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Thesis Statement:
In Chapter 12, of the Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde explores the destructive consequences of his sins, and his indulgence in pleasure utilizing symbolism, irony, metaphors, and foreshadowing.
Analysis of Chapter 12
Through the use of symbolism, and metaphors Wilde conveys the culmination of Dorian's moral decay under the influence of multiple perspectives. In the phrase," Sin is a thing that writes itself across a man's face. It cannot be concealed." The metaphoric comparison used here suggests that a person's immoral actions can be exposed/ seen through facial expressions. This raises tension since all of Dorian's sins are reflected in his portrait, which evokes the theme of disguise, almost like Dorian's wearing a mask with scars underneath, each scar exposing his true colors. Not only that but when it mentions that ' sin is a thing that writes', it symbolizes Dorian's sudden change of life, as if he's writing a new story of himself filled with sins towards his fate. Under the influence of several perspectives, Dorian's moral decay is further emphasized.
Wilde conveys Dorian's indulgence in pleasure despite the extent of his moral corruption through using stylistic devices like dramatic irony, and foreshadowing. In the phrase, "But you, Dorian with your pure, bright, innocent face, and your marvelous untroubled youth - I can't believe anything against you." Dramatic irony is used here to evoke the contrast between Dorian's true extent of his corruption, and the innocent image he portrays towards Basil. The ignorance Basil expresses creates more tension due to his recognizing his delusion, as he refuses to accept any accusations put against Dorian Gray. Basil is encapsulated within Dorian's world, he perceives him as if he's the definition of artistic perfection, which is why he drew a portrait of him in the first place. If he was to acknowledge Dorian's sins, it would be the equivalent of betraying his idealized version of Dorian. Furthermore, in the words, "I can't believe anything against you." It foreshadows Dorian's dark deeds will be truly seen by Basil, as it shatters his delusion, which completely changes his perspective on Dorian.
Through the use of juxtaposition, Wilde conveys Dorian's hedonistic perspective progressively getting worse as he manifests his own pleasures. In the phrase," He felt a terrible joy at the thought that someone else was to share his secret." The juxtaposing words 'terrible joy' are utilized to articulate Dorian's life of hedonistic indulgence, as his nature is not afraid to involve others in his immoral activities. Despite knowing Basil will be deeply affected by his immoral actions, he still agrees with his ask due to the amount of guilt, and isolation behind his back. The addiction he portrays towards hedonism evokes the influence that has captivated him to be inspired by such horrible acts, purely for his own pleasure.
Contemporary responses
Chapter 12 of Dorian Gray is mainly centered on a conversation with Basil. Despite his sins and the debauchery he strives to embrace, the perfect image that he presents to the world becomes progressively corrupted as he attempts to hide his true self. It reflects contemporary society as we are often unrealistic towards the goals and expectations we set for ourselves, and others. We tend to only show our success, and achievements while concealing our struggles and vulnerabilities. In addition, social media has made this situation progressively worse as people will only showcase the best of them, making us the audience feel insecure about what we have achieved. Despite Dorian's sins, his beauty and youth remain since his portrait sacrifices all moral corruption that he commits, therefore avoiding the consequences he should rightfully face. This chapter is a crucial moment in the novel, as the conflict between his consequences, and desire for beauty become increasingly apparent.
The placebo effect
The placebo effect is a phenomenon where if a person believes there is a benefit from a specific object, they will psychologically believe it's good for them despite it having no effects whatsoever. In chapter 12 of Dorian Gray, Basil refuses all accusations of Dorian due to his belief that Dorian symbolizes purity, and innocence, which he perceives as being perfection, basil perceives Dorian as artistic perfection. Throughout the story Dorian's mindset gets influenced by Lord Henry, hence causing him to commit sins, and a road down destruction. This can be compared to the placebo effect, as Basil is gaslighted into thinking that Dorian can't possibly commit sins, too ignorant to realize that his view of perfection can change, unlike an object whose purpose remains the same despite it having benefits or not. Due to him only having one perspective towards Dorian, he is conditioned to believe that Dorian's accusations are false, due to his mind manipulating himself psychologically.
Porcupine and bear ( creative response )
A porcupine and bear is displayed in this picture, which are plushies that I own. This perfectly demonstrates the relationship between Dorian gray, and Basil in chapter 12 as Dorian encapsulates Basil in his world of perfection where his sense of ignorance, and delusion becomes increasingly more apparent. Comparing this to the image, Dorian can be represented as the porcupine, and Basil as the bear, where the porcupine is literally encapsulating the bear causing suffocation due to the amount of pressure. Contrasting to the story, Dorian agrees to let Basil see his soul, as if Basil is getting suffocated by Dorian's grasp of power over him, since he was the one requesting to see his soul, but now is afraid of what he's done instead. Furthermore, the porcupine's spike is used to protect itself just like how Dorian is abusing power in order to indulge in pleasure by using his own portrait as a decoy to cover all of his destructiveness.
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