The Picture of Dorian Gray - Hedonistic Lifestyle Examples
This is an essay that shows hedonistic lifestyle examples, but first it's needed to define the main term. Hedonism is the pursuit of pleasure and sensual self-indulgence, advocated by philosopher Epicurus. Decadence and hedonism is an ever-enduring theme in our society, being driven by materialistic gains, wealth status and self-gratification. New hedonism, coined by Oscar Wilde, focuses on pleasures through artistic means rather than mere bodily pleasures. My key text, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, explores new hedonism in the 1890s England where aestheticism and hedonism were very prevalent societal beliefs. My derivative text is the 1999 movie, The Talented Mr Ripley, directed by Anthony Minghella. It portrays hedonism as a way of gaining materialistic pleasures and money. The Devil in You envelops you in a spellbinding journey to expose your dark and evil side. The hedonistic theme of The Picture of Dorian Gray was adapted effectively in The Talented Mr Ripley and this journey continues in my contemporary, powerful and engaging video game The Devil in You.
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a critique on the hypocritical modern society as it exposes our society’s irrational obsession with external beauty and hedonism. The world witnessed a large-scale socio-economic transformation towards the end of the 19th century. A hedonistic culture where material wealth and physical beauty become the desiderata of the masses characterised this century. The novel traces Dorian's journey from a gentleman with a tender heart to a ruthless, materialistic lout whose over-indulgent tendencies ultimately bring about his destruction. Dorian trades his soul with a portrait, which bears the burdens of his sins instead of him. Wilde uses the motif of the colour white to point out the hypocritical nature of the modern world as Dorian changes from “the white purity” of his boyhood, to his “rose-white boyhood,” but he cannot wash away the stains of his sins. Wilde cleverly uses Lord Henry Wotton’s character foil as a metaphor for our hypocritical society as it claims to value moral uprightness on the surface but is overindulgent in reality. The novel also explores the importance of true love as he states that “true love must never be sacrificed for the pursuit of a hedonistic lifestyle”. Alex Ross reinstates Wilde’s perspective as he says, “Wilde makes clear that he wished to show not only the thrills and pleasures of a ruthlessly aesthetic life but also its limits and dangers”. Thus, Oscar Wilde creatively explores how the hedonistic society of 1890 exposed the dual nature of a man’s character, sober and beautiful on the outside but rotten from the inside.
The Talented Mr Ripley appropriates Wilde’s hedonism to better suit the 1990s context and its setting of USA and Italy in the 1950s. Dickie Greenleaf’s father pays Tom Ripley, the protagonist, to go to Italy and persuade Dickie to return to New York. In Italy, Tom is drawn into the hedonistic lifestyle of the American expats and commits not one but three murders. Water is an ominous motif used in the film, as it represents frustration, violence and drowning to death. This is evident in when a young pregnant woman drowns herself, and when Tom commits his first murder of Dickie Greenleaf while sailing in Rome. In Wilde’s novel, Dorian leads a hedonistic life after the death of his girlfriend, Sibyl Vane. Similarly, Minghella adapts this milestone of the birth of a hedonistic lifestyle to be fuelled by Dickie’s death. After murdering Dickie, Tom takes on Dickie’s identity to gain money, similar to Dorian living two lives, one in reality and one in the portrait. Hugh Montgomery accurately summaries that “The Talented Mr Ripley functions as a satirical study of society’s admiration of the privileged.” This racket soon gets out of hand when Freddie Miles, one of Dickie’s friends, rhetorically says “You’re a quick study, aren’t you” and observes how fancy Tom’s demeanour and dress have become. So, Tom murders him too, much like Dorian murdered Basil after he saw the ruined portrait. The film’s conclusion affirms the abject alienation of leading a double life as Tom makes an ironic and metafictional confession. This is similar to Dorian’s death because of his decayed soul. Therefore, Anthony Minghella examines how the hedonistic society of 1999 exposed the duality of human nature, classy but cunning.
Despite the change in context, beliefs and values, the moral of both the stories are similar: hedonism for the sake of hedonism is empty since it leads to the decay of the soul. In The Picture of Dorian Gray, the decay of the soul is emphasised on by the death of Dorian due to the decay of his soul. In The Talented Mr Ripley, the decay of the soul leads to the decay of the moral side of his human nature as Tom commits insane crimes such as the three murders, just to seek hedonistic pleasure.
My video game, The Devil in You, is an immersive single-player adventure game that encompasses you in a captivating quest to reveal your sinister nature. Our society we witness many experiences and pleasures, many of which are considered immoral. The evil side of the brain thinks these immoral experiences are fun to experiment with, whereas in reality, their results are disastrous. This game exposes my teenage audience to a myriad of situations where they have the liberty to experiment with the moral or immoral side. The game begins with the player choosing their character, for example, Dorian Gray, Tom Ripley or Frankenstein. After this, the adventures with the devil begin. Get ready to face your fears in this journey that will test your morality and ethics, to discover the devil within. Only the brave will tame the devil. Players will earn black and white points based on the choices they make. If their black score is higher than the devil kills the character. If the white points are higher, then the player defeats the devil without the help of the angel. If the player wants to exit the game, then they can summon the angel to help defeat the devil.
My video game utilises the structure of an interactive story where the player controls the decisions of the character and their actions have clear and lasting consequences. There are many endings to this game, and they address different concepts and create distinct moods. I have incorporated the symbol of the colour white, similar to The Picture of Dorian Gray, to represent the purity and innocence of character and the player controlling them. My use of the colour contrast of the “Black and White Points” illustrates how our hedonistic society is impacting young adults and exposing them to these immoral pleasures. By employing poetic justice I allude to the messages of my key texts: the character’s immoral choices can become the vehicle of their demise. This is also the message I wish to convey in this video game, using the characters to depict the harmful results of substance abuse, violence, and deceit. I have made several allusions to the novel and film through my choice of characters and the devil, linking the three works together. Thus, through the use of creative devices, symbols and structural choice, I achieve the purpose of the game and illustrate how our hedonistic society reflects our immoral actions. The game exposes the reality of hedonism and immoral experiences through the journey of the characters.
In conclusion, The Picture of Dorian Gray is an immaculately crafted novel by Oscar Wilde which explores how the 19th-century society, which believed in New Hedonism, exposed the duality of human nature. Oscar Wilde’s depiction of Dorian as a character that is consumed by the beauty ideals that society imposes on them, predicts the obsession with youth and appearance that are so prevalent in our culture today. The Talented Mr Ripley, a cinematic masterpiece by Anthony Minghella, adapts this idea to portray the hedonistic lifestyle of Tom Ripley and the hedonistic beliefs of the 1990s society, ultimately exposing the immoral side of human nature. My video game, The Devil in You, takes this idea a step further, exploring how our hedonistic society reflects our immoral actions and how a character’s hedonistic outlook can have lasting consequences on their life. The devil in you gives you the will to not be a devil.
