 Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Grey is a novel about a young man whose desire to maintain his youth and beauty renders his soul irrevocably damaged. When Dorian expresses a desire for his portrait to grow old and wither in his stead, he is shocked to find his wish has been granted. As he gets older, it is his picture that ages physically and not him. By virtue of his narcissism, wonton hedonism, and disregard for others, his portrait grown uglier and uglier. There are allusions in the text that indicate the portrait as a representation of his soul. In the end, the picture is restored to its original beauty when Dorian attempts to destroy it and is instead found lying on the ground, old and ugly as he should have been, dead.  photo courtesy of google images; filmofilia.com |