A paragraph-length analysis on "The Picture of Dorian Gray"

      At first glance, Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray" might appear as a book influenced by many stereotypes. Among them, a certain stereotype on artists seem to tempt Oscar Wilde into making fun of the lives that artists living in the Victorian age were assumed to lead. After all, when Dorian Grey discusses Sybil Vane’s death with Basil Hallward, he makes a statement that depends on a stereotype regarding actors. Dorian Gray states that “They are good husbands, or faithful wives, or something tedious”. This statement shows that he has certain expectations of how an actor/actress would lead his/her life. Moreover, he brands the expected life style as “tedious” and goes on to refer to such a lifestyle as “middle-class virtue, and all that kind of thing”. These statements imply that he looks down upon the lifestyle of actors and that he expects other gentlemen—men who are distinguished by birth and upbringing—to share such an attitude. However, Dorian Grey’s opinion on the supposed lifestyle of actors/actresses is not exclusively expressed with regards to Sybil Vane, but is rather applied in general to people other than the aristocrats—the gentlemen and the ladies. In various occasions—especially at dinner meetings—Dorian Grey, Lord Henry, or others invited to the meeting would make negative comments on the middle-class and the working class. To present a different example, Mr. Ashton, one of the few characters who are not from a noble background and yet commands a certain level of respect from aristocrats, is also branded in a similar way as Sybil Vane is. Nonetheless, Lord Henry applies the ‘middle-class stereotype’ on Basil Hallward—a gentleman with an Oxford education—when he states to Dorian Grey, “Don’t squander the gold of your days, listening to the tedious”. Therefore, it is perhaps more accurate to assume that Oscar Wilde wished to ridicule people with a certain lifestyle, rather than people with a certain occupation or people from a certain social class. In this sense, the constantly reappearing stereotype of artists does not imply more significance of artists but implies that artists typically fall into the category of people with the lifestyle branded with tediousness.