallenged. Behind closed doors, however, Dorian is becoming more and more attracted to the evil and addicted to selfish pleasures. The portrait enables Dorian to lead this double life because the tainted portrait is easy to hide,and Dorian's appearance remains untainted, so nobody suspects him. Dorian hides his real soul and real behaviour in the painting and presents himself to the public as a respectable gentleman who conforms to the rules of the society.
16 2.2The Novel in the Victorian Society
"There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all." (Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray, xxiii)
As a result of compulsory education, Abrams explains, literacy was on the rise in the Victorian era. The novel was a popular genre, which was accessible even to ordinary people. A growing number of magazines were published, and these introduced the format of serialised novels (1058). Whole novels were divided into short parts, and each new magazine number published one part of the novel. The Victorian novel was typically realistic and described life as it was in the society of the time. As to the purpose of the novel, authors wrote to entertain their readers but above all to educate them, and "readers shared the expectation that literature would not only delight but instruct" (Abrams 1058). Some novels discussed social problems and criticised what was wrong in the society, such as the widely-read serialised novels by Charles Dickens. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, however, writers such as Oscar Wilde challenged the idea that literature should educate and instead promoted the aesthetic function of literature. Wilde's statement that "there is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book" expresses the author's view of art (Wilde xxiii). However,this statementwas considered to be the author's proclamation of his immoral actions and his lifestyle. This aphorism expresses the moral and immoral ways of Victorian society lifestyle. Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray was the subjectof many controversial discussions among the Victorian society in his time. After the first publicationof the bookin the journal Punchon\9^ July 1890, the novel provoked many negative comments and criticism ofthe themes developed in the story.Victorian readers considered the story to be scandalous and immoral. Oscar Wilde was among thefirst writers who dared to go against the Victorian values through the symbols of revolt against the highly regarded social conventions. He pointed out the hypocrisyof living a double life, which led the readers to criticise thestory. The character of Dorian Gray symbolises all that was forbidden at that time, especially the pursuit of pleasures, including
17 homosexualrelationships, taking drugs and committing crimes. He was a symbol of all that should be hiddenbehindclosed doors. As to the reception of the book by Victorian readers, for example, Lippincott's Monthly A/agazmepublished the Baron's advice "not to read it all, or to choose the daytime, and take it in homoeopathic doses" (Mason). Karl Beckman quotes the review, written by theeditor of the St. James Gazette, Samuel Henry Jeyes, who "waged strenuous warfare against the fads and freaks which were shooting through the intellectual and artistic atmosphere in the last decade of the nineteenth century. For Yellow-Bookism, Walter-Paterism, aestheticism, and all other 'isms' and cults sprouting so bounteously from the soil at that period, he had no indulgence" (Beckson 67). This review started Oscar Wilde's correspondence to the editor, which, as inother magazines, provoked series of letter exchanges. Wilde refused the moralistic criticism of his book because "the highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of autobiography" (Wilde xxiii).This means that Wilde believes that those who criticise his writing as immoral are likely themselves immoral, so their criticism is hypocritical. Furthermore, Wilde's concept of art entails that art is not necessarily an expression of its creator's beliefs, thoughts and experience. Wilde,therefore,objected those who considered his novel to be anevidence of his personal opinions and preferences. Despite his disavowal of the attitudes and behaviours described in his novel, the book was still later used as evidence of his sodomy. Wilde's novel proved to be too controversial for the conservative tastes of most Victorian readers, yet its aesthetic qualities stood the test of time and today, readers unburdened by rigid Victorian moralities enjoy the book both for its art and for its story.
18 3 The Phenomenon of Double Life
If a Victorian gentleman wanted to be respected by the society, he had to live according to the moral code and rules of the upper classes.Gertrude Himmelfarbdescribeshow the Victorian code of behaviour was created: "Ethics, religion, and philosophy, changing in themselves and shifting in relation to each other, merged to constitute a unique ethos" (276). This "unique ethos"of the Victorian society was based on Christian ideals, including the virtues of faith, purity, charity and others. Basil Willey explains the importance of religion in Victorian morality when he points out the pivotal role of duty in Victorian life: religion instructed believers to do their duty in order to receive their reward after death; duty came before anything else, including personal happiness and satisfaction (204).Although the Victorian code of behaviour was generally respected and accepted, there are some instances in literary works and historical accounts about behaviour breaking these rules. Himmelfarb gives pornography as an example and explains that "the underworld of pornography co-existed comfortably with the outer world of prudery. Indeed the one . . . was the 'mirror image', the 'negative analogue' of the other" (277). This suggests that moral and immoral qualities complement each other, and both are a natural part of human life. Respectable members of the Victorian society ostentatiously preached prudery, yet they could not help having natural sexual needs, which they satisfied privately and in secret through channels such as pornography. The positive image is here the public prudery, the negative image is the private pornography. It follows that when respectable Victorians could not satisfy their desires publicly, they did so privately, which necessitated them to lead a double life. The idea of double life is an enormous and seductive subject in the Victorian era. The public face that people presented to the society was complemented by the opposite private side, which was immoral and sinful to different degrees. Respectable members of the society tried to suppress this dark side and feared that it would take control of their proper civilised self. This is what happens in the story of Dr Jekyll,and Mr Hyde, where Jekyll eventually finds himself a hostage to his dark side, which takes full control over him and the only way out is to destroy both the good and the bad, that is, to take his own life.This dangerous dark side is described by Zivkovic"as an imagined figure, a soul, a shadow, a ghost or a mirror reflection" (125). This ghostly figure is to be hidden in the shadows and must not be shown to anyone. This is the
19 principle on which the idea of double life works. Zivkovic adds that "the demonic is not supernatural but is an aspect of personal and interpersonal life, a manifestation of unconscious desire" (125).In Victorian literature, the motive of double life is often represented by double-faced characters, where a single character is in the conflict between his or her moral impulses and immoral desires, as we can see on the case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde discussed above. According to Rogers, the creation of the dark and the bright side of the character dramatises "the mental conflict within a single mind" (29).Another way to show the double life in literature is to create two characters, one good and one evil, who fight each other. The evil character then serves as a mirror representation of the virtuous character dark side. The idea of double life in Victorian literature was also influenced by scientific findingsof the time which distinguished between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Pathological behaviour was at that time often explained as "a 'warring' between the two halves of the brain" (Claridge and Davis 203). Although this picture is simplified, the right and left hemispheres are indeed connected with different functions. The left hemisphere is the rational one and is connected with language, while the right hemisphere is connected with emotions (Claridge and Davis 203). The Victorian novels The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Strange Case ofDr Jekyll and Mr Hydeare similar in their representations of the double lives of their characters as the expression of their suppressed desires, which are connected with the emotional right half of the brain. Both stories are set in late Victorian London. Dorian Gray and Dr Jekyll are gentlemen who suppress their dark sidesto preserve their reputation in the society. They both solve the conflict by living adouble life to give a secret way to their hidden desires. Dr Jekyll discovers a potion through which he is able to separate his other self in a chemical experiment. His dark self comes into existence as Mr Hyde, who is free from moral restrictions and so satisfies Dr Jekyll's desires. Dorian Gray creates his other self by making a wish: 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 of June. . . .If it were only the other way! If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! For that—for that—I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give! I would give my soul for that! (Wilde 21)
20 At that moment, Dorian did not know that his wish became a reality,but as the story continues, the painting is changing and shows evidence of Dorian's immoral behaviour. Unlike Stevenson, who created the separate character of Mr Hyde as a representation of evil, Wilde decided to represent the dark soul of Dorian Gray in a painting. Oscar Wilde's interest in double life is evident and might have been derived from his own secret life. On the one hand, he was a loving husband and father of two children, on the other hand, he was experimenting with having sex with other men. As Colin Wilson comments in his article in the Socialist Review, "Wilde's double life is reflected in his portrayal of homosexuality as sensuous and attractive, but also sinful, something to hide". (Wilson) Hintsat forbidden homosexual love are one example of how the novel works with the motive of double life. This kind of double life is most clearly manifested in the character of Basil Hallward. Basil is a good person, Dorian's most loyal friend and he hardly has any character flaws. However, he is attracted to Dorian and feels that he must hide his romantic feelings, given that the Victorian society condemns homosexuality as a sin. Another kind of double life is shown in Lord Henry Wotton. Lord Henry promotes controversial ideas, dismisses love and marriage and argues for the pursuit of selfish enjoyment. As it turns out, however, Lord Henry does not practise what he preaches and leads an apparently respectable married life. Lord Henry pretends to be what he is not, like Dorian Gray. While Lord Henry makes himself look corruptwhen he is in the company of his friends, in contrast, Dorian carefully keeps the appearance of respectability and hides his corruptionfrom the public. Pretending what one is not and acting out a role is, literally, also the case of Sibyl Vane, whose job as an actress is to pretend to be someone else. These individual instances of double life will be discussed in more detail in the following subchapters.
