Memory And Forgetting In Oscar Wilde's, The Picture Of Dorian Gray (Essay Sample)

Student’s Name Professor’s Name Course Title Due Date Memory And Forgetting In Oscar Wilde’s, The Picture Of Dorian Gray Counselors advise people to forgive other people who wrong them to help them heal and ultimately forget about them. The adage "forgive and forget" famously apply in such situations. People given such advice repeatedly observe that a person can certainly not disremember because reminiscences always trail them. According to Cuddy and Larry (415), forgetting denotes the deceptive loss or alteration of information previously determined and kept in a person's long-term memory. Individuals cannot avoid recollections from their former livelihoods or relive them. Perpetrators of heinous acts are followed by their deeds to a state of detesting them and trying to forget their past. The attempts can be in vain when people fail to realize their mistakes and forgive themselves. The paper presents an assessment memory and forgetting using Oscar Wilde’s, The Picture of Dorian Gray. In Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, the leading personality finds the lack of memory to be exclusively possible. According to Wilde (12), forgiveness is always elusive. He asserts that although forgiveness was unattainable, forgetfulness was conceivable still to those resolute towards forgetting. In Wilde’s text, Dorian reflects on himself as he travels to a distant place in London for an opium retreat. The place represented a secret aspect of the nineteenth century (Wilde 189). After the demise of Sibyl Vane as well as his portrait starting to change, Dorian explores the available approaches to escape reality, his life, and individualism. Throughout the text, Dorian partakes in luxury, in his belongings as well as actions, as he tries to overlook his previous immoralities and through a veil on his remorseful conscience. Trying to maim his memory so that he fails to make a recollection of what he did in the past (Wilde 190). The disastrous process of lack of memory arises when Dorian’s depiction is first modified following the bereavement of Sibyl Vane. When he covers the photograph using a posh, attractive screen represents the array Dorian creates for himself. He starts using extravagant acquisitions and activities to divert himself and his conscience from his previous wickedness. Wilde (99) reveals that the screen was an ancient one made of a golden Spanish pelt, printed and wrought using a fairly fancy Louis Quatorze design. Additionally, the author states that he scanned it inquiringly, doubting whether it had hidden the surreptitiousness of a gentleman’s life. The use of a beautiful ornate screen shows the character’s attempts to reflect and illuminate their best livelihoods with any means and conceal their dark lives (Wilde 121). Therefore, the screen screeches luxury and wealth which Dorian misuses to avoid developing a reflection of the picture, which forms the factual exemplification of his personality and character (Wilson 39). The constant reflection is an important facet of developing an individual’s sense of character. To avoid all the reflections, Dorian uses the wealth and extravagance to shield and forget his past activities (Haslam 310). According to Wilde (131), the development of the lack of memory through extravagance carries on through the ensuing years of Dorian’s lifetime. As Dorian darts from one deluxe livelihood to another in ceaseless through ineffective attempts of evading recollections from his past activities (Dunn 223). Wilde writes that the participation in various extravagant interests make him desire more and try to forget himself. The more Dorian recognized and learned new things and developed an extra desire to comprehend more. Additionally, he developed infuriated pangs of hunger that became more insatiable as he nourished them (Wilde 132). When people try to forget about themselves, the generation of an unquenchable enthusiasm for pleasure eats up one’s being as they relentlessly seek a new description of themselves through such actions in order to evade an inner replication of themselves. People choose various activities in their attempts to forget or impede their remembrances. Their choices to chase are many and opulent. The activities can be far-fetched for the individuals. According to Wilde (134) Dorian would study fragrances, and the mysteries surrounding their production, extracting deeply aromatic emollients and burning redolent latexes from the East. Additionally, he would dedicate himself completely to music in a latticed apartment, with a gold-plated ceiling and green polish walls (Dunn 220). Other indulgences to aid in his forgetfulness were diverse studies of jewels and featuring in Admiral France (Wilde 136-138). The hobbies chosen are hollow and incomplete. The choice of words by Wilde helps describe how Dorian changes from one action to another occasion as he seeks to forget the self-representation