The Scarlet Prayer: The Allegory of Genesis and Christian Symbolism in The Picture of Dorian Gray Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Dorian Gray and the Bible (NKJV) seem to agree on at least some semblance of doctrine, if only partially. Both maintain that the body is a temple, although the principles to be worshiped within it remain a point of contention between the two. Gray's religion is a faith of the flesh in which one worships at an altar of pleasure. This does not prevent his participation in a tale rich in themes, narrative structure and main figures of biblical history, including the fall of man in the Garden of Eden and the crucifixion on Calvary. The title image of Gray, which protects him from the visible consequences of his debauchery, contains an allusion to the Messiah who comes to free fallen humanity (represented by Gray) from the repercussions of sins against the purity of the body and the will of creative deity, the God of Abraham. In its role as redeemer and harbinger, Gray's messianic painting is the central link in a chain of allegorical and biblical roles ranging from the tempter to the Father himself, and directly parallels the moral history of humanity in relation to the Christian trinity. Gray's rapid transition from innocence to awash in worldly pleasures parallels the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, correlating the Bible's teachings on the origins of sin. The circumstances of Gray's corruption resemble those of collective humanity in Genesis. Just as humanity existed in a pristine state before gaining knowledge of both good and evil, Gray has “a simple and beautiful nature” (Wilde 16). His petulant and affected attitude embodies the naive purity of young people. The young man's crimson lips and turquoise gaze reflect how he has "kept himself unspotted from the world" (Wilde 18), just as Adam and Eve, in their incipient innocence, "were both naked [in Eden]. . and they were not ashamed" (Genesis 2:25). In another allusion to Eden, the introduction to the possibility of corruption (the original sin from which all future iniquity proceeds) in Dorian Gray occurs in Basil Hallward's garden. The lavish sanctuary overflows with graceful dragonflies and the scent of roses, reminiscent of the multitude of desirable trees of Eden, among which God communed daily with pristine man. In Hallward's Garden, Gray's existence suddenly blazes with moral (or, in retrospect, immoral) revelation as he awakens, physically and philosophically, from the "whiteness of youth" into a world ripe with murder, drug use , alien sensory satisfaction. , eroticism, and “sleeping dreams whose mere memory might stain [his] cheek with shame” (Wilde 21). Wilde's specific mention of shame here is unique in that it exactly echoes Genesis 2:25's aforementioned description of humanity's previous state as "not being ashamed." This shame comes from the new moral awareness, or perhaps simply from the moral conception of nakedness: physical for Adam and Eve and emotional for Gray. Wilde does not imply Gray's emotional nakedness through a heartfelt confession or personal revelation of some kind, but through his reaction of shame in the recognition of his former condition. He is deeply uncomfortable in light of his previous moral innocence, or rather, his ignorance of having lived “naked” (without knowledge of evil or injustice, as Adam and Eve did) for two decades in a world whose moral principles and the possibility oftheir mutual violations existed, regardless of his participation in supporting or abusing them. This poisonous lack of knowledge, which Wilde describes as innocence, is the same state that Adam and Eve occupied before their personal revolutions. The same catalyst as Gray's case—the dark knowledge of the world epitomized by "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Genesis 2:17)—instigates the couple into exile. After hearing Henry Wotton's hedonistic monologue , Gray flees into the garden and obsessively drinks the scent of a flower, in a frenzy that imitates that of Adam and Eve when "the eyes of both of them were opened" (Genesis 3.7) and, after having noticed their nakedness, they sewed themselves blankets out of fig leaves. These reactions of bewilderment and embarrassment show not only the regret of the inauguration of Gray and the Eden couple in their newfound states of awareness, but also their first concessions to the behavioral demands that this new moral self-consciousness makes. places them. Their implicit states of emotional shock also suggest a shared suddenness in their states as they awaken to moral choice. After discovering the possibility of wrongdoing, Adam and Eve fearfully hide from the eyes of God. as is evident from his hyperbolic desperation in the garden, Gray receives his epiphany with the same shock and terror. In a process that bears the same thematic significance by which the eyes of the first human race were "opened," Gray is startlingly awakened to the potential for