Shifting character: A Semiotic study on Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray
Abstract
Oscar
Wilde’s the Picture of Dorian Gray has famously known with its interesting
story. The story tells about the life of a beautiful man named Dorian Gray who
was adored by an artist and a good friend of Dorian, Basil. The story rises
when Basil painted a picture of Dorian and then Dorian praise the picture of
himself very much and plants a seed of greediness in Dorian’s heart to live
with his handsome face, like in the picture, and let the picture growing older
instead while he is forever young and handsome. Moreover, a friend of Basil,
Lord Henry, unintentionally met Dorian in Basil’s House. Henry soon interested
to Dorian then they become a very good friend. Unfortunately, the friendship
between Dorian and Lord Henry has changed Dorian into a cruel man unlike what he
used to be. There are many aspects in this story including homosexuality, on
how Basil and Henry love a guy instead of a girl, and semiotic aspect on the
symbol of the picture in presenting the other aspects. This article defines the
semiotics analysis on the picture that influence Dorian’s changing character. Basically,
there are several reasons affect Dorian’s shifting character such as sociology
aspect on Henry’s persuading and semiotic aspect on the existence of the
picture as the Dorian’s representation. But this study only focuses on the
semiotic aspect of the presence of the picture that influences the changing
character of Dorian.
Keywords: Dorian
Gray; Picture; Semiotic; Shifting character
Introduction
This study analyzes a novel entitle “the
picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde using semiotics theory that deals with
the interpretation of a symbol or sign in the story. Moreover, the study
focuses on the aspect of the changing character appeared in the story which is
influenced by the picture which is considered as the symbol that interpreted to
represent something else. The story of the picture of Dorian Gray tells about a
man, the main character in the story, named Dorian was painted by an artist, Basil.
It was a magical portrait that makes Dorian praise it very much. Until then the
picture reflect Dorian’s heart. Dorian was a good and kind man, until he met a
friend of Basil, Lord Henry, and change Dorian’s way of thought into wild and
cruel. Since then the picture grows older and looks worst when Dorian’s
character changes into a bad man. In the story it is said that the picture is
the artist’s soul and heart. Therefore this study analyzes on how the picture
of Dorian Gray can be considered as the representation of Dorian’s heart and
soul. Since, the picture of Dorian is identified as a symbol that represents
something beyond only a picture, heart and soul, this study is using semiotic approach
and theory.
Basically, semiotic is related with structuralism
(Carter.D. 2006) in which structuralism defines words into signifier and signified, langue and parole, etc. Saussure explains that words are arbitrary in which
there is no relation between the spoken words to name the thing with the thing
itself, so that naming things are just people’s convention. Moreover, in
relation with semiotic, structuralism sees and classifies the words into
signifier and signified. What is written or spoken is signifier and signified is
the term used to refer the concept of the thing in people’s mind. However, the
application of using the terms is not only in the language use but also the
sign or phenomenon such as the red color in the traffic light represents the
meaning that the cars must stop. However it only works in relation with the
context of traffic light and not to be interpreted in other general aspects (Carter.D.
2006). Furthermore, on how the meaning of the sign system is only created to
another related sign, called binary
opposition (Klarer.M 1999). Thus,
in order to understand woman, the definition of man is needed as the negation,
example: if it is not man, it is woman, etc. Moreover, in order to understand
the symbol of the picture in the story, it is necessary to relate it with
another thing to draw the understanding of the picture that is as the
representation of the heart and soul of either the artist, Basil Halvard, or
the sitter, Dorian Gray.
Review
related studies
Related studies had been conducted
previously by several scholars. One of those researches is what had been
observed by Michael R. Molino entitle “Narrator/Voice
in the Picture of Dorian Gray: A Question of Consistency, Control and
Perspective”. Michael observed the aspect of narrator in the Story of
Dorian Gray. It tells about on how the narrator in The Picture of Dorian Gray holds a significant position in the
novel. As what is traditionally called an omniscient or limited omniscient
narrator, he or she acts as the primary mediator between the characters, the
action, and the setting of the novel and the reader of the novel, what Gérard
Genette calls ‘focalization’(Molino.R.M.1991). However, the narrator in the
story possesses the position in which having a camera lens that can monitor
every single situation very well. Moreover, by the hand of the narrator, it
seems like the reader are led to the character’s mind and heart and even
thoughts based on the narrator’s perspective. Thus, the reader tended to listen
to other’s perspective in seeing the phenomenon in the story and being
dictated. Unfortunately, Michael argues that the narrator is no more than just
like the reader who has no authoritative voice yet only interpreting the
characters in the story.
