The Picture of Dorian Gray: by Oscar Wilde | Complete and Unabridged Edition

Dorian Gray embodies the archetype of the modern man, seduced by appearance and the ephemeral, obsessed by the quest for eternal youth and superficial beauty* This quest, devoid of any spiritual and transcendent dimension, inevitably leads him to his own decline* This perspective would highlight the idolatry of illusion and matter, seeing in Dorian a symbol of man disconnected from his true nature, stuck in the reign of quantity and appearances*

Wilde’s work depicts a world where traditional values are overturned, where vice is celebrated and virtue ridiculed, a world that could be considered the ultimate expression of Western decadence* The painting, mirror of Dorian’s soul, becomes a demonic artifact, an inversion of traditional symbols where the self-image, instead of reflecting an inner reality, hides and distorts this reality*

The figure of Lord Henry, Dorian’s cynical mentor, is another anchor point for this criticism* His hedonism and nihilism embody the anti-traditional spirit that perverts young minds and diverts them from the path of wisdom* Lord Henry is the archetype of the modern sophist, manipulator of truth and corrupter of the soul, a role often attributed to intellectuals of the time, seen as agents of ignorance and spiritual disorientation*

In short, ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ is a modern parable that could be interpreted as a warning against the dangers of self-forgetfulness and the foolish quest for physical immortality* Wilde’s novel, under a critical pen of decadent modernity, would become a denunciation and an invocation to the rediscovery of eternal truths and forgotten spiritual values*