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Beauty In Basil Hallward's The Picture Of Dorian Gray

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Thousands upon thousands of definitions exist for the concept of beauty. Beauty is the materialization of the good in life that we react to with love and compassion; beauty is the idea of certain objective features of the world that generates an elated sentiment. There is no one definition of beauty. Beauty can be both happy and sad, and it can also be ugly – it all depends on who’s judging. The subject matter does not determine anything. It is the percipient that determines all. In the case of the female aesthetic beauty, because beauty is a subjective matter defined by the eyes of the beholders, it does not contain a finite definition. Everyone possesses the means to develop his/her own opinion on a matter based on their individual tastes, and these tastes are constantly influenced by third party sources. Beauty is subjective, therefore there cannot be a single …show more content…

These preferences are developed in a person through the experiences that one has had. In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Basil Hallward, an artist, paints a portrait of Dorian Gray, portraying his perception of Dorian. Basil, however wishes for this picture to be admired in private because he is "afraid that [he has] shown in it the secret of [his] own soul" (Wilde 7). He later reveals to the object of his painting: "Dorian, from the moment I met you, your personality had the most extraordinary influence over me… When you were away… you were still present in my art…” (Wilde 117). Basil admits that he idolised Dorian obsessively due to his desperation in this unrequited love. This love for Dorian was represented in his art as youthful beauty; yet this is only seen by Basil, as it is solely him such a position. Based on their tastes affected by their experiences, each subject individual possesses the ability to develop their own

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