Dorian Gray: The False Façade of Beauty

A famous biblical quote (found in Matthew 8:36) acts as a vivid theme in the film The Picture of Dorian Gray: “what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul.” The protagonist in the story, Dorian Gray, makes the wish to trade his soul for his youth, after he views the splendor and purity in his portrait, painted by Basil Hallward. As Gray keeps his childlike face, the portrait slowly warps, revealing his sin, age, and true soul. During the film, innocent blood is often shed, staining Gray’s hands, one example is Gray’s fiancée’s suicide due to rejection. Gray plummets into a downward spiral of hedonism, including drinking and lustful actions. Even as rumors spread about Gray’s actions, his youthfulness and innocent beauty remains untouched by age or sin. However, the painting of Gray becomes so grotesque that he locks it away—hiding his true soul from the world.

The theme is masterfully woven throughout the film: Gray’s wish was to keep his beauty; however, even though he maintains false façade of splendor, underneath his true soul is rotten to the core (as exhibited in the painting). With this knowledge haunting him, Gray reveals the painting to the original artist, Hallward, but by doing so he knows he may lose the one woman he truly cares about, Hallward’s niece Gladys. Hallward is so shocked by the portrait he tells Gray that if only Gladys could see the true man Gray is she would not love him, rather risking losing the woman he loves, Gray kills Hallward. Gray’s love for Gladys leads them to be engaged; however, he knows she doesn’t know the man he has become. Gray does what he calls his only good deed, and informs Gladys that he is not good enough for her love. After doing this, Gray gazes into the eyes of the painting and sees a faint light; however, he knows even if he changes his way of life his soul would still be staring at him revealing all the horrors of his life. He stabs the heart of the painting and as a result, his life is also taken. As he lies on the floor, dead, Gladys and friends finally see Gray as the man that was masked over the years—the aged, sinful man that he truly was.

The theme of hiding true evil with a façade of beauty presents irony when Gray attempts to physically hide the portrait in his childhood schoolroom. This irony is exhibited after Sybil’s suicide and the picture begins to deform. The dimly lit room playroom is full of toys and books from his youth. As the shrouded picture is brought into the room, the dark covering over the deformed picture contrasts the aerie toys and books that encompass the room. All the innocent symbols and memories from his childhood: a wooden horse, toy blocks, and a Little Boy Blue banner now became the companions for his dark soul. Although Gray physically hid his soul, he could not hide his true evilness. Later in the film he kills Hallward in this very room and wipes the blood off his hands with the Little Boy Blue banner. As Gray stands in solitude he looks forward to a life of eternal youth since the picture is now hidden; however, he is caught in an evil destiny that will eventually lead to his demise.