Dorian Grey Article

This week’s reading, “The Gay Artist as a Tragic Hero in The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Henry M. Alley, was insightful and informative. Alley’s perspective on the homo-erotic subtext of Dorian Gray does much to put the story line and its historical references and influences into a meaningful context.

The relevance of terms like “hamartia” and “dandy” to Dorian Gray become quite apparent upon brief investigation. Hamartia is defined simply as “tragic flaw” on Dictionary.com; Wikipedia offers a more in-depth explanation of the term:

This form of drawing emotion from the audience is a staple of the Greek tragedies. In Greek tragedy, stories that contain a character with a hamartia often follow a similar blueprint. The hamartia, as stated, is seen as an error in judgment or unwitting mistake is applied to the actions of the hero. For example, the hero might attempt to achieve a certain objective X; by making an error in judgment, however, the hero instead achieves the opposite of X, with disastrous consequences.

This I think quite directly applies to Dorian Gray in the form of the character Basil. The assertion made, by Alley and others cited by him, that Basil is the principle hero of Dorian Gray is convincing to me and would seem to be quite obvious, seeing as Basil alone mantains an essence of goodness and goodwill throughout the story, whereas Lord Henry’s influence is a corrupting factor, and Dorian’s presence to all those around him is toxic. Basil has a good in his heart which is fitting of a prototypical hero, but the “error in judgement or unwitting mistake” which defines the artist is of course his all-pervasive and all-powerful love and longing for Dorian, whose unavailability and calamitous influence on those around him tears at Basil as much as his own inability to express and pursue his heart’s desire with conviction and success.

The term “dandy” is also relevant to Wilde’s novel. It has been noted that Lord Henry’s uncle refers to him as a “dandy;” Wikipedia offers us this working definition of the term:

A dandy (also known as a beau, or gallant) is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of Self. Historically, especially in late 18th- and early 19th-century Britain, a dandy, who was self-made, often strove to imitate an aristocratic style of life despite coming from a middle class background.

This of course describes Basil (to a degree, but especially in how he covets physical appearances), Lord Henry (he of the influential yellow book and it’s guidance along in the “cult of Self”), and most of all Dorian Gray. Gray encapsulates the spirit of the dandy in it’s darkest manifestation, where appearance becomes not only everything, but a means by which to hide true darkness and malevolence. Dorian Gray is very much the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing, maintaining a façade of regal sophistication and dashing debonairness while beneath the surface festers a conniving, self-serving hedonist egomaniac.

I found The Portrait of Dorian Gray to be maybe our most interesting and pleasurable reading assignment thus far in class. Alley’s insights into the text, and especially his understanding of the relationship between Gray as a novel and Oscar Wilde’s own real-life proclivities, proved to be quite fascinating and, I think, helpful in gaining a more meaningful understanding of the book’s message.