3.1 Lord Henry Wotton's Double Life
Lord Henry Wotton is a nobleman who has contempt for the social rules of the aristocratic society. He is a man obsessed with his private poisonoustheories. Liebmanexplains that "Henry acquires his wisdom about 'the passions and the intellect' from literature as well as direct observation of human behaviour" (299). Henry is a
21 double-faced cynic, a characteristic which "derives from his dark vision of the external and internal realms of human life" (300). He is also apersuasive speaker, a brilliant intellectual and a famous wit. He is a great observer of the characters of human beings and based on his observations, he chooses his friends strategically. It seems that his friends are chosen according to what benefits they can provide to Lord Henry. Lord Henry Wotton claims that he makes "a great difference between people" (Wilde 7) and he chooses his "friends for their good looks" (Wilde 7), his acquaintances for their characters and his "enemies for their good intellects" (Wilde 7). The public part of Lord Henry's life is made up of the appearance of a perfect gentleman and loving husband. However, behind closed doors, his marriage is a relationship full of lies and cynicism. It is based on a social convention, which expects of a gentleman to marry and have a family, but Lord Henry and his wife do not hold each other in esteem. As Lord Henry Wotton says: "the one charm of marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely necessary for both parties.I never know where my wife is, and my wife never knows what I am doing" (Wilde 3). Lord Henry even criticises his wife's conventional religiousness, saying that "she had a perfect mania for going to church" (Wilde 37). However, in their public behaviour, both Lord Henry and Victoria Wotton conform to the social code of the Victorian society.As it becomes apparent later in the book, Lord Henry's words are not necessarily to be believed. He poses as a cynic when he is among his friends and speaks dismissively of his wife and marriage, yet his words are not backed up by actions. Throughout the book, Lord Henry's words are shockingly controversial, but his behaviour remains utterly conventional. Victoria is the first one who clearly points out Lord Henry's fondness for manipulating others. When she speaks with Dorian Gray, she recognises Dorian's views as those taught to Dorian by her husband: "Ah! That is one of Harry's views, isn't it, Mr Gray? I always hear Harry's views from his friends. It is the only way I get to know of them" (Wilde 37). Lord Henry is indeed the master of manipulation. He is able to make people do things that they would never thinkof on their own. He is like a psychologist who experimentson his patients. In this case, his patient is Dorian Gray, who blindly follows him. Dorian Grayfalls under Lord Henry's influence and is entirely loyal to him. Lord Henry openly claims that he disregards Victorian religiosity, seriousness and prudishness. He says that the human being is in its substance sinful. On the other hand,
22 Lord Henry himself is not shown indulging in any immoral behaviour. There is a conflict between what he says and how he acts. From the first day when Lord Henry meets Dorian Gray, he starts to play his devilish game. When Dorian is sitting as a model for Basil's painting, Lord Henry wants to leave but invites Dorian to pay him a visit. Dorian wants to leave too, because the painter does not talk when he is working, so the painting session isnot very enjoyable. Basil admits that it is true: "I never talk when I am working, and never listen either, and it must be dreadfully tediousfor my unfortunate sitters" (Wilde 14). Basil then begs Lord Henry to stay, so Dorian stays as well. During their conversation, Lord Henry realises how easy it is to manipulate Dorian. Lord Henry "had merely shot an arrow into the air", waiting for Dorian's reaction, and is amazed how well Dorian responds to his attempts at manipulation and how his words impress Dorian (Wilde 16). Lord Henry uses the impressionable young man to manipulate him to do increasingly immoral actions. As it has been mentioned earlier, Lord Henry does not participate in this immoral behaviour himself, so he realises his fantasies through Dorian. He makes Dorian do what he does not do himself and enjoys watching his decline into immorality. In this way, Henry leads a double life because he himselfremains safe and respectable, while Dorian absorbsHenry's dark side,and so fulfils Henry's secret desires.
3.2 Basil Hallward's Double Life
Basil Hallward is a painter for whom it is essential,to be frank and honest. He "believes that the universe is a moral order in which God (or at least Fate) punishes evil and rewards good" (Liebman 296). However, he also has a secret part of his life that must be hidden. "The essence of the artist's immorality", his double life as Keefe claims, "lies in his audacious voyeurism more than in the specific vision he attains" (Keefe 66). One day, when Basil visits Lady Brandon, he meets young Dorian Gray:He describes the situation as follows: "Suddenly I found myself face to face with the young man whose personality had so strangely stirred me. We were quite close, almost touching. Our eyes met again" (Wilde 6). It is the moment when Basil falls in love with Dorian: "He falls head over heels for Dorian Gray the first time he sees him", as Nunokawa confirms (311). Dorian perhaps feels something similar because he tells Basil afterwards that he
23 "felt that we were destined to know each other" (Wilde 6). The language that Wilde uses to describe Basil's attraction to Dorian suggests romantic love and sexual attraction rather than simply friendship. There are intense emotions and a sense of intimacy between Basil and Dorian when Basil paints Dorian's portrait. However, Basil chooses to hide his romantic feelings because he is aware that love between men is prohibited and punished in the Victorian society. He is afraid that the genteel society in which he lives could find out about his real relationship with Dorian and reprobate him. Basil's inappropriate feelings for Dorian are the reason why he refuses to exhibit Dorian's picture. He fears that he has "shown in it the secret" of his own soul and heart (Wilde 4). Nevertheless, Basil eventually confesses his real feelings to Dorian because of the threat of his feelings engulfing. Nunokawa explains that "his identity, rather than rendering it distinct; it threatens to force him not from the closet, but rather to the vanishing point" (312). One morning, after Sibyl Vane's death, Basil comes to see Dorian. Dorian remembers Lord Henry's words, said "half seriously and half in jest", which hinted that Basil hadsurprising reasons for not exhibiting the painting and encouragedDorian to ask Basil about these reasons (Wilde 93).In a tense scene full of emotions, Dorian asks: "Basil," he said, coming over quite close, and looking him straight in the face, "we have each of us a secret. Let me know yours, and I shall tell you mine. What was your reason for refusing to exhibit my picture?" (Wilde 93) Dorian convinces Basil to explain his reasons and reveal his feelings. Basil tells Dorian the truth because their friendship is dearer to him "than any fame or reputation" (Wilde 93). Basil admits his love for Dorian and so confesses to living a double life. He tells Dorian that he worships him and speaks like a jealous lover who wants to have Dorian to himself only: "I was jealous of every one to whom you spoke. I wanted to have you all to myself. I was only happy when I was with you. When you were away from meyou were still present in my art. ... Of course I never let you know anything about this" (Wilde 93). Because of his sense of propriety and morality, Basil does not try to have Dorian to himself but at least he has his painting to adore in secret. Dorian reacts to this confession quite calmly and notes that Basil admires him too much, that they are friends, and they must always remain friends. It is evident from this conversation that Dorian does not plan to reveal Basil's secret double life, and neither does Basil plan to reveal Dorian's secret to the world.
