The Representation of London in The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) explores the divide in London in the 19th Century. The divide between the ‘the east and west which was being perpetrated through poetry and novels’ reflects the duality in Dorian Gray. Dualism is ‘the condition or state of being dual or consisting of two parts.’ Wilde uses London to represent the decadence, hedonism, sexual promiscuity and shocking violence throughout the novel. The East End is a place Dorian can search for new, challenging sensuous experiences and to break away from the limitations from the bourgeois society. The West End represent aestheticism, riches, the establishment and aristocratic society. The East End represents Dorian’s corrupted soul and his decadence. The idea of decadence is defined by the OED as ‘the process of falling away or declining (from a prior state of excellence, vitality, prosperity, etc.); decay; impaired or deteriorated condition.’ The duality of his soul is what leads to his demise. 

In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde sets up the contrasting locations of the wealthy West End and decaying East End. The differences in the locations highlight the upper-class wealth and working-class poverty. In Basil’s studio, we are first introduced to the luxury of the bourgeois class. There are descriptions of ‘Persian saddlebags’ and ‘long tussore-silk curtains’ highlighting the upper class’ pleasure in beautiful objects, therefore, showing how the aesthetic movement impacted peoples’ homes. Professor Joseph McLaughlin, called them ‘sumptuously oriental interiors’ which I believe reflects the indulgent nature of the upper class well. Furthermore, Wilde uses the simile ‘the dim roar of London was like the bourdon note of a distant organ’. The placing of the ‘distant organ’ separates the characters from the hectic London life. At this point, the reader has only been introduced to the West side of London with their rules and riches. The other parts of London are completely separate physically and culturally. The contrast between Dorian and Henry’s setting and the rest of London showcases their selfish and corrupt obsession with only their own desires and pleasures. This reinforces the culture surrounding hedonism in the 19th century. As well as the setting of the West and East End, Wilde explores the setting in Dorian’s own home. For instance, the painting of Dorian Gray has its own location in the house, the attic. The painting’s change in beauty to reflect Dorian’s corrupted soul sets up the focus of his duality. So, by hiding the painting he is attempting to conceal his double life. The setting of the painting is in his ‘old school-room’ which is a place of innocence. Wilde is using the location to indicate Dorian’s attempt to hide his corruption and duality of his soul behind the innocence of his nursery in the attic. There is evident tension between the innocent boyhood and corrupt adult life. He is trying to escape what’s in his home by going to the East End however only finds more corruption there. 

Dorian Gray begins to explore another side of London, the theatre which is closer to the East End. The theatre is a setting that brings Dorian into contact with Sibyl Vane. At this point, we have only heard rumours about the East End which indicates how sheltered Dorian’s life is. The trip to the theatre is an adventure to him because it allows him to experience another life. It’s the beginning of his double life. Dorian has been taught to appreciate art and find beauty in everything. He initially does this with the theatre as he admires Sybil’s art of acting. However, the setting of the East End begins to be revealed when he visits her again. In the theatre ‘the heat was terribly oppressive, and the huge sunlight flamed like a monstrous dahlia with petals of yellow fire.’ The imagery of the fire and heat indicates the uncomfortable feeling of being in a setting that Dorian’s friends, Basil and Henry aren’t used. The symbolism of the ‘dahlia’ is a bond that lasts forever which is ironic as Dorian and Sybil’s relationship breaks that night. The fire in the theatre alludes to the corruption and damage Dorian is soon to commit. In the movement from the East End to the West End, we see the transition of Dorian’s corruption to his identity of a gentleman. The West End, in the novel, is represented as Dorian’s physical form as it’s perfect, beautiful and pure. The scholar, Linda Dryden asserts that there are ‘illicit measures located within the East; [and] social elegance in the West’. I agree that Wilde chooses to open the novel to introduces the elegance of the West. In the opening section, ‘the studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden’ we are immediately introduced to the theme of aestheticism. The sensory overload, particularly the heavy scent of the flowers, highlights the wealth and luxury. The choice of opening the novel with the sensual imagery is effective in introducing the theme of aestheticism and the concept of new hedonism. The lightness of wind represents the assumed innocence of Dorian at this movement in the novel. After the disaster at the theatre, Dorian rejects Sibyl and begins his walk home. In this movement of mapping out the locations, the readers can see the clear divide between the locations. 

