摘 要

奥斯卡·王尔德是一位爱好美好事物的艺术家，《道林·格雷的画像》是他的一部名作。在这篇小说中，他把道林·格雷刻画成为一个有着精致面庞的年轻人。道林·格雷因为对自己美貌的自信以及对美好事物的追求不顾原则以至于一步一步走向深渊。道林·格雷之所以最后落得此下场，就是因为他的生活中缺少自律精神以及自己放荡不羁纸醉金迷的生活所致。这些都是王尔德在这篇小说中想要向我们传达的内容。本文认为主人公道林·格雷堕落的历程以及原因最终使我们从中吸取一些教训，比如大自然的规律不可违背、面对欲望以及诱惑时如何自制、表面的美好并不完全符合内在美等等。

关键词：奥斯卡·王尔德；《道林·格雷的画像》；放纵；反思；

Contents

1. Introduction -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------1
2. Demonstration---------------------------------------------------------------------------------2

2.1 The Process of Degeneration--------------------------------------------------------------2

2.1.1 Frenetic Love for Aesthetics------------------------------------------------------------2

2.1.2 Loss of Love-------------------------------------------------------------------------------4

2.1.3 Suffocation of Friendship----------------------------------------------------------------5

2.2 Reasons for Indulgence---------------------------------------------------------------------6

2.2.1 Enticements--------------------------------------------------------------------------------6

2.2.2 Renegade of Morals-----------------------------------------------------------------------7

2.2.3 Self-complacence-------------------------------------------------------------------------7

2.3 Reflections-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------8

2.3.1 Attitude to Lust----------------------------------------------------------------------------8

2.3.2 Limit of Art -------------------------------------------------------------------------------8

2.3.3 Superficiality of Beauty------------------------------------------------------------------9

3. Conclusion-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9

Works Cited-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11

Bibliography------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12

An Analysis of Indulgence and Decadence in The Picture of Dorian Gray

1. Introduction

The writer of The Picture of Dorian Gray is Oscar Wilde(1854~1900), who as the leader of aestheticism, was the backbone of the aesthetic movement in the 1880s and the pioneer of decadence movement in the 1890s. Wilde was born in a family of excellent lineage and was the second son of the family. He was not so welcomed by boys in his school life, and he was in deep love with flowers, sunset and Greek literature. In his young age, he was often scolded by his teachers for the reason of being sluggish, however, in the last year at school he won the Bophut’s gold medal which was famous for representing classical literature and the best score. Sun Yixue points out in the translation of The Autobiography of Oscar Wilde,

In Wilde’s whole life, he was outstanding, and had the unparalleled honor, he had ever fallen into the spirit of hell beyond redemption due to his wild oaths and extreme behavior. He was a happy bird which picked food freely when he was happy, he was the Satan who dived to the bottom of hell to get the infamy, he was the remorseful saint when he was mournful...( 7)

His first novel The Picture of Dorian Gray was published in 1891. When talking about the background of this novel, a lot of stories can be told. One day Wilde visited an old famous artist, he happened to see the model of the artist. The model was such a young and handsome man, thus Wilde felt so pityful and said, “It’s so sad that such a beautiful man will always have his old day.” The artist responded, “Yes, it’s true. The best thing is that if the man in the picture could get older instead of the real man.” Inspired from it, Wilde created this novel The Picture of Dorian Gray and in honor of the artist, he named the painter in the novel after him.

The study of Oscar Wilde in foreign countries are mostly focused on his private life and his dramatic works. Since the publication of The Picture of Dorian Gray, many people attacked it because they regarded it as an immoral book. Daily Record once criticized that this book is the product of decadence literature in France, is a poisonous book, which bursts with the stink of moral and spiritual bankruptcy. Though, there are always some who cherish it when some attack it. Arthur Conan Doyle once mentioned in his Memoirs and Adventure History in 1924, “Oscar Wilde’s book The Portrait of Dorian Gray is a book of high ethics level.” And William Butler Yeats calls this book “an amazing book”; and Walter Pater concludes its style is “really active”.

The studies on The Picture of Dorian Gray both domestic and abroad are just centered on aestheticism and Gothicism, seldom concerned about what the writer’s negative view on art that art has its limitation and will appear its downtrend in certain condition. Therefore, my thesis shows an interesting new approach, deeply analyses the process and reasons of the hero’s indulgence and intends to give reflections from The Picture of Dorian Gray to readers. This thesis will be divided into three parts. In the first part, the hero Dorian Gray’s process of indulgence will be analysed deeply, the second part discusses the reasons for it and the last part explores the lesson and benefits we may get from reading this novel.

2. Demonstration