The work of Oscar Wilde "Portrait of Dorian Gray" raises a huge number of philosophical and urgent problems. We can read this book an infinite number of times, but never answer all the questions asked in it. Let's try to find the answer to one of them! How did the author reflect his own personality in the person of the various characters in his work?
From this question we can make the following statement: the image of the author is collective, it is composed of various characteristic qualities of this or that character.
"Portrait of Dorian Gray" is a symbolic representation of the dialectic between the two aspects of Wilde's personality. Dorian is an archetypal image that fascinates both aspects. This suggests that his behavior symbolizes Wilde's unconscious (that is, unrecognized) attitude. Dorian is characterized by evasiveness and obsession with the ideas of art. After committing a serious crime, namely the murder of Basil, Dorian, wanting to admit that his actions have moral consequences, he seeks refuge in art. Hearing about the death of Sybil, he accepts an invitation for the same evening to go to the opera. He learns to see life only from an aesthetic point of view. He reflects: «Form is absolutely essential to it. It should have the dignity of a ceremony, as well as its unreality, and should combine the insincere character of a romantic play with the wit and beauty that makes such plays delightful to us».
Although Oscar Wilde was a supporter of the theory of aestheticism, the work clearly outlines the danger of separating ethical and aesthetic principles. Service leads to death, as happened with the hero of the novel. In order to feel and enjoy beauty and at the same time preserve one’s face and virtue, one must always observe moral norms and not bring oneself to fanaticism, even if there is eternal life in reserve.
You may also notice Dorian has been granted the means to enjoy life to the full, but, paradoxically, he is afraid of life. Consequently, he seeks refuge in a pseudo-aestheticism
Dorian is Wilde dandy mostly. He is the man that both Basil and Lord Henry would like to be. It is worth noting that Wilde wrote about the characters in his one and only novel: «Basil Holvard is what I consider: Lord Henry, what the world thinks of me: Dorian, who I would like to be - perhaps in other epochs». Dorian personifies the conflict between the elements of Dionysius and Apollo, especially the exciting one of its creator. He has a passion for «color, beauty, the joy of life», but he avoids being carried away with any experience for fear of causing him possible pain. The charm of Basil and Lord Henry with him represents Wilde's obsession with the young dandies, whose evasiveness and pseudo-aesthetics symbolize his own unconscious fears.