24 3.3 Dorian Gray's Double Life
Dorian is picturedas a beautiful young man who is able to enchant anybody he meets. His appearance represents an ideal of beauty and honesty. When Dorian meets Basil for the first time, Basil is enchanted by him and becomes addicted to him. He tries to protect Dorian from Lord Henry's evil influenceand devilish manipulation because he believes that Dorian is a pure soul and wants him to remain so. Basil is the antidote against the poison which Lord Henry pours into Dorian's mind and heart. Basil feels that Dorian "had kept himself unspotted from the world" (Wilde 13). Dorian becomes part of Basil's double life because Basil is secretly in love with him, and in turn, Basil becomes part of Dorian's double life because Basil is the author of the painting which reflects Dorian's increasingly corrupt soul. From the first day whenHenry meets Dorian in Basil's studio, he tries to discoverwhether Dorian has any dark secrets.Henry comes to the house of his uncle, Lord George Fermor, and he learns that Dorian is the last Lord Kelso's grandson and that his mother was Lady Margaret Devereux. Lord Henry does not find any dark secrets about Dorian himself but learns shocking facts about Dorian's family. Lady Devereux was a member of the aristocratic society who rebelled against the social code of the time when she married a commoner, "a subaltern in a foot regiment, or something of that kind" (Wilde 27). Her husband was killed in a contrived duel a few months after the marriage. Then she was brought home, where she died within a year. No member of the aristocratic society could understand "what on earth inducted to behave as she did. . . . She could have married anybody she chose" (Wilde 28). She was a gorgeous woman, and Dorian is like the mirror of her beauty. Lord Henry is pleased to discover that Dorian's mother rebelled against social conventions and decided to find out whether Dorian has the same potential for rebellion in himself. Lord Henry knows that Dorian is sensitive, easy to influence and loyal to his friends, so he uses these characteristics against him. Hestarts his psychological experiment on Dorian one day at Basil's studio, where he compliments Dorian and his picture painted by Basil. The canvas captures Dorian's beauty and youth, and Dorian is charmed by it when hesees it for the first time. He starts to realise only knowhow
25 beautiful he is, and Lord Henry uses this weakness to make Dorian believe that youth and beauty are essential. Dorian is suddenly possessed by fear of getting old and losing his beauty: "A sharp pang of pain struck through him like a knife, and made each delicate fibre of his nature quiver. His eyes deepened into amethyst, and across them came a mist of tears. He felt as if a hand of ice had been laid upon his heart" (Wilde 21).It is the best timing for Lord Henry, who asks whose property the picture is, on which Dorian as the owner of the painting exclaims that he would give his soul if he could stay young while the painting would grow old instead of him (Wilde 21). Dorian has his fatal wish granted. As Raitt describes it: "The picture substitutes for Dorian's mortal body so that the biology of ageing is expressed not in the man but in the image" (164). Lord Henry awakens in Dorian an extreme longing to experience all that there is to life. Henry persuades Dorian "to follow his own example of pursuing his own self- interest, which means seeking pleasure and avoiding pain" (Liebman 300). One evening, Dorian lounges in the Park and strolls down Piccadilly, "filled with wild desire to know everything about life" (Wilde 39). He goes past "an absurd little theatre" (Wilde 39) and decides to enter it. He meets Sibyl Vane here. Sibyl is a very gorgeous young girl who is an actress in this small theatre. Dorian is fascinated by Sibyl's performance of Shakespeare's characters. It is evident that Dorian falls in love with Sibyl at first sight, but it is not the real Sibyl that he sees. What Dorian sees is Sibyl's acting, her performance andpretending strong emotions when the theatre play prescribes it for her role. In this way, Sibyl also leads a double life. There are two different sides of her.One side is the passionate lover that she represents on the stage, and the other side is her private self when she leaves the stage. Dorian falls in love with Sibyl's characters, with her public appearance, and he does not know what her private self is like. Lord Henry Wotton is not delighted by Dorian's relationship with Sibyl and tries to turn Dorian against her. Henry rejects the ideals of love, faithfulness and marriage. For Lord Henry, marriage is a worthless contract. Most of all, Henry is worried that he is losing his influence over Dorian. He does not want Dorian to follow the conventional path of marriage, he wants him to go against the conventions and so realise Henry's own desires. Raitt understands Henry's relationship to Dorian in a way that he "imagines himself transforming Dorian as if he were a piece of marble, fusing with him in the process of re-creating him" (Raitt 168).When Dorian informs Lord Henry about
26 his engagement to Sibyl, Lord Henry advises him both to marry Sibyl and look for a mistress: Every experience is of value, and, whatever one may say against marriage, it is certainly an experience. I hope that Dorian Gray will make this girl his wife, passionately adore her for six months, and then suddenly become fascinated by some one else. He would be a wonderful study. (61) Dorian still trusts Lord Henry and does not suspect his ulterior motives. He does not realise that Henry uses him as a proxy who should carelessly enjoy life's pleasures which Henry himself is too conventional to enjoy, although he claims the opposite. Dorian serves Henry as his dark self, as a means for Henry to lead a double life without risking anything. Like Lord Henry, Basil is unhappy when he learns about Dorian's engagement but for different reasons. He is disappointed that Dorian's heart now belongs to someone else and is jealous of Sibyl. He cannot forgive Dorian for not having let him know about his engagement. At the same time, at this point, Basil leads his double life secretly and does not let anyone know that he is in love with Dorian. His love for Dorian is pure, so he eventually overcomes his jealousy and hopes that Dorian will be happy with Sibyl. Dorian persuades Henry and Basil to go with him to the theatre to watch Sibyl performing Juliet. However, her performance is entirely dreadful. This is the moment when Sibyl breaks Dorian's heart. It is evident that Dorian loves Sibyl's acting, not Sibyl as a human being. Dorian is devastated by Sibyl's performance, and he is disappointed by her. Dorian rudely reproaches Sibyl for her lousy performance. "It was dreadful. Are you ill? You have no idea what it was. You have no idea what I suffered" (Wilde 70). Sibyl tries to explain to Dorian that she loves him so much that she now cannot pretend love on the stage. She found true love in Dorian, and she cannot fake love for someone else. Dorian blames Sibyl and breaks up with her in a cruel way: You have thrown it all away. You are shallow and stupid. My God! How mad I was to love you! What a fool I have been! You are nothing to me now. I will never see you again. I will never think of you. I will never mention your name. Youdon't know what you were to me, once. Why, once. . . Oh, Ican't bear to think of it. I wish I had never laid eyes upon you! (Wilde 71)
27 This shocking scene is Dorian's first major act of cruelty, and this is when Dorian discovers that his thoughtless wish of exchanging his soul for eternal youth and beauty came true. When Dorian comes home and sees his portrait, there are some changes in the canvas. He stands in front of it in surprise. The face is a little changed, and the expression looks different. There is "a touch of cruelty in the mouth" (Wilde 74). Dorian realises that the portrait will grow old, and he will remain young and beautiful. However, all his evil actions and sins will be reflected on canvas too. Throughout the novel, Dorian's portrait serves as a symbol of his life. It is a mirror of his evil actions and sinful life. The picture isa visible emblem of his conscience andthe evidence of his double life that Dorian tries to keep secret. His portrait is the only thing that shows the deleterious effects of his sins and gives Dorian a sense of freedom from morality because his own face does not show his evil thoughts and actions.At first, Dorian is horrified to see how the painting changes for the worse, so he hides it ina room which was used as a classroom when Dorian was a little child. The dark secret, the proof of his double life, must be hidden from everyone. After some time, Dorian becomes obsessed with his portrait. As Raitt explains"the picture itself becomes a kind of addiction.In his fascination with the influence he can exert on this image of himself, Dorian starts deliberately to seek out sensations that will lead to self- transformation" (173).Dorian is gradually turning into what Lord Henry wants him to be and starts to enjoy the power that he has over the picture. Dorian is terrified that his secret might be revealed, but at the same time, he cannot resist coming to look at the painting and see how the canvas is transformed through his evil actions and sins, while he keeps his youth and beauty untainted. The portrait painted by Basil Hallward becomes a guide to him through life because it serves as a moral compass that accurately shows when Dorian does something wrong. When Dorian leaves Sibyl, she is so devastated that she commits suicide. Dorian is shocked by this turn of events and is full of remorse. He thinks that he "murdered her as surely as if he had cut her little throat with a knife" (Wilde 81). Dorian realises how cruel he was to Sibyl, blames himself and wants to change his behaviour. At this time, Dorian is very vulnerable, which presents Lord Henry with the perfect opportunity to manipulate Dorian even more. Henry uses Dorian's fear that his part in Sibyl's suicide will be revealed and convinces Dorian that Sibyl Vane in fact represented "all the heroines of romance—that she was Desdemona one night, and Ophelia the other; that if
