Mr. Hunter English Lit. 1-2A, per.

7 11 March 2011 The World Stage The enlightened poet Shakespeare once said, All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. Oscar Wilde puts this phrase into action fa mously in his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray. Throughout this timeless s tory, the metaphor of the theater is used to describe certain events, such as th e death of a major character. However, the symbolism of theater is also used ver y subtly, and can create the feel that theater and art are substitutes for life. The Picture of Dorian Gray uses theater as a strong metaphor for actual events in the story, suggesting that life is a stage, and each person is just an actor. The first way theater is used to symbolize events is through death, most notably the death of Sibyl Vane. When Sibyl dies, Dorian does not feel much rea l pity or sadness for her loss. Instead, Dorian compares Sibyl s passing to a mere death of the stage, calling the lonely death a strange fragment from some Jacobean tragedy (75). Dorian is clearly unaffected by the passing of his so-called lover , urging his friend Lord Henry, don t waste your tears over Sibyl Vane, (75) and exp laining that she was less real than [fictional Shakespeare heroines] (75). Sibyl i s not even as a real person to Dorian; merely an actress who he finds to be gorg eous. Wilde writes, [Sibyl] had often mimicked death on the stage. Then Death him self had touched her, and taken her with him (77). While slightly troubling, comp arisons like Sibyl s demise to a wonderful ending of a wonderful play (73) are what set Dorian Gray aside from any other novel. Like death, love is another aspect of Dorian Gray strengthened by symbol ism of the theater. After Dorian first kisses Sibyl, he describes the experience to Lord Henry in a theatrical way. Dorian explains how he had had the arms of Ro salind around me, and kissed Juliet on the mouth (55). The love of Dorian and Sib yl was possibly so short-lived because it was never real, only seen as a play. D orian tells of his love for Sibyl to Lord Henry after the two are to be engaged, saying that when she comes on the stage you will have a new ideal of life (58). D orian is enamored with the way Sibyl portrays herself onstage. He appears to hav e no real knowledge of who Sibyl really is as a person. Dorian explains his moti ves of love to Lord Henry after seeing Sibyl act. Though speaking dramatically, Dorian tells Henry he wants to make Romeo jealous (40). He asks Basil and Lord Hen ry to come with me one night and see her act (40), as opposed to something like a dinner or get-together at someone s house. From the start, Dorian had his eye set on a thespian, not a real woman per se. The final theater symbol of Dorian Gray is women and drama. Throughout t he novel, women are viewed negatively, from Lord Henry s negative remarks about ma rriage to Dorian s viewing Sibyl as just a Juliet or Imogen type character. Lord H enry even calls women charmingly artificial, and having no sense of art (74). Henry speaks to Dorian about how women never know when the curtain has fallen, (74) refe rring to how women never seem to know when a situation is over with, and always w ant a sixth act, (74), wanting something like love to continue on even though it is over. Lord Henry continues, discussing with Dorian about how the world would be, if [women] were allowed on their own (74). Henry speculates that every comedy w ould have a tragic ending, and every tragedy would culminate in a farce (74). A n egative light is often shed on women in this story, one of many ways the author is able to inject periodical bias on characters and dialogue. Theater is essentially just dramatic literature that has come to life th rough the words and actions of actors and actresses. Theater and literature are so closely related that few novels have come to connect the two like in Dorian G ray. Looking at the world from a theatrical perspective can give a larger-than-l ife feel, but leaves real human values at stake. Dorian Gray s fictional stage-wor ld may seem extravagant, filled with the pleasures of a hedonistic lifestyle, bu t in the end human morals are sacrificed for the sake of art. Oscar Wilde feels no remorse doing this, making his ever-youthful character Dorian Gray the handso me devil that is so often personified in theater and literature.