Allusions and Mythical Elements in The Picture of Dorian Gray

  

          An allusion is a direct reference to persons, places, and things from history, myths, and legends. It helps to reveal more about the characters and the actions that take place in the novel. While The Picture of Dorian Gray is a work created in the mind of Oscar Wilde, many aspects of the story have been borrowed from other texts. This is not unusual in the world of literature. When someone reads a fantastic piece, they may become inspired by it and rewrite it, adding their own twists and plots. Wilde uses a number of allusions and mythical elements and blends them perfectly in the novel. 

             In The Republic, Glaucon presents the myth of Gyges’ ring. This myth is presented in The Picture of Dorian Gray. This ring has the ability to make the wearer invisible. Socrates responded to this work and replies that even if no one can see one’s physical appearance, the soul is disfigured by the evils one commits. Therefore, the disfigured and unbalanced soul becomes undesirable. This is exactly what happens to Dorian – his physical appearance could never change, therefore, his soul could never truly be seen. His true appearance was not shown until his death. It is relvant because, by making Dorian eternally youthful and innocent in appearance, he may commit crimes with impunity, just as one could with Gyges’ ring.

             In one point in the story, Dorian attends a performance of Richard Wagner’s opera. The opera tells the story of a medieval singer, whose art is so beautiful that he causes Venus, the goddess of love, herself to fall in love with him, and offers him eternal life with her in the Venusberg. Dorian’s appearance was so beautiful that the artist Basil was inspired to re-create it in a portrait, which made his beauty undying.

           The poet is also inspired by The Faust Legend. However, unlike Faust, there is no point at which Dorian makes a deal with the devil. Lord Henry’s cynical outlook on life, and hedonistic nature seems to be in keeping with the idea of the devil’s role, that of the temptation of the pure and innocent qualities which Dorian exemplifies at the beginning of the book.

          Shakespeare is referenced in this novel at least three times. In the preface, Caliban, a character from Shakespeare’s play The Tempest, is referenced. Also, when Dorian is telling Lord Henry of his new “love” Sibyl, he refers to the Shakespearian plays she has been in, calling her the heroine in each play. Also, he pulls a quote from Hamlet and uses it to describe Dorian’s life.