Analysis of Myth Prototype Inthe Picture of Dorian Gray
开篇：润墨网以专业的文秘视角，为您筛选了一篇Analysis of Myth Prototype Inthe Picture of Dorian Gray范文，如需获取更多写作素材，在线客服老师一对一协助。欢迎您的阅读与分享！
中图分类号： I106 文献标识码： A 文章编号：1672-1578（2012）11-0001-03
On October 16th， 1854， in Dublin was born one of the most remarkable and controversial figures in the history of English literatureor， indeed， of the literature of theworld： Oscar Wilde. He is the chief proponent of the aesthetic movement based on the principle of "art for art's sake"， and famous for his aesthetic ideas as well as his aesthetic way of life.
The playwright Oscar Wilde's creation in his articles influenced by the classical mythology profoundly. In a sense， his only novel The picture of dorian gray is more like a beautiful magical myth and legend， the weird idea of this story make the readers immersed in a magical world full of ancient Greek mythological figures. This essay attempts to analyseThe Picture of Dorian Gray and exploit the characters' inner world from the perspective of myth archetypal criticism. Archetypal literary criticism is a type of critical theory that interprets a text by focusing on recurring myths and archetypes in the narrative， symbols， images， and character types in a literary work.（Abrams224）For the purpose of thorough understanding of the universal complex human nature， it gives a multiple perspective on the three main characters in this story. They are Dorian Gray， Lord Henry Wotton， and the painter Basil Hallward.
1 Dorian Gray――contradictory Faust and arrogant Narcissus
1.1The prototype of contradictory Faust
Goethe's Faust is based on the fable of the man whosurrenders moralintegrityand makes a bargain withthe DevilMephistophelein order to achieve power and success. Mephistopheles will serve Faust with his magic powers for a term of years， but at the end of the term， the Devil will claim Faust's soul and Faust will be eternally damned. Mephistopheles helps him to seduce a beautiful and innocent girl named Margaret，and destroys her faith and moral support through his own moral ambivalence. Margaret's brother condemns Faust， challenges him and falls dead at the hands of Faust and Mephistopheles， however， he has gotten loss of humanity and conscience， ultimately been destroyed and hand over his own life to the Devil. （ E.A.Bucchianeri79） the main character Dorian Gray， a gorgeous young thing， in The Picture of Dorian Gray is indeed a resurrection of myth prototype Faust.
The Picture of Dorian Gray starts on a beautiful day with Lord Henry Wotton observing the artist Basil Hallward painting the portrait of a handsome young man named Dorian Gray. Dorian arrives later and meets Wotton. After hearing Lord Henry's world view， Dorian begins to think beauty is the only worthwhile aspect of life， the only thing left to pursue.
Under the influence of Lord Henry. Dorian begins to explore his senses. He discovers actress Sibyl Vane， who performs Shakespeare in a dingy theatre. Dorian approaches her and soon proposes marriage. Dorian invites Basil and Lord Henry to see Sibyl perform in Romeo and Juliet. But everything changes one night when Dorian Gray saw Sybil's bad performance he was disappointed and decided to leave， Sybil could not live with it and committed suicide. Suddenly one day Dorian Gray realized that his portrait was changing， but Dorian Gray did not suffer any change， so he put the portrait in a safe place to avoid the other discovering his secret. One day Basil realized the secret of Dorian Gray， Dorian could not resist and kill him.
Thus passed the time， Dorian was already very tired of his life and realized his various crimes， he really wanted to change so decided to destroy the portrait， so Dorian took the knife that killed Basil and went against the portrait， in the end the portrait back to its original form but Dorian Gray was dead. Faust and Dorian are respectively under the lure of Devil Mephistopheles and lord Henry， both for the satisfaction of their personal desire. These two books have in common in the plot， both the protagonists have fallen in love with a beautiful innocent woman， eventually leading to a tragedy of her whole family. In the end of their lives， both of them woke up and liberated their souls，. To some extent， there exists stunning likenesses between these two masterpieces.（绿原245）
1.2 The prototype of arrogantNarcissus
Narcissus， inGreek mythology was a hunter from the territory of Thespiae in Boeotia who was renowned for his beauty. He was exceptionally proud， in that he disdained those who loved him.A nymph named Echowas also rejected ruthlessly. Nemesis saw this and attracted Narcissus to a pool where he saw his own reflection in the waters and fell in love with it， not realizing it was merely an image. Unable to leave the beauty of his reflection， Narcissus died.
