Dorian Gray is the Devil

"My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One of us has got to go." -Oscar Wilde, several weeks before his death. The obsession with beauty and beautiful things has always been evident in humankind. We like pretty things. We like objects and images which we find "aesthetically pleasing." In class we discussed how Dorian Gray's painting becomes hideous because ugliness is what we associate with evil, or immoral activity. In reality, evil is very rarely so obvious. People might get frown lines because they don't smile, but they could have just had a rough life. I think mankind has an obsession with characterizing good and evil. We see children, dogs, flowers, sunlight, the 19th century Impressionism movement as "good." We see savage tribes, sharks, darkness, or selfish intentions as "bad." When something does not fit into either category, it makes man uncomfortable. Dorian Gray had a terrible soul but he was the most beautiful man of his time. I said this in class, but I hate how a lot of literature and art depict the Devil as someone who is revolting, horrific, and fearsome. The Devil was an angel, and accorsing to Scripture angels are supposed to have about 9 wings and hundreds of eyes covering their body. That's not something I personally find aesthetically pleasing, but in my opinion Lucifer should look just as beautiful as Michael or Gabriel. If you paint Gabriel looking like he's walking the red carpet, Lucifer should be right there with him. Historically, people portayed the Devil with dark skin and dark features as a way of establishing a dominant white race. Look at how retouched the magazine covers are in society. Darker skinned people have their features lightened, women are often subject to sudden waist-shrinkage, and every imperfection is calulated out of the equation. This is something we are surrounding ourselves with every day. Through every media outlet we are taught what to find beautiful. People believed Dorian Gray was beautiful because he was young, because his outer shell did not display causes from his inner soul. Dorian Gray was like Lucifer, he loved music, he fell from his pedastal of being "God's" (Basil) favorite and he was beautiful.