Aestheticism By Hetvi Mehta
Throughout the novel, the concept of eternal youth is extolled through Dorian Gray. It depicts that his beauty will never age, it will be forever young. However, this extraordinary gift comes at the price of his soul. At the time when he was making his wish, noting was more important, in his eyes, than keeping his youth and beauty until the end of time. His morals were irrelevant at the moment. Once he sold his soul, the portrait began to reveal his true colors and endure all of his sins. Once the portrait is destroyed, his soul would be destroyed as well. As soon as his soul has left the world, so will he. In the novel youth exemplifies the qualities of narcissistic and corrupted people. Dorian portrays the image of youth in a unique way to others in society. Young people have unique qualities that make them stand out from other age groups. They are inexperienced, innocent, and reckless. They are still trying to make their way into the world and are experimenting between what is right and wrong. Dorian from the outside appears to be young; however, on the inside he is the antithesis of youth. He possesses qualities that are the opposite of a young man. He is experienced in corrupting innocent lives, and learned from his mistakes and has become better at what he does, through the help of the yellow book. Hence is he much older on the inside opposed to his looks. Furthermore, people in today's world connect beauty with good. It is a common and misinterpreted concept. Dorian's character exemplifies this in the book. For example, when people constantly gaze into a mirror, it is because of their ego, but the mirror is reflecting a alternate identity, its what they want to see. They don't see themselves for who they actually are, their personality which is on the inside. The cause for all this corruption is the painting, because if it didn't pay the price for all of Dorian's sins then he would still have a conscience because it would reflect on his beauty.