You are reading the novel to look deeply into the life of a human being, Dorian Gray in novel ‘The picture of Dorian Gray’ by Oscar Wilde, who chooses to follow the precepts of the “yellow book” sent to him by Lord Henry in Chapter 10 of the novel. The book encourages Dorian to adopt the life of “the new hedonism.”
One hardly knew at times whether one was reading the spiritual ecstasies
of some mediæval saint or the morbid confessions of a modern sinner. It was a poisonous book. (138)
In an interesting, well-developed, coherent and polished essay, answer the following questions about the novel and about life:
How do we encourage goodness in ourselves?
How do we encourage goodness in each other?
Do you hold Lord Henry responsible for corrupting Dorian Gray?
Can a book (like the novel’s “yellow book”) ever be poisonous to human goodness?
Have you ever felt as if another person, or medium, has purposefully tried to turn you away from goodness? What happened?
Have you ever felt as if another person, or medium, has purposefully tried to turn you toward human goodness? What happened?
