Aestheticism versus Realism? Narcissistic Mania of the Unheeded Soul in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray

Taghizadeh, Ali; Jeihouni, Mojtaba

doi:10.4304/tpls.4.7.1445-1451

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Critically examining the adapted version of John Osborne's The Picture of Dorian Gray: A Moral Entertainment, Sigalinggi (2010) posits the problem of morality and the characterization of Dorian Gray. Linda On examining the narcissistic mania, Taghizadeh and Jeihouni (2014) state that Dorian Gary's mental collapse is eventually caused by extreme narcissism, psychological trauma, and social isolation. Linda (2015) made a comparative analysis, unearthing the major impact of censorship on the main character's moral character in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, in contrast to the original unfiltered and censored versions.…”

Section: Review Of Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

An Orchestration of Narcissistic Expressions in John Osborne’s The Picture of Dorian Gray -A Moral Entertainment: A Reflection on Kohutian Self Psychology Psychoanalysis

Kumar¹,

Christopher²

2022

tpls

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This paper aims to provide an interdisciplinary space for fruitful debate concerning psychoanalytical representations of narcissism, narcissistic personality disorder, and its implications in artistic, literary, and health discourses. A close textual reading of John Osborne's most impressive play, The Picture of Dorian Gray: A Moral Entertainment, reveals narcissistic traits or abnormal behavior patterns in the protagonist, Dorian Gray, who, like the mythological narcissus, orchestrates a flurry of interpersonal abuse and antagonism. As such, the critical analysis and interpretation of the main character, Dorian, provides new therapeutic understanding to clinicians, academicians, parents, and mental health enthusiasts around the world and thereby helps recognize individuals with symptoms of NPD and efficiently deal with them on the grounds of empathy and wisdom as encapsulated in self-psychology psychoanalysis.

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Section: Review Of Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

An Orchestration of Narcissistic Expressions in John Osborne’s The Picture of Dorian Gray -A Moral Entertainment: A Reflection on Kohutian Self Psychology Psychoanalysis

Kumar¹,

Christopher²

2022

tpls

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“…This author holds the view that God is not against the pursuit of pleasure, and Wilde's view on the pursuit of pleasure is revealed in this imaginary conversation as well. Focusing on the psychological trauma of narcissism and how social alienation has brought about Dorian Gray's mental breakdown, Ali Taghizadeh (2014Taghizadeh ( , p. 1446 states that Dorian's tragedy is both influenced by himself as a narcissist and the society of that time, while Huang Yujie (2013, p. 18) points out: "So there might be a certain psychological appeal of Wilde who always had to wear masks to live in his age-that was, he wished to be recognized among the upper-class society." She examines Wilde's psychological appeals for recognition for aestheticism and acceptance for homosexuality.…”

Section: A Short Overview Of the Studies On Wilde And His The Picture Of Dorian Graymentioning

confidence: 99%

Oscar Wilde’s Multiple Appeals Revealed in the Male Characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray

Lian¹,

Zhong²

2021

ELLS

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Concerning Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, the previous studies have mainly been conducted on the writer’s aesthetic thoughts and moral senses reflected in this novel, while the relationship between his literary creation and his psychological appeals needs to be further explored, for possibly these appeals are essentially related to his multiple personalities and complex psychology. Focusing on the three male characters, this paper attempts to examine Wilde’s psychological appeals for the recognition of his aestheticism and the acceptance of his non-aesthetic appeals, and how they are revealed in the novel. According to A. H. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, human needs include the physiological need, the safety need, the belongingness and love need, the esteem need, and the need for self-actualization and so on. Through close text analysis, this study has had the following findings: (1) As an artist, Wilde’s pursuit of art is the expression of his appeal for self-actualization. The interpretation of aestheticism by Basil and Henry denotes this need of Wilde; (2) As an aristocrat, Wilde also wants to be respected by the society, which is reflected in Dorian, while as an ordinary man his love need and physiological need are reflected in Basil’s feelings for Dorian and Henry’s admiration for hedonism. Hopefully, this study might help readers better understand Wilde and his works, and achieve a deeper understanding of the artist’s complicated personality and psychology, the complexity and difficulty of the artistic creation, and various forms of artistic expressions.

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“…Recognizing the split in subjectivity between author and writer helps to reconsider the novel's position in its historical context (McCormack, 2000). If Wilde, the physical subject who wrote the novel is different from the spirit or the talent that inspired it, then the novel is as separate from reality as the author from the writer (Taghizadeh & Jeihouni, 2014). In fact, separating the spirit of the writer from his physicality was a common literary practice at the time of Oscar Wilde.…”

Section: Aesthetic Autonomymentioning

confidence: 99%

If Looks Could Kill: Looking Through the Artist’s Lenses in Oscar Wilde’s the Picture of Dorian Gray (1891)

Ghazel

2019

SSRN Journal

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This paper investigates aestheticism and authorship in the Oscar Wilde's only novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891). Victorian literature is usually read against the relationship between art and reality. The literary merit of a book is determined by the degree of its conformity with the moral values of the time. This paper offers a detached reading of the novel where the value of the book is found in its ability to initiate the reader into an aesthetic world. The research argues that Wilde fragments the act of artistic creation among the artist (the painter Basil), the sitter (Dorian Gray) and the audience (Lord Henry Wotton). This fragmentation renders the novel aesthetically autonomous from its reality. Aesthetic autonomy contributes to the debate of morality in Victorian literature by placing the work of art in an alternative sphere where normative values cease to apply.

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Aestheticism versus Realism? Narcissistic Mania of the Unheeded Soul in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray

Cited by 3 publications

References 10 publications

An Orchestration of Narcissistic Expressions in John Osborne’s The Picture of Dorian Gray -A Moral Entertainment: A Reflection on Kohutian Self Psychology Psychoanalysis

An Orchestration of Narcissistic Expressions in John Osborne’s The Picture of Dorian Gray -A Moral Entertainment: A Reflection on Kohutian Self Psychology Psychoanalysis

Oscar Wilde’s Multiple Appeals Revealed in the Male Characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray

If Looks Could Kill: Looking Through the Artist’s Lenses in Oscar Wilde’s the Picture of Dorian Gray (1891)

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