The Picture of Dorian Gray and Reader-Response Theory
In this short essay, I pointed out how The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde can be used to explain for Reader-Response theory.
This short novel stirred within me many ideas and insights. The first thing I should mention is artistic creation. The story begins with a conversation between Harry and Basil. Basil was an artist and told Harry he had found his muse for drawing—a young, beautiful man he had just met. The man in question was Dorian Gray. After Basil finished his portrait of Dorian Gray, he confessed to Harry, indicating he did not want to get it exhibited to the public, for he revealed himself too much in his creation. The portrait was not the Dorian Gray himself alone, but the painter also existed in the portrait. This idea bears a resemblance to a modern theory of literature: Reader-Response theory. The theory posits that readers play an important role in the interpretation of a book; their interpretations stem from not only the book per se but also from themselves. Dorian Gray is like a literary text and Basil is a reader. Dorian Gray remained the same, but different painters would arrive at their unique portrait of Dorian Gray. This is the same in the case of literary texts. It is still the same literary text, but different readers, at different times and places, understand it differently. Perhaps, the following quote in the story can best summarize this.
"every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter. The sitter is merely the accident, the occasion. It is not he who is revealed by the painter; it is rather the painter who, on the coloured canvas, reveals himself. The reason I will not exhibit this picture is that I am afraid that I have shown in it the secret of my own soul."
Another interesting point is the changes in the portrait. Dorian Gray then fell in love with an actress at a theatre, but when their love was about to fully ripen, the actress upset Dorian Gray because of her bad acting. He expressed his disappointment to her and put an end to their relationship. He was later informed that the girl took her own life. At this point, he noticed that there was a slight change in the portrait of himself. A feeling of evil emerged on his lips. One may question whether the portrait changed or not, but I shall highlight that it was Dorian Gray who has changed. The change within himself distorted his appreciation of the portrait. This is also in alignment with the theory of literature. Any change in readers, times, or places shall alter their interpretation of the text [1]. The onlooker changes; their interpretation follows.
One may argue that my second point is not convincing in the aspect that Dorian Gray maintained his beauty and youth, whereas the portrait became old and wicked. I admit that my interpretation can not fully explain the magical aspect of the story. Still, I felt that there was a connection or resemblance between the story put forward by Oscar Wilde and reader-response theory.
04/01/2025
[1] Rosenblatt, L. M. (1994). The reader, the text, the poem: The transactional theory of the literary work. Southern Illinois University Press. (Original work published in 1978)