Another research done by Ajmac
Donald JR entitled “Semiotics
and Representation in Oscar Wilde’s: The Picture of Dorian Gray”
analyzes about some fictional object in the story, especially the portrait of
Dorian, and the actress Sybil Vane that represents the fictional characters and
iconic representations in the story. Ajmac uses semiotics theory to investigate
the complex signs that embedded with the system of signs in the story. Moreover,
the picture of Dorian that was made by Basil is considered as Dorian’s
representation. The study conducted by Ajmac explained that the semiotic
meaning possessed by the picture was not only explain the surface meaning, in
another words it is not only seen simply just as a picture of Dorian Gray, and
also the actress, Sybil Vane, was not only happened to love Dorian without any
significant meaning that Wilde wanted to tell to the reader, but far from that
there is meaning or even message that Wilde intentionally wanted to present to
the reader. Finally it comes to the conclusion that Dorian had fallen in love
with Sybil Vane simply because he saw the beauty of Sybil vane in the art or
the play she played. And because Dorian saw the beauty of him in the
performance Sybil played. However, when Sybil no more played beautifully, then
Dorian rejected and refused his love towards Sybil Vane. In fact, Dorian did
not see Sybil vane as a woman who also loved him. It showed that Dorian saw
Sybil vane as the iconic of beauty and because Dorian praise the beauty so much
at that time. Therefore it is easy for Dorian to fall in love with the role of
Sybil in the performance. Her representation of beauty has interacted Dorian praise.
However, the picture of Dorian was considered as the iconic representation of
him that resembles the beauty of him and it represents the actual image of
Dorian which had been reimaged on its canvass (Donald.A.2010).
John Paul Riquelme analyzes the
aesthetic aspect in his comparative research of Wilde’s works entitle Oscar
Wilde's Aesthetic Gothic: Walter Pater, Dark Enlightenment, And the Picture of Dorian Gray. Riquelme believed
that the aesthetic of the story took place inside of its madness towards the
fantastic quality of the story. None deny the madness and its effects about the
art of narrative of Wilde’s Picture of Dorian successfully brought the interesting
plot. Somehow the darkness side of the story was portrayed by the emerged of
the picture and yet the painting described in the narratives story as the light
and darkness disturbing that exceeds. The mystic representation in the story presented
by the painting just alike the Gothic writing regularly does. However, Dorian
Gray in the story of the picture of Dorian Gray, somehow implicitly shows that
the beautiful creature became a destroyer who eventually destroyed himself. The
narcissism aspect was shown in the story clearly seen in the particular
tendencies of a poisonous, self-negating confluence signifying madness. In the
conclusion, the art and the beauty of the story lies upon the two oppositional
sides, beauty and ugly, light and dark etc that somehow embodied unstable
relations. But for readers, the mystical point and horror had come in the end
of the story as the consolation and satisfying resolution and it is how the art
and life contains the aesthetic meaning.
Richard Dellamora analyzes the homosexual aspect in
the picture of Dorian Gray in his study entitled Representation and
Homophobia in the Picture of Dorian Gray. It examines particular condition
when Dorian looked like he was having a bisexual orientation. Moreover, Dorian’s
behavior when meet Lord Henry was considered as an attitude where someone
having feelings of more than just adoring another man. Furthermore, Basil’s and
Lord Henry attitude towards Dorian was seen as having special feelings between man
and man. Thus, homosexuality orientation was seen in the story. Richard argues
that there was such as putting much desire and masculine desire possessed by
the important characters in the story.
Thus, unlike as many related studies done
previously to analyze Wilde’s the Picture of Dorian Gray in various point of
views, this study examines the relation of the painting with the changing
character of Dorian Gray. Moreover, this study analyzes it using the semiotic
theory in using the signs in order to get the meaning behind the presents of
the picture and its influence towards the story.
Theoretical framework
Semiotics basically is a
qualitative-interpretative characteristic (interpretation), in which a method
that focus on the interpretation of the text and signs as the object of
analysis (Piliang.A.Y.
2010). In identifying the signs there were
two approaches commonly used, first using Saussure’s perspective in
interpreting the signs which deals with language. Saussure argues that the
language itself is the systems of signs that can be interpreted freely by the
user. Since language posses the character of arbitrariness, a condition where there
is no relation in giving a name to one thing and another, and so to be able to
read the signs, people have to collect those signs together to get an
understanding upon particular thing. Saussure uses signifier and signified
to distinguish the signs in the language. Signifier deals with the term used to
name a thing while signified is the thing which is named and somehow the
signified is only a concept of a thing that represents the actual thing. Moreover,
in understanding the sign through the linguistic perspective, people should be
able to understand the denotative and connotative meaning of the signs. Denotative
meaning is the literal meaning that conventionally agreed as the meaning, while
connotative meaning is another meaning beyond the literal meaning and somehow
to uncover and to understand the connotative meaning people should be able to
collect a sign to the others. Saussure’s idea on interpreting the signs is also
known as Dichotomy perspective.
