The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde (1890) - Psychological mechanisms of dissociation and projection

Extract

[...] In Chapter 16, after burning Basil's belongings, Dorian goes to the East End to do drugs, and there he runs into a person whose life that he has destroyed between Sibyl and Basil's death. He is forced to look at the consequences of his actions in the eye, and he still refuses to believe he is to blame. In this same chapter, he is held at gunpoint by Sibyl's brother, James Vane, and only then did he realise his mortality. He puts himself in dark places and in doing so he projects onto his surroundings. [...]

[...] When he does acknowledge it, he does so selfishly: he worries about being caught rather than the fact that his friend is gone forever because of his actions. He involves other people in the murder, such as Alan Campbell, whom he blackmails into dissolving the body, and Lord Henry, whom he calmly confesses to. His confession to the murder, as well as his discussion about Basil's disappearance is eerily calm. Dorian himself notes that he is surprised by how calmly he is talking about Basil. [...]

[...] He notices that Basil's painting of him begins to change and that the Dorian in the portrait develops horrible and ugly features which reference to the physical Dorian's personality and how it is changing and becoming corrupted. The painting shows Dorian the extent of the corruption of his soul which he had managed to mask from himself through dissociation and projection. Sybil Vane Dorian finds out through Lord Henry that Sybil had committed suicide. Dorian felt great grief, but his grief didn't last very long as Lord Henry manipulated him to realize that Sybil's death was a mere work of art. Basil was in shock and called Sybil's death fearful. [...]

[...] In this oral we will be talking about Dorian's psychological reactions to events in the form of dissociation and projection. General dissociation/projection around painting: Ally Dorian Gray developed a complicated relationship with Basil's painting of him from the moment he saw it. He immediately became obsessed and jealous with its ability to maintain its youth and beauty forever which led to him making a Faustian-type bargain to maintain his physical youth and good looks forever. He says, "If I could stay young and the picture grow old For that, for that, I would give everything I would give my soul for." As a result, the Dorian in the painting begins to change and age due to the negative thoughts and actions of the real physical Dorian while the real physical Dorian remains young and beautiful. [...]

[...] Conclusion Dorian dissociates and projects throughout the novel and the main examples where this can be seen is in his reaction when Sybil Vane commits suicide and in his reaction around Basil Hallward's murder and death. Eventually when he confronts Basil's painting of him at the end of the novel, he can actually see what he has become and the results that his corruption and sinful and hedonistic lifestyle have had on him. All quotes recognized in this paper are referenced from the book The Picture of Dorian Gray. All quotes made are to give context of what is being discussed. [...]