FREE ESSAY ON THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

Dorian Gray and The Narcissus 
The myth of Narcissus is a good illustration of the damage that total self - love can do
to a person. There is a misconception about narcissistic people. This confusion is the
belief that narcissistic people are in love with themselves, but according to the DSM -
lll criteria published in 1989, the narcissus is not in love with himself, but in fact in
love with his reflection. This does not mean that a narcissus has no love for others, but
it is miss-directed love. They get their love identity from the love of the image they
portray to others. In the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, Dorian Gray is
the protagonist who is narcissistic. Dorian Gary is in many ways a modern retelling of
the ancient myth about Narcissus. In five ways they are very similar: beauty, love,
vengeance, death and narcissism.
These stories both have the concept of beauty; Dorian Gary and Narcissus are beautiful,
young and handsome. In The Picture of Dorian Gray the artist Basil Hallward believes that
Dorian's beauty is the inspiration for all of his art. "Unconsciously he defines for me
the lines of a fresh school," Hallward declared, "a school that is to have in it all
passion of the romantic spirit, all the perfection of the spirit that is Greek."
Narcissus was Greek, so he also in a way influenced Basil. Without a doubt, Dorian and
Narcissus were both distinguished for their beauty. 
Dorian and Narcissus have a very similar love plot; both had one true love: Dorian's
being Sibyl Vane, and Narcissus's being Echo. Sibyl was an actress that was in love with
Dorian, but she was so caught up in her love that she lost her ability to act. Dorian
feeling outraged spurns her cruelly, leaving her humiliated, heartbroken and left to kill
herself that night. Echo was the nymph that was in love with Narcissus, and was condemned
by the goddess Hera to never speak again, except to repeat whatever was said to her,
because of this she was unable to tell Narcissus that she loved him. Like Dorian,
Narcissus cruelly refused to accept Echo's love because of his anger.
Vengeance is a very important device in both stories, because it is eventually what leads
to the death of both Narcissus and Dorian. Aphrodite was so enraged at the death of Echo
that he promised to seek revenge on Narcissus, placing an evil curse upon him which
eventually lead to his death. Dorian attempts to seek revenge on Basil, when Basil points
out how evil Dorian has become. Dorian couldn't take the thought that someone had thought
of him as an evil person so he killed Basil. 
Both Narcissus and Dorian had an overwhelming amount of self-love, and in other words,
they both were narcissistic. Every women or girl fell in love with Narcissus outer beauty
almost immediately. Having this happen to Narcissus all the time gave him a very high
opinion of himself. Narcissus was convinced that only a girl as fair as himself was
worthy of his attention. Dorian wished upon eternal youth while his picture aged. This
prayer was answered. For every sin he committed, stains were added to the painting while
it grew old, but his own face remained virtuous and appealing. Dorian sold his soul to
the devil in order to remain forever beautiful.
In the end both Dorian and Narcissus end up dying, due to their own mistakes. A curse is
placed upon Narcissus, allowing him to fall in love with something that could not return
his love, Narcissus, who did not know of the curse, ended up falling in love with his own
image, who in turn could not return his own love. The curse was placed upon him in order
to shoe him the love others had for him, and the love he never returned to them. Dorian
Gray sold himself to the devil for a pretty face. However it was this face that corrupted
his life and the lives of those around him. Not only did he cause the deaths of others ,
but also to himself. At the end of the novel Dorian realized, or thought he realized that
by destroying the portrait he would be free, free from the conscience that the portrait
had held hidden for so many years. The same knife that had killed the creator of the
portrait would kill the painters work.
Dorian Gray is in fact a more modern retelling of the ancient myth of Narcissus. They
share the similar outlook on beauty, love, vengeance, death and narcissism. Their love
for beauty had corrupted their lives, as well as other characters that they were close
to. Dorian's love for Sibyl and Narcissus's love for Echo were almost identical and there
deaths very much alike, along with the symbols they left behind. Dorian Gray is a perfect
example of a more modern Narcissus.