in the photograph (Lorang 25). The activities he undertakes can certainly not change that fact, which explains why he hopped from one hobby to another in very short durations (Wilson 33). Also, Dorian knew that the activities could not offer everything he sought such as coziness, repudiation, and forgetfulness (Haslam 309). Every activity he chose indicate wealth and represented the extravagance in Dorian’s livelihood. It is properties and accomplishments like these referred by Lord Henry when he articulates that Dorian has whatever people may wish to have. It is, however, false since Dorian had money but lacked the simple emotional cravings of a human being such as love, approval, and individuality (Lorang 25). People have various intentions when they try to change and forget their past. For instance, Dorian attempts to generate a false intellect of using his indulgence, as he strains to disremember his former injustices and change to become somebody else (Ekici 17). Conversely, this cannot be achieved because he carries on making similar wicked choices such as applying his influence awfully over others as well as selfishly ignoring the wellbeing of others (Wilde 117). Additionally, he allows his photograph and his personality, become dreadful and uglier (Dunn 220). Therefore, the attempts he makes are all in vain as he fights to overlook his former livelihood, he too embraces it since he recaps it over and again. The doings are approaches to escape the ugly realism momentarily. Marez in “The Other Addict,” put emphases on the role of the opium in Wilde’s text. He asserts that ultimately, both the opium and the non-western art attend a similar resolution for Dorian, recurrently permitting him to circumvent his former life (Marez 277). The activities provide one with approaches to dodging the reminiscence of what they have done. Nonetheless, he can certainly not escape them since he carries on acting similarly to what he did in the past. The activities prompt him of the disreputable condition of his personality (Haslam 313). When people try to forget about themselves the creation of an unquenchable enthusiasm for pleasure eats up one’s being as they relentlessly seek a new description of themselves through such actions in order to evade an inner replication of themselves. According to Wilde (188), the failure in these actions to attain lack of memory indicates that Dorian’s participation in the opium act in London, which likewise signifies his yearning to disremember his former life. Additionally, it shows his wish to escape from his true character. The opium fails to make him completely overlook what he had completed and who he was becoming (Wilson 45). Dorian’s selection to attend the opium retreat validates his cognizant attentiveness of his struggles to disremember the past. As Wilde writes, soon before Dorian reaches at the opium retreat after murdering Basil. The opium-retreats could purchase oblivion. For instance, the dens of revulsion, where the reminiscence of deep-rooted iniquities could be demolished by the insanity of evils that were novel (Wilde 189). In this case, Dorian goes to acquire opium for the obvious resolution of disremembering himself. It makes it clear to the audiences that he understands that his deeds are wrong, and wishes to rescind all reminiscence of it (Ekici 14). In this logic, Dorian derives his reliance on opium. Similarly other addicts try the same in their quest to evade for a short time from the certainty created in their lives. According to Marez (281), Wilde twisted Dorian’s compulsion into a kind of smoke shade, creating the opium retreat as a sphere of enslavement. His claim that what is passed is done and what is ancient is passed prompted by the horrific changes in Dorian. Basil faults Lord Henry for his callous insolence. Certainly, in debating about Sibyl’s bereavement, Dorian applies many expressions and wiles that Lord Henry favors and induces a comparable air of genuine composure (Marez 281) According to Beckson (45), Dorian desires the opium in attempts to disremember himself. Deprived of it, he had to exist continually with the understanding of his deeds. He finds it unmanageable since he fails to face himself. Additionally, he fails to accept the destiny of the personality that is replicated to him by his portrait (Naratri 23). Trying to rescind his reminiscences he can certainly not abolish his memories which are accurately exemplified by the existence of Adrian Singleton. According to Wilde (192), the Adrian Singleton was the young gentleman Dorian corrupted and influenced at the opium retreat. Upon meeting Adrian, Dorian contemplates that memory, similar to an atrocious disorder, was troubling his personality (Alderson 310). His presence bothered him. He desired to go to a new location where no one would recognize him and associate himself with his past deeds. According to Wilde (193) he wanted to evade from livelihood. Dorian trusts that reminiscence is the reason...