Scholar, Rosemarie Bodenheimer, ‘Dickens sewed different parts of London together simply by describing the walking routes his characters take’. Here Wilde has used a similar technique to create a greater understanding of the location however he chooses to use this technique to exaggerate the setting for his aesthetic novel. Dorian recounts ‘wandering through dimly-lit streets, past gaunt black-shadowed archways and evil-looking houses’. It is evident that through destroying Sibyl Vane’s life it’s taken Dorian into a darker more corrupt place which is reflected in the Gothic setting. London has become dark and ominous with ‘dimly-lit streets’ and ‘gaunt black-shadowed archways’. The absence of light suggests Dorian’s lack of morality and innocence. Then, as soon as Dorian enters Covent Garden the scene changes from his corrupted soul to his youth and beauty. Dorian notices that ‘the darkness lifted, and, flushed with faint fires, the sky hollowed itself into a perfect pearl. Huge carts filled with nodding lilies rumbled slowly down the polished empty street’. The tone has changed to something more optimistic. The metaphor of the sky as a pearl connotes purity, therefore reflecting Dorian’s desire to remain youthful and beautiful. Wilde uses the ‘lilies’ to symbolise death, as Sibyl has killed herself, though Dorian doesn’t know yet. Despite, the ominous interpretation the ‘the perfume of the flower, and their beauty seemed to bring him an anodyne for his [Dorian’s] pain’. The rich sensuous imagery of the flowers brings Dorian a sense of calm and peace. The flower refers to the aristocratic aesthetic appreciation for art and their desire to find pleasure in beauty. It allows for Dorian to forget his argument with Sibyl for a brief movement. The contrast between the darkness of Dorian’s corruption and the moment that ‘darkness lifted’ highlights the duality of his’s soul. Dorian is playing with a double life and attempting to maintain his innocence whilst hidden in the dark, terrible things are happening. The ‘polished empty street’ of these West End directly juxtaposes with the streets of the East End as they are ‘like the black web of some sprawling spider’. 

Again, the contrast between light and dark represent the outward beauty and corrupted soul of Dorian. In contrast, the East End is represented as animalistic and categorised as the ‘Other’. The exploration of the opium dens represents Dorian’s dualism. Wilde draws on the animalistic imagery when Dorian is walking back home after breaking up with Sibyl: ‘Drunkards had reeled by cursing, and chattering to themselves like monstrous apes.’ Wilde refers to the drunk men as ‘monstrous apes’ to represent that the East End is the regression to a more animal state. The verbs ‘cursing’, ‘chattering’ and ‘shrieks’ echoes animal noises, therefore, implying they are savages and portray the degradation of Dorian’s double life. The scholar, Paul Newland, recognises this in the novel and states that ‘in tales of a threatened, decadent bourgeois London culture, for example, individuals who were spatially positioned within a conceptual ‘east’ tended to be represented as an alien or ‘Othered’’. Therefore, at this moment Wilde is using the metaphor of the ‘apes’ to reflect the cultural anxiety of the ‘Other’. The late Victorian society was afraid of what they could reveal. The animalist imagery/nature represents how Dorian is trying to identify with something more than his rich establishment and role as a gentleman however it just ends up revealing his bestial urges resulting in how living life as a hedonist. 

London’s East End is represented as monstrous. Dorian wonders through the streets he states, ‘I felt that this grey, monstrous London of ours, with its myriads of people, its sordid sinners, and its splendid sins […] must have something in store for me’. Here there is dramatic irony being used as we are aware that London has something bad in store for Dorian however he interprets it as something thrilling and exciting. London has become a place of growth with the ‘myriads of people’. However, Dorian is desperately trying to escape the expanding city as well as himself, through the exploration of the East End (the country at the end). ‘This grey, monstrous London’ is a reflection of Dorian’s inner soul and corruption as a result of Lord Henry’s influence. Despite the growing city Dorian feels more pressured by the values of the old aristocratic society. Wilde uses the East End to provide a space for Dorian to escape these restrictions. The East End represents freedom to Dorian at the beginning as the ‘monstrous’ idea of London is glamorised as something new and exciting. However, as the novel progresses Dorian desperately tries to sustain this double life but fails. As he becomes more corrupts it is reflected in the setting, the setting of London and it as a ‘monstrous body’ becomes strange, grotesque and reflects the decedent aesthetic. Despite the corruption and horrors witnessed in the East End, Dorian is constantly drawn to it. 