The narcissistic passion as the distinguishing feature in Wilde's beauty-seeking can be detected in the novel. Dorian is so indulgent in his own beauty that "in boyish mockery of Narcissus， he had kissed or feigned to kiss those painted lips… morning after morning he sat before the portrait，".（OscarWilde18） The fanatical prayer brings to life a youth who succumbs to self idolatry. Sharing with his character the narcissistic complex， Oscar Wilde the creator presents himself to the world as a brilliantly talented writer. Besides， Wilde is never one to lose the opportunity of recycling those well-turned phrases and remarks invented by himself. In many of his works， words and phrases made by him are found to be copied repeatedly just because he prefers his own used words to others'.
Narcissus's death was caused by his falling in love with his own shadow， and Dorian died for the pure beauty and supreme arts as he pursued. Both of their deaths were related to their beauty. Dorian's portrait is like Narcissus's shadow that reflected in the lake. Compared with the young face of Dorian that has never changed， both the distorted portrait and Dorian's mind are like two mirrors， both of them are much too ugly. Ultimately， beauty is not the honor Dorian can be proud of， on the contrary， it has becomes his heavy psychological burden. Therefore Dorian decides to destroy his own portrait with the dagger， and killed himself as a result.
2 Lord Henry――devil Satan and cynical Momus
2.1 The prototype of Devil Satan
Dorian is often confused and manic， on the contrary， the lord Henry is always observing things around with the elegant wisdom calmly. He is like the Demon Satan， in the Garden of Eden. His words can always be direct and incisive： "Nothing can cure the soul but the senses， just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul". The true mystery of the world is the visible， not the invisible…"（Oscar Wilde9）He always takes a different view.
He lures the pure Dorian Gray with his mysterious magnetic voice. As a result， the original sin in the Garden of Eden comes to be realities in our human society. Similarly， Lord Henry reveals to people the secret deep in the heart directly and exactly. What Satan has done violates the original sin， but has not stolen the forbidden fruits himself.
Lord Henryhas polished Dorian's eyes of desire， gives hands to this youth to practise the life style he has never involved in. When he finds Dorian， he finds the perfect vehicle to release his suppressed Id， therefore， he values Dorian far more than anyone else. Thereupon， Henry always teaches him tirelessly， because he wants to influence him gradually. Henry excitedly watches the every step Dorian has walked out， just as Satan laughs in his sleeve and hides behind the tree of good and evil. Though he is quite a cynical person， he still act as a normal one and have someone to marry.
2.2 The prototype of cynical Momus
The way Henry behaves is reminiscent of Momus， the God of mockery in ancient Greek mythology. Lord Henry has realized the aspiration that Momus wants to learn the secrets of the human. As Momus is brave to accused the God's fault， Henry has given spicy sarcasm to the hypocrisy of society and humanity with humorous and rebellious language.
In the eyes of the world， Wilde is expert in making use of the division between interpreted language and practical actions to analyse the hypocrisy of Victoria time. In a sense， Lord Henry is a fake moral rebellion， though he awaken the readers again and again to re-examine the souls in his discourses.Once Lord Henry talks about the marriage with the painter Basil Hallward， and the painter expresses his dissatisfaction with the words that ：" I believe that you are really a very good husband， but that you are thoroughly ashamed of your own virtues. You are an extraordinary fellow. You never say a moral thing， and you never do a wrong thing. Your cynicism is simply a pose."（Oscar Wilde 6）
Momus' requirements has revealed the desire of mankind for thousands of years， nevertheless， until now people haven't looked into their own hearts. As Wilde said that the minds of most people are not their own， their minds are from the others'， their lives are just kinds of limitation， even their passion are from the others. Lord Henry stands in front of the time， always shouts to people that how Momus mocked Zeus with cynical attitudes and critical thinking. Furthermore， he hangs his bleeding heart in front of the world.
3 Basil Hallward――saviourJesus and sculptor Pygmalion
3.1 The prototype of saviour Jesus
Basil Hallward is a talented， though somewhat conventionally minded， painter. It's definitely right that Basil Hallward reappears the image of great saviour Jesus in the country of arts. indeed， it defines a new school of expression for him. Basil’s portrait of Dorian marks a new phase of his career. Once he has painted Dorian as he truly is， however， he fears that he has put too much of himself into the work. When Lord Henry asks the reason why he won't exhibit the portrait， he is in distress.
