The Tragedy Of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde, this Irish genius, for over a century, has always been the center of attraction for both art critics and curious readers. As the only novel of this brilliant playwright, The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of Wilde's most influential works. This thesis attempts to use the Freudian psychoanalytical theories, principally his assignment of the mental processes to three psychic zones: the id, the ego and the superego, to probe into the psychological value of this novel.Sigmund Freud has assigned human metal processes to three psychic zones: the id, the ego, and the superego, and the three major characters of this novel aptly correspond to the three zones. Lord Henry Wotton, a charming, witty, euphemistic Mephistopheles is the symbol of the id. His mischievous paradoxes, New Hedonism and the Philosophy of Pleasure are representative of the instinctive desires of the id, which acts upon the "pleasure principle". Basil Hallward is the symbol of the superego. He is kind and honest, endowed with a strong sense of morality and responsibility. Basil always warns Dorian about the evil influence from Lord Henry, trying to save him from continuous degradation. Basil acts upon the "morality principle". Dorian Gray is the symbol of the ego, which is hemmed in between the id and the superego. The ego acts upon the "reality principle", and it is the task of the ego to keep a balance between those opposing forces and maintain the individual healthy human being.The id is lawless, asocial and amoral, with the function to gratify our instincts for pleasure without regard for social conventions, legal ethics, or moral restraint. This vitality of the id is an indispensable force for the development of the individual and the society. But if unchecked, this force would lead us to any lengths, to destruction even self-destruction. The superego develops from the Oedipus complex, a product of socialization. Freud perceives that one way in which we cope with desires we cannot fulfill is by 'sublimating' them, which means directing them towards a more socially valued end. However, neither "devil" nor "angel" is what we are supposed to be. It is the ideal state that the three forces rest in perfect harmony. Dorian Gray, the ego failing in keeping harmony of the two opposing forces and submitting himself to the control of the id, can proceed to no other way but destruction and self-destruction.