The East End provides a sense of freedom for upper-class men, like Dorian, as it allows them to break away from the uptight rules of the bourgeois class. The duality of the setting allows for Dorian to explore the two different sides of his life. He has the freedom to explore his morality whilst still upholding his gentleman status through the concealment of the portrait. Dorian admires ‘the coarse brawl, the loathsome den, the crude violence of disordered life’. This part of London is depicted as wild and unruly which is what attracts Dorian because it’s so different from his other life. His hedonistic lifestyle becomes his sole purpose in his life. In the West End, he cannot fulfil these desires for drugs, booze and sex, therefore, the East End becomes his escape. The scholar Paul Newland believes that the novel ‘imagines the East End as a decadent playground’. The main reason this is the case is that for these bourgeoisie men there are no consequences in this space. They have the freedom to do as they please which is why it becomes their ‘decadent playground’. Paul also argues that ‘east London provides the space on to which repressed bourgeois sexual desires can be projected.’ There is no judgement as they have the freedom to experience all kinds of Hedonistic pleasures. 

Dorian Gray’s exploration of the opium den in the East End represent his searching for himself but only results in him losing his identity. The trip to the opium den ‘conveys his divided existence’ according to Robert Mighall. I believe it exemplifies his struggle and desire for something more than what the West End can offer him. The opium dens were a place where Doran could escape from society and ‘indulge his craving for opium and obscurity.’ However, at this point in the novel Dorian has committed murder so is now using the opium dens and the East End as a mean to escape his corruption that is back in his attic. It is no longer something that represents freedom. He can no longer sustain this divided existence any longer. Wilde shows the readers that the consequences of leading a double life are as a result of the late-Victorian society’s pressure to be good constantly. The setting of London represents how the double life cannot work in coherence with each other as society prevents it. After leaving a civilised party with members of the bourgeois society Dorian finds himself at the opium dens. He observes the shadows as ‘they moved like monstrous marionettes and made gestures like live things’. London’s East End has become alive with ‘monstrous’ creatures. It is no something glamorised but with his hedonistic lifestyle is has led to a decline in morals therefore reflected in the space surrounding him. 

Wilde uses the setting of London to represent how Dorian Gray’s double life eventually leads to his downfall. However, it can be interpreted that this isn’t the main cause of his decadent behaviour. London is a place full of possibility but it comes with rules and regulations in certain areas. The moral codes of the West End society are broken therefore leading to a series of events which cause the fall of Dorian Gray. The East End was represented as a place of possibility and new experiences. However, it ended up becoming a place of corruption and chaos. Ultimately, Dorian’s double life was inescapable and resulted in ruining him and his reputation. 

Bibliography 

• Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, ed. by Robert Mighall (London: Penguin, 2003) 
• Bodenheimer, Rosemarie, 'London in the Victorian Novel', in The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of London, ed. by Lawrence Manley(New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011) 
• Di Michele, Laura, 'Nineteenth Century London as Monstrous Body', in Monstrous Anatomies; Literary and Scientific Imagination in Britain and Germany during the Long Nineteenth Century, ed. by Raul Calzoni and Greta Perletti (Göttingen: V&R unipress, 2015), 193-216 
• Dryden, Linda, The Modern Gothic and Literary Doubles: Stevenson, Wilde and Wells (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), McLaughlin, John, Writing the Urban Jungle: Reading Empire in London from Doyle to Eliot (Charlottesville and London: University Press of Virginia, 2000) 
• Mighall, Robert, Introduction, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (London: Penguin, 2003), ix-xxv Newland, Paul The Cultural Construction of London’s East End: Urban Iconography, Modernity and the Specialisation of Englishness (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2008), Google e-book OED Online, s.v. ‘decadence’, , accessed 16.12.18. OED Online, s.v. ‘dualism’, , accessed 16.12.18.