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When it comes to morality and aestheticism，what comes to my mind is that whether morality should be taken into consideration when we pursue beauty. And should two of them be separated or integrated.
As for The Picture of Dorian Gray，In fact，we can analysis it from different perspectives. But what impressed me most is the relation of morality and aestheticism，how the characters even the author of this novel reacted with these two aspects and how the aesthetic thoughts and moral sense are demonstrated in the main characters.
Oscar Wilde is the most controversial writer in the 19th century and the advocator and representative of the Aestheticism Movement. Influenced by other former artist’ view，Oscar Wilde formed his concept of aestheticism. In my view，his aestheticism can be categorized into three parts：first，he announced that art never express anything but himself. To reveal beauty is the aim of an artist. Second，he regarded that art should be irrelevant to politics and morality，and the artists should have no ethical sympathies. Additionally，Oscar Wilde thought that life imitates art and art is above life. He said that it is the spectator，and not life，that art really mirrors.
Basil Hallward：A worshipper of beauty and a moral guide.
As an artist，Basil is a fervent aesthete who has an unlimited thirst and pursuit for the beauty and art，which also reflects Oscar Wild’s pursuit of pure art. Basil puts much of himself into the artistic things and he emphasizes the beauty of art. So，he is doomed to be attracted by the handsome appearance of Dorian Gray. “I turned halfway around，and saw Dorian Gray for the first time. When our eyes met，I felt that I was growing pale. A curious sensation of terror came over me…..it would absorb my whole nature，my whole soul，my very art itself.”（6，Oscar Wilde）According to the description of Basil，we know that Basil is totally obsessed by the beautiful appearance of Dorian Gray. “his personality has suggested to me an entirely new manner in art，an entirely new mode of style.”（10，Oscar Wilde）Basil took Dorian Gray as the inspiration of creating his art. And he told Henry that Dorian Gray has exerted great influenced on him. Basil is also the discoverer of beauty，and the victim of pursuing beauty as well. He devotes his highest enthusiasm for art to Dorian and regards the portrait of Dorian as his supreme achievement of artistic creation.
Henry Wotton：A preacher of aestheticism but a disobedient of morality In Henry’s view，beauty is also supreme just like Basil. He attaches great importance to beauty. After the description of Dorian by Basil，Henry can’t wait to meeting him and wants to have a look at his beauty. When he meets Henry，he is also totally fascinated by the perfect appearance of Dorian. After Basil finished the portrait of Dorian，Henry said that it is one of the greatest things in modern art. He will pay anything to ask for it and he said he must have it.（26，Oscar Wilde）. From this，we can know that Henry also full of great enthusiasm to beautiful things. In the whole novel，even though Henry doesn’t tell Dorian to murder somebody or do something evil，his influence on Dorian has been accumulated and abrupt suddenly at once. In Dorian’s daily life，he induces Dorian step by step from a pure boyhood. We may say that what Dorian did depends on Dorian’s own decision. The influence of Henry is just like the outside factor or environmental factor to Dorian’s evil behavior. Actually，what Henry affects Dorian is especially crucial for Dorian. Because at that time，Dorian is like a new born baby who is so pure and innocent that knows nothing about the world. Those who influence him would be the vital elements of his later life.
Dorian Gray：A practitioner of Aestheticism with Moral Disobedience
According to the novel，we all know that Dorian Gray is the person who is endowed with a charming，fascinating and perfect appearance. All the people no matter men or women are attracted by his handsome appearance. He hopes that the youth and beauty of him can be eternal. He envied the portrait of himself when he knows that the portrait is more beautiful than him. “I am jealous of everything whose beauty does not die.”（28，Oscar Wilde）And he said that he would give everything for being beautiful and young. “I shall grow old，and horrible，and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young. If it were only the other way！ If it were I who was to be always young，and the picture that was to grow old！ For that –for that – I would give everything！”（27，Oscar Wilde）At the beginning，he is gifted with beauty and also has the desire of beauty. But gradually，Lord Henry arouses his hidden desire for sensual pleasure. Henry encourages Dorian to enjoy the beauty and youth. With time goes by，the possession of beauty and youth was deeply rooted in his mind，he become more and more aware of his perpetual youth and beauty. At the same time，he puts too much attention on the beauty of himself，so he gets afraid of losing his beauty. At last，in my view，that the author expressed his idea through the different characters also means his contradictory minds of the relation of beauty and morality. He tries to enjoy and purse the beauty freely，but there is always the morality restraint him. Actually，no matter in that time or our present day，it’s impossible for us to separate the beauty from morality. Even though we are individuals，we are still in a society and a community. So our behaviors are unavoidably restricted by the rule of morality. No matter who disobeyed it，in the end he will be mostly like Dorian in the novel. We can only pursue what we want but based on some basic rules. It is impossible for us to pursue something absolute free in our daily life since we are not the only person in the world. We should take others’ basic rights into consideration as well.
Work Cited
[1]Wilde，Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Shanghai：Shanghai Word Publishing Corporation，2004
[2]左琛.對《道林·格雷的画像》的神话原型解读[D].湖北大学，2013.
[3]曾祥凤.论《道林·格雷的画像》中唯美和道德的融合[D].哈尔滨工程大学，2010.