28 she died as Juliet, she came to life as Imogen" (Wilde 84). Lord Henry ensures Dorian that Sibyl's suicide is a perfect artistic representation of undying love. Dorian again trusts Lord Henry, feels obliged to him and joins him at the opera. The next day Basil comes to Dorian's house because he is worried about him. Basil tries to offer his condolences, but Dorian turns him down: "Stop, Basil! Iwon't hear it!" (Wilde 88). Dorian uses Lord's Henry words: "What is done is done. What is past is past" (Wilde 89). Basil is frightened and disappointed by Dorian's words. Basil confesseshis romantic feelings to Dorian, which he had kept secret previously, and in return asks Dorian to tell him his secret. Although Basil reveals his double life to Dorian, Dorian does not do the same for Basil. Dorian remains as hard as a stone, does not let Basil see his portrait and Basil leaves without knowing the true reason. Dorian is sorry for Basil and thinks that there is "something tragic in a friendship so coloured by romance" (Wilde 96). Years go by, and Dorian's character has been changed for the worse partly due to Lord Henry's influence, partly due to the yellow book that Lord Henry had sent him. The yellow book is an unnamed French novel, which describes the shocking exploits of its protagonist, who devotes his life to the pursuit of pleasure. Dorian becomes fascinated with the book, so that "the voice of his teacher, Lord Henry, grows faint in the course of Dorian Gray's career" (Nunokawa 316). Lord Henry does not need to encourage Dorian to immoral pursuits anymore because Dorian actively starts seeking them out, following the example of the yellow book. When Dorian read this book, he "became absorbed. It was the strangest book that he had ever read. It seemed to him that in exquisite raiment, and to the delicate sound of flutes, the sins of the world were passing in dumb show before him. Things that he had dimly dreamed of were suddenly made real to him. Things of which he had never dreamed were gradually revealed" (Wilde 102). Ironically, this book becomes like a Holy Bible to Dorian. While the conventional Victorian society tries to emulate the virtuous behaviour prescribed by the Bible, Dorian tries to emulate the actions described in the yellow book. Dorian is obsessed with the book, which "seemed to him to contain the story of his own life, written before he had lived it" (Wilde 104). When enacting the dissipated experiences detailed in the yellow book, Dorian leads a double life, which he keeps secret. In public, he acts as a respectable gentleman, but in private, he indulges in sensual pleasures. He spends his life having affairs but loving no one except himself, he visits opium dens to
29 smoke and drink, and he does not care what consequences his actions have on his life and the lives of the other people. Because he keeps the appearances, he is not excluded from the aristocratic society, but rumours about his exploits spread and taint his reputation. After many years, when Dorian is thirty-eight years old, Basil comes to Dorian's house to tell him that he is going to go to Paris for six months. Dorian still looks just as he did many years ago when Basil fell in love with him. Basil is worried about the rumours that spread about Dorian and "makes him aware of the rumours about his destructive influence on others" (Liebman 305).Basil believes that Dorian is innocent and urges him to stop these rumours because they can harm Dorian and because he believes that excellent reputation is evidence of excellent character: Every gentleman is interested in his good name. Youdon't want people to talk of you as something vile and degraded. Of courseyou have your position, and your wealth and all that kind of thing. But position and wealth are not everything. Mind you, Idon't believe these rumours at all. At last, Ican't believe them when I see you. Sin is a thing that writes itself across a man's face. (Wilde 122) Basil is convinced that he is a good judge of character and that there is no such thing as secret vices because sin cannot be hidden. According to Basil, sin is reflected in a person's face like in a mirror. Basilclaims thata sinful man can be recognised by the lines of his mouth and the drooping of his eyelids. He refuses to believe that Dorian ever sinned because of his exquisite and pure looks. Dorian at first does not reveal his secret but tries to make excuses, saying that everybody sins but everybody hides it, so no one knows. Basil appeals to Dorian, who is still an influential person, and urges Dorian to use his influence "for good, not for evil". He is worried about Dorian's reputation and even more about the possibility that the rumours about Dorian might be true. He tells Dorian about the rumours: "They say that you corrupt every one with whom you become intimated and that it is quite sufficient for you to enter a house, for shame of some kind to follow after" (Wilde 125). Basil wants Dorian to confirm that the rumours about him are lies and wants to look into Dorian's soul to be sure. Dorian becomes impatient with Basil,and he is burdened by the secret of his double life, which he suddenly decides to share with Basil to relieve himself. He does not look for forgiveness, he wants to share the heavy burden with Basil, so he wouldnot have to carry it alone. Dorian invites Basil to come and look at his portrait, which is the
30 mirror of his soul: "You have chattered enough about corruption. Now you shall look on it face to face" (Wilde 125). Dorian does not feel pity, he is proud of his exploits and even happy to reveal them to Basil: There was the madness of pride in every word he uttered. He stamped his foot upon the ground in his boyish insolent manner. He felt a terrible joy at the thought that some one else was to share his secret, and that the man who had painted the portrait that was the origin of all his shame was to be burdened for the rest of his life with the hideous memory of what he had done. (Wilde 125) They both enter the schoolroom and Dorian takes the curtain down. Basil then becomes the only person in the world who sees Dorian's real soul. At this moment,the evidence of Dorian's double life is uncovered. It could be said that besides Basil, there are two human beings in the room. One is the thirty-eight-year-old Dorian Gray, the very beautiful lively gentleman from the aristocratic society in London, and the other one is a monstrous devilish creature whose life is full of shameful actions, drug abuse and sins. Basil is horrified by the person portrayed in the canvas: "an exclamation of horror broke from the painter's lips as he saw in the dim light the hideous face on the canvas grinning at him" (Wilde 127). At first, Basil thinks that the canvas was repainted, but a little bit later he recognises that "it was Dorian Gray's own face that he was looking at" (Wilde 127). Dorian explains to Basil what happened and confirms that the portrait he is looking at "is the face of his soul" (Wilde 128). He explains that "each of us has Heaven and Hell in him", meaning that no one is only virtuous or only vicious, but everyone possesses in themselves the potential for both (Wilde 128). When one chooses to hide one's dark side from the people and, above all, from oneself, one leads a double life. Dorian's double life means that he pretends he only has heaven in himself, and he conceals the hell that is also a part of him. In public, Dorian only shows his good side, while in private, he only acts on his bad side. Like Dr Jekyll, Dorian tries to separate the good and the evil, which is an impossible task. Basil Hallward gazes at the portrait and observes: "if it is true and this is what you have done with your life, why, you must be worse even than those who talk against you fancy you to be" (Wilde 129). After these words, Dorian feels hatred for Basil. He accuses Basil of being the cause of his misfortune, he thinks that the origin of all bad things that have happened is hidden in the canvas.Dorian is overcome by his hatred for Basil: "The mad passions of a hunted animal stirred within him, and he loathed the man