The second perspective on
identifying the meaning of the signs according to Charles Sanders Pierce and is
known as Trichotomy perspective. However, this kind of perspective is
only used to identify the hidden meaning behind particular signs which are
classified as non-linguist signs. Trichotomy
perspective sees the signs in
three representation, those are iconic, indexical, and symbolic signs. According
to Pierce, the ‘Symbolic’ is a sign which has only an arbitrary relation to its
referent, as is the case with words in a language (Piliang.A.Y. 2010).
In Wilde’s picture of Dorian Gray, the painting simply represents Dorian so
called as the iconic sign. However, the painting itself delivers unusual
meaning that cannot only be interpreted just as the portrait of Dorian, but it
hides another meaning, so that the picture also can be called as the symbol
sign. Therefore, the theory of Pierce is relevant as the tool to identify the
semiotic meaning of the picture and finally on how the picture affect the
changing character of Dorian Gray. If Saussure’s perspective in identifying the
signs is the key to figure out the analysis model of semiology then Pierce’s Trichotomy perspective is the key to do
semiotic analysis (Berger.A.A2010).
Discussion
In the Course in General Linguistics, Ferdinand
de Saussure defines semiotics as “the study that analyzes about signs as part
of social life”, thus semiotics has the main rule in social codes and the
meaning is understood collectively in the society. Related to the story, the
picture is the sign that can be seen as the representation of something else.
Since the emergence of the picture affects Dorian’s character. Moreover, the
semiotic perspective is seen in this phenomenon as the type of semiotic in paradigmatic
approach. According to C.S. Morris, the pragmatic study of semiotic is the
study that relates the symbol with its user (interpreter), especially the use
of sign concretely took place in many discourse or phenomenon. (Piliang.A.Y.
2010). Lord Henry was very good at influencing people’s mind due to his
cleverness. In the story, the presents of Lord Henry also becomes one of the
factors that influence the changing character of Dorian Gray as it is stated in
cover book of the Picture of Dorian Gray:
Lord
Henry’s lazy, clever words led the young Dorian Gray into a world where it is
better to be beautiful than to be good; a world where anything can be
forgiven-even murder- if it can make people laugh at a dinner party. (Word count
10.245)
However,
this study does not explain further of the changing character caused by Lord
Henry clever words that can be considered as sociological influential aspect,
but it identifies on how the picture causes the changing character of Dorian
Gray instead. By using Pierce’s Trichotomy
perspective, the painting of Dorian in the story can be identified as the
iconic sign the picture represents Dorian completely, but symbolically the
picture is the representation of a heart. It is explained and stated by the
artist that the paint of the artist is the representation of the artist’s
heart. It reveals the secret of what is inside of the artist’s soul and heart:
“Harry, when an artist feels strongly about a
portrait, it becomes a portrait of himself, not of the sitter. The artist
paints the face and body of the sitter, but in fact he shows his own feelings.
The reason why I won’t exhibit this portrait is because I’m afraid it shows the
secret of my heart”
In
relation with the picture and the semiotic study, the picture is considered as
the heart of the artist. Once the artist paint a picture with all his heart, by
then, the picture delivers the message, the hidden one that lies within the
artist’s heart. Therefore, when the paint is created, the paint or the portrait
automatically becomes the representation of the artist’s heart and soul. Unfortunately,
in the story also stated that the shifting character occurred by the main
character was caused by the existence of the picture that influence the
character. The change of the picture is
affected by the change of his heart and his soul. Therefore, the picture is
just a symbol of one’s heart and soul. Moreover, as the character of Dorian
grows cruel and turns like a devil the picture slowly changes older and ugly as
if Dorian’s heart is pictured as the painting of himself. By that, Dorian who praises the beauty of his
face ignores the condition of his heart which turns worst and worst even then he
realizes what is happening towards his own heart, he was still happy because he
looks beauty and young at last. In fact, Dorian has chosen to be a bad guy and
he made funny of the his own portrait that turns older and ugly day by day
while he stays young and beauty, yet he has neglected the beauty of his own
heart which is represented in the story as the picture itself.
But
the picture watched him, with its beautiful face and its cruel smile. It had
taught him to love his own beauty. Would it also teach him to hate his own
heart, his own soul?
