The Picture of Dorian Gray: by Oscar Wilde | Complete and Unabridged Edition

Dorian Gray embodies the archetype of the modern man, seduced by appearance and the ephemeral, obsessed by the quest for eternal youth and superficial beauty· This quest, devoid of any spiritual and transcendent dimension, inevitably leads him to his own decline· This perspective would highlight the idolatry of illusion and matter, seeing in Dorian a symbol of man disconnected from his true nature, stuck in the reign of quantity and appearances·

Wilde's work depicts a world where traditional values are overturned, where vice is celebrated and virtue ridiculed, a world that could be considered the ultimate expression of Western decadence· The painting, mirror of Dorian's soul, becomes a demonic artifact, an inversion of traditional symbols where the self-image, instead of reflecting an inner reality, hides and distorts this reality·

The figure of Lord Henry, Dorian's cynical mentor, is another anchor point for this criticism· His hedonism and nihilism embody the anti-traditional spirit that perverts young minds and diverts them from the path of wisdom· Lord Henry is the archetype of the modern sophist, manipulator of truth and corrupter of the soul, a role often attributed to intellectuals of the time, seen as agents of ignorance and spiritual disorientation·

In short, 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' is a modern parable that could be interpreted as a warning against the dangers of self-forgetfulness and the foolish quest for physical immortality· Wilde's novel, under a critical pen of decadent modernity, would become a denunciation and an invocation to the rediscovery of eternal truths and forgotten spiritual values·