31 who was seated at the table, more than in his whole life he had ever loathed anything" (Wilde 129). On impulse, Dorian takes a knife and kills Basil. At this moment it is clear that Dorian has chosen the dark side. There is no going back, and with murder, Dorian adds one more item to the list of his sins. Dorian tries to ignore the "dead thing" (Wilde 131), as he perceives Basil's corpse, but he is desperate to preserve his secret and save himself. Rather than remorse, Dorian feels fear of the consequences of his action. The next day Dorian invites his friend Alan Campbell, a young chemist, to ask him for help. While Dorian is waiting for Alan, he is reading a book of French poems,but after a time he gets nervous and worries that Alan might be out of England and unable to save him.Dorian realises that it is vital to destroy Basil's corpse because, besides his portrait, the corpse is now another evidence of his corruption. If his secret is given away, Dorian will lose his social status and will be excluded from the society entirely. Finally, Alan comes to Dorian's house. Dorian begs him to get rid of Basil's corpse: "it is a matter of life and death, Alan" (Wilde 137). He desperately tries to persuade Alan and tries to convince him that he is sorry about what happened. However, Alaninterrupts him because he does not want to know anything further. He refuses to be mixed up in Dorian's life because he is aware of the rumour about Dorian's corruption: "Your friend Lord Henry Wotton can't have taught you much about psychology, whatever else he has taught you" (Wilde 138). Alan knows that Lord Henry is a dubious character and recognises that Dorian was influenced by him. Unlike Basil, who believed in Dorian's innocence until the last moment, Alan suspects that Dorian is guilty. Lord Henry apparently did not teach Dorian how to be a good judge of character, or how to be good at psychology, because Alan refuses to be poisoned by Dorian and refuses to help him. Dorian reminds Alan of the old days of their friendship, but to Alan, the person that Dorian was at that time is dead: "Don't speak about those days, Dorian: they are dead" (Wilde 139). Dorian is desperate because,without Alan's help, his secret will be given away. When Dorian does not manage to convince Alan, he blackmails him and forces him to help.It appears that also Alan has a secret that he does not want the world to know, and Dorian uses this against him. Alan is broken,and there is no way back. There is no other optionbutto oblige to Dorian. At this moment, Dorian is overcome with remorse. Alan seesthat Dorian's eyes are filled with tears,and his sad face is full of purity and refinement. It is possible that Dorian is not yet lost in his dark double life. Maybe there
32 is a way to come back, some kind of back door. When Alan finishes his work, Dorian notices that he forgot to hide the canvas and seesthat the portrait has changed again, as it did many times before: "What was the loathsome red dew that gleamed, wet and glistening, on one of the hands, as though the canvas had sweated blood? How horrible it was!" (Wilde 142). Dorian manages to get rid of Basil's body, which Alan dissolves in chemicals: "Campbell apparently performs a sort of miracle through science—to make Dorian's most glaring by-product of moral waste - Basil Hallward's murdered body - literally disappear, presumably through the application of vaporising chemicals" (Raitt 174). Although the body is gone, Dorian's portrait still remains as the evidence of his latest sin, the murder of a friend. This change in the canvas is the most radical one and shows the seriousness of Dorian's action. The portrait now shows Dorian as a murderer. After Dorian murders one friend and makes another friend complicit in his crime, he is troubled by his conscience and starts to "to cure the soul by means of senses, and the senses by means of the soul" (Wilde 151). Dorian follows this advice that was given to him by Lord Henry. He considers this sentence as a motto that captures the meaning of his life. He tries to escape from reality because the shadow of the murder haunts him. He tries to forget his guilt in a drug-induced stupor. Even though he has his own secret store of opium in his home, he leaves the safety of his house and visits the opium dens in the dark, dirty and dangerous London suburbs that reflect the degradation of his soul. There he meets people whom he does not know, and they do not know him. Dorian is only safe due to his appearance, which does not show the darkness of his soul. His appearance is so innocent and convincing that he sometimes deceives even himself: "Those finely shaped fingers could never have clutched a knife for sin, nor those smiling lips have cried out on God and goodness. He himself could not help wondering at the calm of his demeanour, and for a moment felt keenly the terrible pleasure of a double life" (Wilde 143). Dorian becomes addicted to the pleasures of his double life so much that he ignores "the threat of black-mail that never ceased to darken it" (Nunokawa 311). However, one day in an opium den he meets a woman whocalls at him: "There goes the devil's bargain!" (Wilde 155). When Dorian responds to this nameand curses her, she corrects herself and shouts:"Prince Charming is what you like to be called, ain't it?" (Wilde 155). Dorian is terrified by this incident because Prince Charmingwas a
33 nickname given to him by Sibyl Vane. Shortly after this, when Dorian walks in the street, he is suddenly "thrust back against the wall, with a brutal hand round his throat" (Wilde 156). Thisis the moment when the threat becomes real,and Dorian's dark double life catches up with him. The "brutal hand round his throat" (Wilde 156) symbolises the wrongful doing that Dorian has committed against Sibyl.1 The hand belongs to Sibyl's brother James, who has sworn revenge on Dorian for Sibyl's death.Liebman gives insight into Dorian's situation at this moment:"Threatened by James Vane, whose presence reminds him of his responsibility for Sybil's death, Dorian is again terrified" (Liebman 310). Dorian is successful at outwitting James and convincing him that he is not the person who James thinks he is because if he killed someone eighteen years ago, he would not be so young today. When Dorian leaves, the unknown woman who was yelling at Dorian comes to James and asks him why he did not kill him. She tells James that "it's nigh eighteen years since Prince Charming made me what I am" (Wilde 158). James comes to know that Dorian is,in fact, the Prince Charming who is responsible for the death of his sister and the decline of the woman who shouted at him. The ruined woman recognises Dorian because his appearance has not changed. She sees that Dorian is a devilish person who lives a double life. Dorian always easily convinces people to do what he wants them to do, and under his influence, people can carry out horrible actions that destroy their lives. Paradoxically, this is what happened to Dorian in the first place when he fell under the influence of Lord Henry. Now Dorian takes Lord Henry's place and spreads his poison to other people. Pricks of conscience lie heavy on Dorian, and he lives in constant fear of James Vane's revenge: "The consciousness of being hunted, snared, tracked down, had begun to dominate him" (Wilde 164). Dorian spends a couple of days closed in his house. He thinks about his own past, and every detail of his sins comes back into his mind. The fact that Dorian examines his conscience suggests that Dorian could be redeemed. Several days later, Dorian participates in hunting. During this event, an unknown man is accidentally killed, and Dorian is terrified even more. He is not scared ofdeath, he is scared of living under the threat of death. He explains this to Lord Henry: "I have no
'"Brutal" and "callous" can be synonyms, since someone who has emotional calluses that desensitize feelings or morals might resemble an inhuman beast that is likely to inflict pain. Here, "callous" is used to describe Dorian, while "brutal" is used to describe James. While Dorian can be connected to both adjectives, James cannot be considered callous; even though he is set on murder, his motive is not from evil but from grief and a warped sense of justice,
35 Dorian cannot go on with his double life because he suffers from "the living death of his soul" (Wilde 181). He considers confessing his crimes, but he knows that nobody would probably believe him. Even Dorian's manipulator, Lord Henry, does not believe that Dorian would be capable of such evil. Dorian observes his portrait, which is the portrayal of his soul and evidence of his sins. Dorian is frustrated by the state of the canvas and thinks that he must deal with the painting in order to repent:"Haunted by memories of his evil deeds, Dorian first surmises that this is the way one pays for one's sins" (Liebman 307). Dorian perhaps hopes that when he destroys the canvas, the painting will revert to his original state, and the marks of Dorian's hideous acts will appear on his actual face. Dorian takes the knife that had stabbed Basil Hallwardand hopes to free himself from his double life by destroying the painting. However, by stabbing the canvas, he sticks the knife into his own heart. Dorian's crysum on his personnel, who find Dorian dead: 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 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 184) By destroying his portrait, Dorian destroys himself. Dorian knew that the canvas contained his soul, but he was not aware of the fact that his life is so closely connected to the existence of the painting. Dorian kills himself, but he succeeds in renouncing his double life, and his repentance is when his dead body changes into the hideous corpse that accurately reflects the state of his soul.
