PODG #1 Analysis

Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray explicitly secures a stance of how art should be interpreted, and can be seen through the symbolic representations of both Henry and Basil. Wilde deliberately illustrates the relationship between Henry and Basil to be representative of art’s interpretation and significance. As Henry and Basil converse about the significance of the painting of Dorian Gray, Henry claims that Basil is utterly insensible in the belief that Basil will not send the picture by stating that “What odd chaps you painters are! You do anything in the world to gain a reputation. As soon as you have one, you seem to want to throw it away” (Wilde 4). Basil believes that he has put in too much of himself into the picture and originally believes that living a life of secrecy “seems to be the one thing that can make modern life mysterious or marvelous to us” (6). By saying this, Basil’s position of art is highly recognized by the passiveness an artist should have, whereas Henry believes that all artists aspire to gain a reputation and seem to contradict that when artists are able to possess some form of reputation. Basil holds the position that “every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not the sitter” (7) and explicates the fact that given a form of artwork, more can be seen about the artist than can be seen about the physical painting. In other words, one can look through the surface of an artwork and accurately piece together an artist’s intentions into that painting, thus being able to accurately describe the artist. Wilde fulfills the argument that art should be appreciated through its surface beauty in the preface of the novel, and this statement is confirmed as Harry appreciates the beauty of the painting as it physically is. However, Basil believes that the artist’s intentions behind a painting should be kept as undisclosed as possible, thus eliminating the possibilities of revealing an artists’ lives by simply looking deeper into an artwork.