When one day Basil has seen the soul of Dorian from a completely different portrait， the cry of terror broke from the painter's lipsas he saw in the dim light the hideous face on the canvas grinning at him. However， no matter what he has seen， the most urgent thing for the painter to do is self-reflection and then help his friend to get rehabilitation：
"'Lead us not into temptation. Forgive us our sins. Wash away our iniquities.' Let us say that together. The prayer of your pride has been answered. The prayer of your repentance will be answered also. I worshipped you too much. I am punished for it. You worshipped yourself too much. We are both punished." （Oscar Wilde158）
Dorian's ignorant and evil soul has never listen to the appeal of Jesus， but it has received Henry's instructions.Dorian's marvellous soul eventually defeated by the painter's persistence and holy beliefs that rely on the support of his life alone. What the young beauty merely can do is to pull out his ugly soul from the portrait so that the soul pursuing the eternal arts of the saviourHallward will finally achieve its resurrection in his own creation.
3.2 The prototype of sculptor Pygmalion
In ancient Greek mythology， Pygmalion was a famous sculptor. He created a statue， so lovely an ivory maiden that he could not help falling love with his own masterpiece. Similarly， the painter Hallward also madly fell in love with his portrait. Though he later changes his mind to believe that art is always more abstract than one thinks and that the painting thus betrays nothing except form and color， his emotional investment in Dorian remains constant. He seeks to protect Dorian， voicing his objection to Lord Henry’s injurious influence over Dorian and defending Dorian even after their relationship has clearly dissolved. Basil's commitment to Dorian reveals the genuineness of his love for his favorite subject and his concern for the safety and salvation of Dorian’s soul. Both Pygmalion and Hallward have obtain the perfect realization of their dream， become the founder of their own arts， and devote themselves into the artistic works. The reason why Hallward is so obsessed with Dorian is that this young man is a perfect unity of Greek spirit and the physical beauty. Basil says to Lord Henry：
"Dorian Gray is to me simply a motive in art. You might see nothing in him. I see everything in him. He is never more present in my work than when no image of him is there. He is a suggestion， as I have said， of a new manner. I find him in the curves of certain lines， in the loveliness and subtleties of certain colours. That is all." （Oscar Wilde 16）
As for the painter，Dorian Gray is"a fresh school， a school that is to have in it all the passion of the romantic spirit， all the perfection of the spirit that is Greek. The harmony of soul and body―how much that is！"（Oscar Wilde16）The emotional dedication and persistence of both Pygmalion and Hallward are from the pursuit and obsession of art and beauty. They have stood on the position of the founder of arts， have the right to own so extraordinary love that anyone else cannot match.
4 Conclusions
The ancient myths are on people's lips many years for the function of being the original power to explore the human nature， which has spreaded the complete basic human emotions and experiences. With the profound background of ancient Greek mythology， Wilde explains just like this： the last secret is people himself， even if， he had put the sun on the scale， and also had calculated how the moon is motion， even mark the seven layers planet by planet， but on the earth there still exist the trajectory of their own souls people can not calculate.We standon the God' s side， and also observe the earth with the eyes of the God， so that we can be able to measure the humble people in a related human nature， learn its disadvantages and discover the shackles that bound our nature.（Fraze， JawesG151）Thus， obtain the better understanding of possible existence of complex human nature and its forming motives. Therefore， the purpose of the criticism of "myth-prototype" is to put a literary work into the literary tradition and literature in general， and understand its unique background and the corresponding location. This kind of criticism is not limited in studying of the text and researching the author any more， but extended to the field of anthropology and culture， tring to give literature a complete and comprehensive explanation. With this approach， the readers can learn the literary works from a broader perspective， ultimately， get a more profound and objective evaluation.
Works cited：
[1]Abrams， M. H."ArchetypalCriticism"A Glossary of Literary Terms[J]. Fort Worth： HBJ， 1993.
[2]E.A. Bucchianeri."Faust" My Soul be Damned for the World[M].Batalha Publishers.2010.
[3]Fraze， Jawes G. "AStudy in Magic and Religion"TheGolden Bough[M].A bridged ediLlotn.New York； The MucmillunCc.，1940.
[4]Hazard Adams，ed. Critical Theory Since Plato[M]. New York： Harcourt BraceJovanovich，1971.
[5]Wilde， Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray[M].青岛：青岛出版社，2003.
[6]歌德・浮士德[M].绿原.译.北京：人民文学出版社，1994。
[7]王尔德.王尔德自传[M].团结出版社.
作者简介：陈燕琼，女，乐山师范学院外国语学院讲师，硕士研究生，研究方向为英美文学。