36 4 The Dorian Gray Syndrome
4.1 Defining the Term "Dorian Gray Syndrome"
The term "Dorian Gray Syndrome" (Harth 46) is derived from the main character of the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. Here, literature inspired psychology, and the name of a fictional character was used to describe an actual psychological phenomenon. Usually, it is the other way around: new findings in science and psychology appeal to the imagination of writers who then incorporate these ideas in their books, such as the concept of the double life developed in The Picture of Dorian Gray or Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The term Dorian Gray Syndrome is today used in several different meanings,and each of them foregrounds one particular aspect developed in the novel. The most common use of the term refers to people who have a pathological desire to remain always young. Thisis closely connected with another use of the termto describe people who want to live forever. Finally, the term is applied to situations where people lead double lives because they want to appear flawless and refuse to acknowledge their shortcomings. The last-mentioned meaning is the closest to the overall resonance of the novel and to the way the novel presents its protagonist. While it is also true that Dorian wished to remain forever young, it is not the main idea of the novel. The main ideais that Dorian desired to appear as the person that the society expected him to be, which is not necessarily young and beautiful on the outside, but rather pure and moral in thoughts and actions. All the applications of the term Dorian Gray Syndrome,however, have one feature in common: they all involve some form of double life. Should a person remain forever young, there would a discrepancy between the person's apparent physical age and the same person's mental age. There would be an aged and experienced mind in a young body, and the two would naturally not fit well together. Then, should a person live forever, whether,in a young body or an appropriately aged one, it is not difficult to imagine why this immortal person would prefer to keep his or her immortality as a secret. In this hypothetical situation, it is safe to assume that the immortal person would not be unreservedly accepted in the society and he or she would certainly become a subject of scientific interest. Hence, the immortal would likely choose to lead a double life and pretend to be mortal like everyone else. In the last application of the term,
37 which is to describe the discrepancy between appearance and essence, the double life is inherent. Here, one leads a double life because for various reasons, one does not wish to reveal one's true self. The official psychiatric definition of the Dorian Gray syndrome as described in the Clinical Management in Psychodermatologyis as follows: The term Dorian Gray syndrome was selected to explain the patient's underlying wish to remain forever young. The name of the syndrome is taken from the title of a novel by Oscar Wilde, in which the protagonist, Dorian Gray, sells his soul to the devil so that he will not have to experience growing old. The love of self, artificiality, and egocentrism of the narcissist are apparent. (Harth46) This definition does not work with the idea of eternal life but with the idea of eternal beauty. This is exactly what happens to Dorian Gray in the novel. He does not live forever but while he lives, he remains young and beautiful. Another interpretation of the Dorian Gray syndrome is seeing this phenomenon as a desire to live forever. Wilde's novel discusses some of the psychological issues connected with eternal life. Living forever might seem as something everyone wants, but it would likely lead to psychological problems. Leon Kass, a researcher in bioethics at the University of Chicago, points out in his article "The Psychological Strain of Living Forever": "If our species ever does unlock the secrets of ageing and learns to live forever, we might not lose our souls, but like Dorian, we will no longer be human either" (qtd. in Than). Although the novel does not specifically explain whether Dorian Gray would live forever or not, it appears to be the case. It can be argued that one of the reasons why Dorian destroys his portrait is that he suffers from the psychological strain of eternal life. He feels that he cannot continue his life as it is and so he tries to return to the normal, even if it means that he loses his beauty and eventually his life. In herarticle"Dorian Gray Syndrome", Renata Ježková uses the example of the novel todescribe the Dorian Gray syndrome as a specific case of distorted self- reflection. According to Ježková, in the beginning, Dorian Gray desires to remain unmarked by forces which he cannot influence, such as ageing and the reflection of life experience in his appearance. He does not think it is fair that he should be marked by something that he cannot control. Why should his young and beautiful face be tainted by age when he did nothing wrong to deserve it? To start with, Dorian does not seehis own mistakes and blames others instead. When his portrait first changes and shows
38 cruelty in his face, Dorian does not think that he was cruel and blames the young actress who disappointed him. Dorian believes that it was her fault, not his. In fact, Dorian is wrong, and his portrait is right. Dorian does not see his dark side, while his portrait reflects the reality of his double life accurately. In this case, the Dorian Gray syndrome refers to a person who refuses to see himself or herself for what they really are and so deceive themselves as well as other people. The Dorian Gray syndrome is connected with the Victorian period itself and with the development of psychology and psychiatry at that time. The Victorian period was characteristic for its strict rules and sense of morality and propriety. The Victorian society required people to be perfect, or at least to appear perfect. Since this is impossible, many people in this era led double lives, like Dorian Gray. They wanted to hide their imperfections in order to be accepted by the society. What was particularly problematic in the Victorian society was sexuality. It was a taboo topic, and the society pretended that sexuality did not exist.In retrospect, it is apparent that the Victorian society was a repressive one. People were expected to repress what was considered immoral, including sexuality. As Foucault states in his book The History of Sexuality: "It will be said that if so many people today affirm this repression, the reason is that it is historically evident" (Foucault 9). Historical evidence confirms that repression was the social norm in the Victorian period. Although The Picture of Dorian Grayis a fictional novel, it is based on what life was actually like in that period. Sexual repression is a major topic in the novel. The painter of Dorian Gray's portrait, Basil, represses his sexuality and hides his feelings for Dorian because he knows that the society would punish him for showing them. Furthermore, Dorian hides his sexual adventures from the society. Dorian does not repress his sexuality,but he is aware that according to the social rules, he should. In this way, both Basil and Dorian lead a double life.Six years after the publication of The Picture of Dorian Gray, Sigmund Freud published his theory of psychoanalysis, which provided further insights into the topic of sexuality and repression. Freud's findings in his book A General Introduction to Psychoanalysisconfirmed that repressed sexuality is indeed a major issuein the human psychology and that it is relevant particularly to the Victorian society.