When
Lord Henry had left, Dorian uncovered the picture. He had to choose between a
good life and a bad life, he thought. But then he realized that, in fact, he
had already chosen. He would stay young forever, and enjoy every wild pleasure
that life could give him. The face in the picture would grow old and ugly and
unkind, but he would stay beautiful forever. He covered the picture again, and
smiled.
But
his search for pleasure did not stop there. He became hungry for evil pleasure.
He become more and more in love with the beauty of his face, more and more
interested in the ugliness of his soul.
It
is finally shown that actually Dorian turns into a cruel and bad man. Until he
dare to kill his best friend, Basil Hallward, just because Basil has figured
out his secret. Therefore, the changing character happen to Dorian Gray is
represented by the changing of the portrait of Dorian because what has changed
actually is Dorian’s heart, so that the picture of Dorian is mirroring his own
heart. Therefore, the painting of Dorian is symbolized as a heart. When a heart
is pure and good, the picture will be beauty as beauty as the heart. It is
shown in the last story when Dorian finally realized his biggest mistake and
regretted his greediness of his beautiful appearance. Unfortunately, in the end
of the story, Dorian was very mad towards the picture of himself and he wanted
to destroy it by hitting the knife on the heart of an ugly man in the canvas,
but the condition was not like what was expected. Dorian was hit by a knife and
then he died as a young man who was at first in the picture. It shows that by
killing the ugly man in the painting, destroying the painting, it means that he
is killing himself because the devil’s heart that was represented as the
picture is he himself.
Against
the wall they saw a fine portrait of the young Dorian Gray, in all his
wonderful youth and beauty. Lying on the floor was a dead man, with a knife in
his heart. His face was old and ugly and yellow with disease. Only the rings on
his fingers told them who he was.
Semantically
and paradigmatically this study relevant to the idea that is presented by
Moris, where the sign or symbols is associated and analyzed by the relation
with its significance and its meaning, like the picture is identified as the
thing that model and represents one’s life based on its meaning it is
interpreted as the representation of the artist-or even the sitter- heart and
soul. And how it affects the user as the notions of paradigmatic semiotic where
the sign is having relations with the user in particular discourse or events that
linked and creates meaning. Otherwise, it relates with the value, meaning, and
purpose of a sign that answers the question on how the sign appears and on how
there is such an exchange of value and utility towards the user (Piliang.A.Y. 2010).
Conclusion
The picture of
Dorian Gray is the horror yet interesting story created by Oscar Wilde. There
are many aspects that can be analyzed in the story those are the aspect of
narrator, homosexual, semiotics aspect, etc. this study that analyzes the
changing character of Dorian Gray, main character, involves the semiotic study,
especially Pierce Trichotomy
perspective. The picture is determined as the icon in which it is directly
represents Dorian, while it is also determined as the symbolic sign in the
story, in which it also represents another meaning than just interpreted as the
picture. However, the picture represents a heart. It is proven by Basil’s declaration
that the painting somehow represent’s the artist’s or the sitter’s heart. Moreover,
as the character of Dorian Gray turns into a bad guy, the picture also turns
into an ugly man. The semiotic study in analyzing this phenomenon implies the
message that when someone turns into a bad person, at that time his/her heart
must have been changed into the devil, just like the story of Dorian Gray teaches
the readers.
References
Piliang.A.Y.
2010. Hipersemiotika: Tafsir Cultural
Studies Atas Matinya Makna. Jalasutra: Yogyakarta.
Berger.A.A.
Ed. 2010. Pengantar Semiotika:
Tanda-tanda Dalam Kebudayaan Kontemporer. (Signs in Contemporary Culture:
An Introduction to Semiotics. 1984). Tara Wacana: Yogyakarta.
Wilde.O.
2008. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Oxford
University Press: New York.
Michael
R. Molino. 1991. Narrator/Voice in The
Picture of Dorian Gray: A Question of Consistency, Control and perspective. The
Oscholars Library. First published: Journal of Irish Literature. 20
(3). Retrieved from http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40
Riquelme. J.P. 2000.
Oscar
wilde's aesthetic Gothic: walter pater, dark Enlightenment, and the Picture of dorian gray. MFS Modern Fiction
Studies, 46 (3), Fall. Johns
Hopkins University Press. Retrieved from http://seas3.elte.hu/coursematerial/RuttkayVeronika/wilde_dark_aestheticism.pdf
Dellamora.R.
1988. Representation and Homophobia in
the Picture of Dorian Gray. TheVictorian Newsletter. Spring. Retrieved from
http://www.williamapercy.com/wiki/images/Representation_and_Homophobia.pdf
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