It was Oscar Wilde who provided me with the first significant literary experience that I did not start reading because of the well-known school reason of "I must read it because it's compulsory." It was my father who handed me the story of ‘The Canterville Ghost
An excellent essay, Eszter. I agree with everything you've said, but perhaps I might be allowed to add another element, from the Jungian perspective, which I think complements rather than negates the analysis you've made here (which sounds quite like the work of von Franz). The painting could be seen as the embodiment of Dorian's Shadow, in the Jungian sense, and it is also his utter rejection of his inner ugliness, his unwillingness even to acknowledge it, that ultimately destroys him. In my opinion, this is not a fault of Wilde's, although he was certainly aware of his own tendency towards vanity and foolish beguilement by beauty. So in a therapeutic sense we could see Dorian as a depiction of Wilde's own Shadow, and it's his awareness of his own weaknesses that saves him (the author) morally, but of course not his character. I hope I'm not being presumptuous, as a layman, to offer psychoanalytical insights to a professional therapist!
It is an excellent comment! What you've added is indeed quite an interesting aspect. Writers really do write for their sanity, and in this case, for their salvation. Wilde is a really fascinating author to me; I love his works, and now you've given me a new perspective from which to revisit his works. Thank you!
You're welcome. Wilde was certainly a complicated, interesting man! As a fiction writer myself, I think that we all write for our salvation, really, at least all of us who do it seriously. It's a profoundly spiritual activity, whether you believe in God or not.
An excellent essay, Eszter. I agree with everything you've said, but perhaps I might be allowed to add another element, from the Jungian perspective, which I think complements rather than negates the analysis you've made here (which sounds quite like the work of von Franz). The painting could be seen as the embodiment of Dorian's Shadow, in the Jungian sense, and it is also his utter rejection of his inner ugliness, his unwillingness even to acknowledge it, that ultimately destroys him. In my opinion, this is not a fault of Wilde's, although he was certainly aware of his own tendency towards vanity and foolish beguilement by beauty. So in a therapeutic sense we could see Dorian as a depiction of Wilde's own Shadow, and it's his awareness of his own weaknesses that saves him (the author) morally, but of course not his character. I hope I'm not being presumptuous, as a layman, to offer psychoanalytical insights to a professional therapist!
It is an excellent comment! What you've added is indeed quite an interesting aspect. Writers really do write for their sanity, and in this case, for their salvation. Wilde is a really fascinating author to me; I love his works, and now you've given me a new perspective from which to revisit his works. Thank you!
You're welcome. Wilde was certainly a complicated, interesting man! As a fiction writer myself, I think that we all write for our salvation, really, at least all of us who do it seriously. It's a profoundly spiritual activity, whether you believe in God or not.