39 4.2The Selfie Phenomenon
The Portrait of Dorian Graydevelopsa number of topics, the most prominent being the issue of double life connected with a discrepancy between what a person is and what the same person appears to be. The emphasis is put on appearance rather than on the true nature of things. The fact that the book lent its name to a term in contemporary psychology - the Dorian Gray Syndrome - illustrates that the obsession with appearance continues to be a relevant issue today. What is more, it could be said that the focus on appearance is now stronger than ever before. One of the reasons for this is digitalisation and globalisation: we can connect on the internet with the whole world and we can easily share images and videos we capture on our phones or cameras, which are widely accessible and affordable. The use of visual media is easy, convenient and alluring, which leads to today's society putting a great emphasis on appearance and self- presentation. Segal confirms that "the idea of self-presentation and obsession with appearance is something our era knows well". We are often tempted to present ourselves as better than we are and so we lead a double life just like Dorian Gray. As Backer argues, this kind of double life is a part of our present reality, and it is most clearly expressed in the phenomenon of the selfie.Selfies as a form of self- representation are closely connected with self-perception. In a selfie, we present ourselves as we want to appear to others and when we receive positive feedback on the image, we experience feelings of validation, affirmation and acceptance. That is exactly what Dorian Graywas trying to achieve: by hiding his dark side and enhancing his self- representation, he earned the approval and acceptance of the society. The word selfie became the Word of the Year in November 2013. Backer defines selfie as "a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social website". It is said that the word selfie originally came from Australia and was used for the first time in September 2002. However, selfies of today are quite different from their predecessors. "The first selfie (referred to as a self-portrait at the time) has been credited to Robert Cornelius in 1839. Cornelius, credited as one of the American pioneers of photography produced a daguerreotype of himself (Backer).Although the first photographic self-portrait was taken approximately fifty years before The Picture of Dorian Graywas published, in the
40 Victorian period, photography was not yet so wide-spread and aristocratic families usually hired a painter to capture their image on the canvas. The basic idea of a portrait in painting and photography is the same: to freeze the model in time and usually also to present the model in a flattering light. The painter and the photographer use the tools available to them to achieve the desired representation of the model, which does not always correspond to the reality. The difference between painting in the Victorian period and photography today is that portraits painted on the canvas were costly, time-consuming and required special skills to create, while today's selfie is an instant and almost universally available product that anyone who can press the shutter can make. Photography was an extremely influential invention which changed the way we present ourselves to the world. It is a seductive medium which tempts us to use it to manipulate our self-representation. In a selfie, we tend to create an idealised and unrealistic version of ourselves,and by sharing our modified self-portraits on social media, we engage in a double life as we deliberately misrepresent ourselves and encourage others to believe that our improved selfie is our faithful image. We create two versions of ourselves: one is the beautified selfie, and another is our actual person, who is constantly changing, unlike the image frozen in time. If Dorian had been a real human being in the twenty-first century, he would have posted his selfies all over the social media. "He would hold a dark secret, however: One of his selfies would capture his beauty and youth forever. Among all the other self- indulgent, aesthetically-obsessed people taking photos of their gorgeous faces and bodies, Dorian Gray would not stand out" (Segal). Dorian would be able to manipulate his self-presentation, to choose the best selfie to show to the world, but under this beautiful surface, he would be hiding his ugly soul. This hypothetical situation is similar to what is described in the novel. In the novel, Dorian shows himself in the best light to the society and hides the evidence of his corruption, which is his portrait, so that no one can see it. In today's world, people often act in the same way. Our self-presentation on the internet commonly shows us as better, more beautiful and more successful than we are in reality. We keep what is ugly to ourselves, just as Dorian did. The connection of self-representation and self-perception has been scientifically proven, for instance by Lara Christoforakos and Sarah Diefenbach, psychologists at
41 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat in Munich, who argue that "selfies appear as a double- edged phenomenon" and conclude: Our findings confirmed habitual self-presentation strategies as a relevant factor for understanding selfies: Participants scoring high on self-promotion (promoting one's strength and abilities) and self-disclosure (revealing one's feelings for earning sympathy) felt especially positive while takings selfies, whereas understatement was correlated with negative feelings. (Christoforakos and Diefenbach) This finding indicates that those people who are happy with themselves enjoy taking selfies, but those who feel insecure about themselves do not like taking photos of themselves. On one hand, selfies can,therefore, be seen as a positive phenomenon because they may promote healthy self-confidence. On the other hand, selfies may indicate a distorted self-perception. The research of Christoforakos and Diefenbach emphasises the connection of self-promotion and self-disclosure, meaning that selfie- takers tend not only to be confident but also like to share in order to gain approval or attract attention. When we look at it in the context of The Picture of Dorian Gray, we can see that Dorian's self-presentation serves to get him the approval of the society. This is where the novel is relevant to today's readers as well. We have more freedom than people in the Victorian society had, but we still often hide our true selves because we are afraid that our society would not accept us as we are. Many of us have the Dorian Gray syndrome, which makes us lead double lives, and some people are so successful in hiding their dark side that they no longer know or do not want to know about their mistakes and imperfections.
42 5Modern Adaptations of the Novel
The novel The Picture of Dorian Gray is a timeless piece of work. It is rich in symbols, touching cues and humorous dialogues. Moreover, there is a moral lesson hidden in this story. The character of Dorian Gray could be understoodas a timeless characterand the way he lives his double life is applicable to our age as well. The novel deals with themes and motives that are relevant in any age. It focuses on the psychology of the characters,and although the society changes and develops over time, fundamental human characteristics remain the same. Exploring the feelings, impulses and behaviour of human beings is a subject that is as fascinating now as it was more than a century ago. Timeless issues discussed in the novel include the double lifeabove all, the contrast between appearance and reality, and the conflict between the individual and the society. The continuing appeal of this classic novel and the topic of double life and controversy of self-representation is proven by the fact that it is still widely read and it has been adapted many times for the cinema as well as the theatre. The novel has captured the attention of the worldwide entertainment industry since its very beginnings. The first adaptation of the book came out already in 1910 as a silent film. Since then, there has been a large number of more or less successful film, television, audio and theatre adaptations and even several musicals. This very last chapter examines the fascinating theatre adaptation called Selfie and the last film adaptation of the novel in more detail. These adaptations show how the topics discussed in Wilde's novel work just as well in their original Victorian setting as they do in the twenty-first century. Although the ways we lead our double lives today have changed, the fact that we still lead double lives has not.
