Extended Essays 2021

soul decays through his devious exploits, while his body remains unaffected. Therefore, the

portrait is a symbolic and aesthetic re-enactment of Transub stantiation, where Christ’s body

and blood is substituted with the artwork.

Wilde establishes this dichotomy of Dorian Gray’s body and soul, through juxtaposition in

the form of beauty to contrast the differences between Gray’s human form and his illustr ated

counterpart. Initially, the portrait depicts Dorian Gray exactly as he is; ‘ a young man of extraordinary personal beauty ’ 27 . Throughout the novel, the portrait transforms gradually in

response to both age and sin. For example, the inception of degradat ion to Gray’s soul occurs

following his abandonment of Sibyl Vane leaving her heart-broken and suicidal. When he returns home, he notices that the portrait’s ‘…expression looked different’ 28 and now held ‘…a touch of cruelty in the mouth’ 29 . These more minor sins alter the appearance of the

portrait slightly each time, slowly diverging the image of Dorian Gray’s soul from its original

being. However, b y the conclusion of the story and subsequent to Gray’s murder of Basil Hallward, the portrait had become a ‘foul parody’ 30 of what it had once been, with ‘…red dew that gleamed, wet and glistening, on one of the hands, as though the canvas had sweated blood… ’ 31 . The ‘red dew’ , being symbolic of blood, acts as an intensified and stark

representation of Dorian Gray’s corrupted soul, because it has arisen from the most severe

action which he undertook; murder. Furthermore, in considering the aesthetic value of both

the portrait and Dorian Gray without reference to theology, the artwork would be considered

to progressively become more disfigured while Gray, as a whole, remains beautiful. Wilde

has achieved this by having Dorian Gray detect and report on the horrific changes, creating

and solidifying an image of disgust to the reader and perpetuating the contrasting image of

Dorian Gray’s body and soul.

However, when the religious concept of Transubstantiation is applied, the portrait assumes a

corporeal representation of the incompatibility of Dorian Gray’s body and soul and is

symbolic of the Eucharist in an opposing manner. The Eucharist, in the form of bread and

wine, represents Christ as a whole and the components which operate to achieve this are

27 P.5, Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray 28 P.87, Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray 29 P.87, Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray 30 P.149, Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray 31 P.165, Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

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