作者简介
凌丹霞（1992—），女，云南大学外语学院英语语言文学硕士，研究方向：英语语言文学和语言学
（作者单位：云南大学）
As for The Picture of Dorian Gray，In fact，we can analysis it from different perspectives. But what impressed me most is the relation of morality and aestheticism，how the characters even the author of this novel reacted with these two aspects and how the aesthetic thoughts and moral sense are demonstrated in the main characters.
Oscar Wilde is the most controversial writer in the 19th century and the advocator and representative of the Aestheticism Movement. Influenced by other former artist’ view，Oscar Wilde formed his concept of aestheticism. In my view，his aestheticism can be categorized into three parts：first，he announced that art never express anything but himself. To reveal beauty is the aim of an artist. Second，he regarded that art should be irrelevant to politics and morality，and the artists should have no ethical sympathies. Additionally，Oscar Wilde thought that life imitates art and art is above life. He said that it is the spectator，and not life，that art really mirrors.
Basil Hallward：A worshipper of beauty and a moral guide.
As an artist，Basil is a fervent aesthete who has an unlimited thirst and pursuit for the beauty and art，which also reflects Oscar Wild’s pursuit of pure art. Basil puts much of himself into the artistic things and he emphasizes the beauty of art. So，he is doomed to be attracted by the handsome appearance of Dorian Gray. “I turned halfway around，and saw Dorian Gray for the first time. When our eyes met，I felt that I was growing pale. A curious sensation of terror came over me…..it would absorb my whole nature，my whole soul，my very art itself.”（6，Oscar Wilde）According to the description of Basil，we know that Basil is totally obsessed by the beautiful appearance of Dorian Gray. “his personality has suggested to me an entirely new manner in art，an entirely new mode of style.”（10，Oscar Wilde）Basil took Dorian Gray as the inspiration of creating his art. And he told Henry that Dorian Gray has exerted great influenced on him. Basil is also the discoverer of beauty，and the victim of pursuing beauty as well. He devotes his highest enthusiasm for art to Dorian and regards the portrait of Dorian as his supreme achievement of artistic creation.
Henry Wotton：A preacher of aestheticism but a disobedient of morality In Henry’s view，beauty is also supreme just like Basil. He attaches great importance to beauty. After the description of Dorian by Basil，Henry can’t wait to meeting him and wants to have a look at his beauty. When he meets Henry，he is also totally fascinated by the perfect appearance of Dorian. After Basil finished the portrait of Dorian，Henry said that it is one of the greatest things in modern art. He will pay anything to ask for it and he said he must have it.（26，Oscar Wilde）. From this，we can know that Henry also full of great enthusiasm to beautiful things. In the whole novel，even though Henry doesn’t tell Dorian to murder somebody or do something evil，his influence on Dorian has been accumulated and abrupt suddenly at once. In Dorian’s daily life，he induces Dorian step by step from a pure boyhood. We may say that what Dorian did depends on Dorian’s own decision. The influence of Henry is just like the outside factor or environmental factor to Dorian’s evil behavior. Actually，what Henry affects Dorian is especially crucial for Dorian. Because at that time，Dorian is like a new born baby who is so pure and innocent that knows nothing about the world. Those who influence him would be the vital elements of his later life.
Dorian Gray：A practitioner of Aestheticism with Moral Disobedience
According to the novel，we all know that Dorian Gray is the person who is endowed with a charming，fascinating and perfect appearance. All the people no matter men or women are attracted by his handsome appearance. He hopes that the youth and beauty of him can be eternal. He envied the portrait of himself when he knows that the portrait is more beautiful than him. “I am jealous of everything whose beauty does not die.”（28，Oscar Wilde）And he said that he would give everything for being beautiful and young. “I shall grow old，and horrible，and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young. If it were only the other way！ If it were I who was to be always young，and the picture that was to grow old！ For that –for that – I would give everything！”（27，Oscar Wilde）At the beginning，he is gifted with beauty and also has the desire of beauty. But gradually，Lord Henry arouses his hidden desire for sensual pleasure. Henry encourages Dorian to enjoy the beauty and youth. With time goes by，the possession of beauty and youth was deeply rooted in his mind，he become more and more aware of his perpetual youth and beauty. At the same time，he puts too much attention on the beauty of himself，so he gets afraid of losing his beauty. At last，in my view，that the author expressed his idea through the different characters also means his contradictory minds of the relation of beauty and morality. He tries to enjoy and purse the beauty freely，but there is always the morality restraint him. Actually，no matter in that time or our present day，it’s impossible for us to separate the beauty from morality. Even though we are individuals，we are still in a society and a community. So our behaviors are unavoidably restricted by the rule of morality. No matter who disobeyed it，in the end he will be mostly like Dorian in the novel. We can only pursue what we want but based on some basic rules. It is impossible for us to pursue something absolute free in our daily life since we are not the only person in the world. We should take others’ basic rights into consideration as well.
Work Cited
[1]Wilde，Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Shanghai：Shanghai Word Publishing Corporation，2004
[2]左琛.對《道林·格雷的画像》的神话原型解读[D].湖北大学，2013.
[3]曾祥凤.论《道林·格雷的画像》中唯美和道德的融合[D].哈尔滨工程大学，2010.
作者简介
凌丹霞（1992—），女，云南大学外语学院英语语言文学硕士，研究方向：英语语言文学和语言学
（作者单位：云南大学）