5.1 Theatre Adaptation Selfie
The National Youth Theatre in London presented an adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray under the title Selfie in 2014. The adaptation was announced as a "radical re-telling" of the story for the "selfie generation" (Bannister). The play Selfie was written by the playwright Peter Morris,andthe performance was directed by Paul Roseby. By focusing on the phenomenon of the selfie, the play emphasises the issue of
43 self-representation and develops an idea which is particularly relevant today: an obsessive search for the perfect self-representation, the perfect image of oneself, which prefers superficial appearances at the expense of one's true self. The thing that is interesting about this play is the change ofthe main character Dorian Gray into a woman. However, later in the play, the young woman transforms into a young man. This change of gender is another example of double life, which is adapted to reflect the changes in today's society. In the Victorian period, the roles of women and men were entirely different and clearly distinct: the woman's place was at home,and the man's place was to support the family. Today, however, there are fewer differences between men and women, for example, it is much more common for women to pursue their professional careers and for men to stay at home and look after their children, which was unheard of in the Victorian era. Women and men today also look more similar to one another because contemporary fashion does not make strict differences between women's and men's clothes, unlike the fashion in the Victorian times. The theatre play uses an iPad image instead of the original painting, which is an accurate reflection of today's society, where smart-phones and tablets are a must-have for the younger generation. Replacing the painting with an image taken on a mobile device allows the play to foreground the danger of fake self-representation. Unlike having one's portrait painted, like in the Victorian era, taking a selfie is quick and can be easily repeated as many times as needed for the selfie taker to be satisfied with the result. In this process of trying to create the perfect appearance, one can forget that there is more to life than appearances. As Gardner comments: "It's a neat idea, and there are some nice touches: a monocle version of Google Glass that early adopters, including the decadent Harry, are desperate to have, even though it may blind them."When the female protagonist of Selfie changes into a male, he is a superficial party goer and selfie taker. Where the original Dorian Gray goes to opium dens, the twenty-first-century version of Dorian attends clubs and parties. The play shows the protagonist as leading a double life in that the society is only interested in his appearance and he is photographed wherever he goes. In this modern society, what matters are Dorian's looks, not what is hidden under his appearance. When the adaptation replaces the painting with a photo, it shows how easy and how dangerous it is to manipulate photos with Photoshop or Instagram filters. The play Selfie suggests that when we become obsessed with creating a perfect self-image, we might forget what lies under the surface and lose ourselves.
44 5.2Film Adaptation The Picture of Dorian Gray
The film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's novel directed by Oliver Parker was released in 2009 under the same title as the book. The characters of Dorian Gray and Basil Hallward are gracefully performed by Bern Barnes and Ben Chaplin respectively. Lord Henry Wottonis starred by the popular actor Colin Firth and is given a more significant role in the film than in the book. Besides putting a greater emphasis on the role of Lord Henry in Dorian's story, the film adaptation introduces a number of changes. Bradshaw writes about the film: "It has the style of a Hammer shocker from decades ago; Wilde's romance is caricatured, certainly, but the whole thing is socked over with gusto. Toby Finlay's adapted screenplay has some clever new plot inventions, and there's a great turn from Colin Firth." Similarly, Tom Robey welcomes the elaboration of the character of Lord Henry, whom he considers the "real engine" of the film as well as of the book. It is clear in the film that it is the cynical and manipulative Lord Henry who leads Dorian to his sinful secret double life. The film,therefore, portrays Dorian as a more likeable character with whom the audience can identify more readily. Here, Dorian is a victim of Lord Henry,and Dorian's greatest mistake is that he does not recognise how much influence Lord Henry has over him. By giving the character of Lord Henry more space and depth, the film foregrounds one form of double life that is not developed in so much detail in the original novel: the double life of Lord Henry, whose own existence is entirely conventional, and who satisfies his interest in an adventure through Dorian. Lord Henry himself does nothing to offend the strict Victorian sense of morality either in the novel or the film. Lord Henry does not act on his own but instils his dissipated teachings in Dorian, who then acts on Lord Henry's behalf. In this way, Lord Henry satisfies his need for excitement and adventure but does not threaten his own reputation. From the very beginning of this adaptation, the timeline of the novel is disrupted.The first noticeable difference is that the audience can see Dorian committing suicide at the beginning of the film. However, after this scene, the audience is taken one year back when Dorian arrives in London. Another difference is that Dorian is taken by Lord Henry and Basil to a local pub on the periphery of the city, where he sees sin and
45 evil represented by fornication and drinkingfor the first time. Furthermore, Dorian meets Sibyl Vane not in a theatre as it is in the novel, but in the pub. Lord Henry also brings Dorian to an opium den and introduces him to prostitutes. These actions of Lord Henry that are added to the adaptation emphasise the part that he plays in transforming Dorian from an innocent youth to a sinful man. Lord Henry keeps on encouraging Dorian and convinces him that there is nothing wrong about what they are doing. This is how the roots of Dorian's double life are created. The film adds an almost perfect representation of Dorian's double life in the scene of Basil's funeral. In contrast tothe novel, in the film adaptation, Basil's corpse is not dissolved with chemicals used by Alan Campbell but is thrown into a river and later shows up. Dorian gives a speech over Basil's coffin and pretends that he is devastated by the sudden tragic death of his friend. This scene impresses on the audience the precarious nature of Dorian's double life and illustrates that although Dorian's appearance and reputation are safe, his double life brings suffering to others as well as to himself. After this event, he leaves London and travels around the world. However, many years later, he comes back and appears as the same young man that he was when he left the London society. Lord Henry tries to discover how it is possible that Dorian did not grow old, while Lord Henry's adult daughter Emily starts to admire Dorian. This episode in the film was entirely invented by the filmmakers,and it corresponds to the filmmakers' decision to give more space to Lord Henry. When Lord Henry's daughter falls in love with Dorian, it seems to suggest that Lord Henry will be punished for ruining Dorian's life. Eventually, however, Dorian does not do to Emily what Lord Henry did to him. Dorian finds himself in love with Emily too and wants to change himself. He plans to leave for America with her and start a new life. To sum up, although some parts of this film adaptation are entirely different from the original novel, the central theme of double life remains the same and the changes in the film work together well to support this theme.
46 6Conclusion
This thesis aims to analyse Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray with respect to its motive of a double life. It examines how Dorian's double life was created and practised. It argues that Dorian leads a double life because he has to hide his dark side in order to be accepted by the society. The topic of double life is still relevant today. Although our society is far less restrictive than that of the Victorian period, the tendency to present oneself in the best light and hide one's imperfections remains. The introduction of this thesis deals with the Victorian society from the historical point of view, explains the concept of a double life and discusses the influence of double life on those who lead it. The second part deals with the topic of a double life from amoral point of view. It analyses the moral values of the Victorian society and describes the reasons why the characters of the novel, especially Dorian Gray, followed by Lord Henry Wotton and Basil Hallward, want their double lives to be hidden. The main part of this thesis is based on a detailed analysis of the double life as it is represented in the novel. Chapter four considers how the developing science of psychology influenced the novel and how the psychological aspects examined in the novel are applicable to these days. The very last chapter presents two modern adaptations of the novel to show how the timeless phenomenon of double life is interpreted by different adaptations. To sum up, the practice of double life, represented by the Victorian novel The Picture of Dorian Gray written by Oscar Wilde, has been analysed through the changes of Dorian Gray's character. These were initiated by Lord Henry's evil manipulation as part of his interest in psychological games. In this case, Dorian was a perfect object for his experiment. As time passed, Dorian changed from an innocent youth to a corrupt man who hides his sins from the society and leads a double life. Later, Dorian feels regret,but it is too late for him to change his behaviour. The pure and unspoilt part of Dorian's soul cannot regain control,and Dorian's double life eventually destroys him. The topic of a double life is developed in the novel in several ways. Most obviously, the novel illustrates the tension between the desires of the individual and the requirements of the society. Thismakes the person assume a double life in that one pretends to conform to social rules in public but indulges in one's dark desires in private. Another form of double life shown in the novel is particularly relevant today as
47 it concerns the search for a perfect self-representation. Where Dorian was obsessed with retaining his youth and beauty to present his best face to the public, today's self-centred society tends to be too preoccupied with the perfect selfie to post on social media. In all these and other manifestations of double life, there is the risk that in the pursuit of appearances, one may lose the sense of the essence, the sense of one's true self. These are universally valid concerns of human beings no matter in which period they live. Therefore the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray continues to be popular with readers even today.
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