What is the connection between dorian gray and his picture?

Answer 1

Yes! Oscar Wilde, the author of The Picture of Dorian Gray, was suspected of being gay for Lord Alfred Douglas, and Dorian was used as evidence against him in court. The book is often treated as a semi-autobiography for Oscar, because Oscar is very similar to Dorian Gray, and Douglas is very similar to Henry. Since homosexuality was very much frowned upon in the Victorian Era, Oscar Wilde's only option for expressing himself was through literature.

Underlying homosexual tensions are found between Basil and Dorian, and Dorian and Lord Henry. Basil doesn't act out on his desired physically, but his worship through art makes it apparent. Lord Henry, on the other hand, is very decadent in thought, but because he is so old, he can't do much of what he advises Dorian to do. He wants Dorian to revel in the decadent lifestyle while he is still young. In the Lippincott edition of Dorian, there are several more explicit chapters that reveal homosexual behavior amongst the characters.

I can't even name heterosexual male characters from that novel. Basil was gay, the rest were bisexual.

Basil all but says "I love you, Dorian".

Answer 2

In "The Picture of Dorian Gray," the connection between Dorian Gray and his picture is that the picture ages and shows the consequences of Dorian's immoral actions, while Dorian himself remains youthful and unchanged. The painting serves as a physical representation of Dorian's inner corruption and degradation.

Answer 3

As "the person" Dorian Grey grows older, he remains the same outwardly. He apparently never ages, and always looks in his teens to early 20s.

However, the picture ages. As years pass the picture ages like a real person would age. Except, every time the person Dorian does something evil, like murder or being mean to Sybil, the picture not only grows older, but uglier.

The connection between Dorian and his picture is that the picture takes all the physical burden of Dorian's actions. The picture is the window into his soul, as Dorian commits terrible actions the picture turns ugly, as Dorian's soul turns evil.

The mind boggler is that at the end of the novel, Dorian is fed up and stabs the picture of himself. Later, his servants come in to find an unfamiliar man on the floor with a knife in him. The picture remains as perfect as the day it was painted. Was the picture really changing, or was it all in Dorian's mind? Take your pick.