evil against himself and others. The Edenic parallel between Genesis and Gray's depiction of fallen humanity is sealed. with certainty in Hallward's garden when Wotton finally declares that Gray is a “wonderful creation” (Wilde 23), alluding to the exultant sentiment that human beings are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). The presence of a being capable of conceiving moral and immoral actions (even if that being is still considered an animal) in a garden of organisms whose thoughts do not exist on the plane of morality is an exceptional marvel that the Gardens of Eden and of Hallward clearly share. At the conclusion of the story of Adam and Eve, God proclaims that mankind has become “like [a god], to know good and evil” (Genesis 3:22). Likewise, Dorian Gray's soul displays its freedom of will, seeking "the things it has forbidden itself" (Wilde 21), and soon emerges into a world of sordid possibilities, intoxicated with the power of choice. His actions unfold in such a way that, in the novel's allegory, he collectively represents humanity from Adam onwards, in accordance with the biblical account of man's moral history and relationship with God, from its tainted roots in Eden until millennia beyond. Whether fallen or forgiven, humanity (and thus Dorian Gray) suffers from surrendering to the whispered depravities of a tempter. The novel does not lack allegory in this regard. Wotton, Gray's acquaintance and later confidant, describes in the opening scenes his love for "unprincipled people" (Wilde 11) in reference to the unpleasant personalities he has become acquainted with. Wotton's olive complexion and blasé composure cause the naïve Dorian to insist that wherever Wotton goes, he will follow. Wotton speaks fondly and eloquently of the pleasures obtainable only in youth, sowing the seeds of Gray's wickedness with an uncanny ability to manipulate equivalent to the cunning of the serpent (commonly believed to be an incarnation of Satan, who is "smarter" than any other). beast in the garden (Genesis 3:1). Despite Gray's friend Hallward's protests that Wotton's influence might be dangerous, the devious gentleman happily observes the new psychological perspectiveGray's hedonistics. His fascination is rooted (like Satan's) in the observation of the destruction of perfect innocence, for which he happily admits he is responsible. He views Gray's new worldly self as "his own creation" (Wilde 61). When Gray realizes his mortality and begins to cry, declaring himself envious of all the things whose charm will never fade, Hallward admonishes Wotton, saying, "this is your doing, Harry" (Wilde 29) The bitter and fatalistic ways of Hallward correspond to the condemnation that God casts on the serpent for its role in the beginning of man.iniquity (Genesis 3:14). As Gray's innocence degrades, Wotton solidifies his role as the tempter of perfect humanity. Abstentions from sin are simply inexplicable wastes, says Wotton, and the idea of ​​sin is simply a relic of a medieval age. He adds bluntly that giving in to a temptation is "[t]he only way to be free from it..." (Wilde 20-21), cementing himself in Christian allegory (at least in semantics) as the "tempter" in Matthew 4:3 who approaches Jesus in the desert. However, unlike Christ, Gray gives in to the allure of putting Wotton's opinions into practice, as he claims to do with everything Wotton says (Wilde 51). Of course, this decision later ends disastrously for Gray, as it does for the inhabitants of Eden when they heed the tempter's reasoning. From the beginning Wilde conceives of Gray's relationship with his painting in terms of salvation and divinity. In particular, the mention of Gray's soul as an object to be abandoned lends spiritual meaning to his promise to give everything he possesses for the painting to replace him as he ages, so that he can remain free from the limitations of the flesh. The specification that Gray's physical youth is the protectorate of the painting evokes the promise that "no evil shall befall thee, nor shall any plague come near thy dwelling...For He shall give His angels charge over thee...so that thou shalt not you stumble against a stone" (Psalm 91:10-12). This passage evokes health (“nor any plague”) and providence which, like angels, ceaselessly care for Gray. In addition to achieving eternal bodily life, for example, she survives a near-disastrous confrontation with James Vane, the vengeful brother of one of her dead lovers by virtue of his youthful appearance (Wilde 196). This fortuitous event suggests not only supernatural protection, but also a kind of immunity to the consequences of his past actions. Since this moment of immunity occurs while Gray is enchanted by the painting (representing the intervention of the supernatural), Gray's imperviousness symbolizes divine forgiveness for his sins. Manifested in the reprieve from death and physical suffering, this forgiveness is maintained as long as Gray remains within the protectorate of his relationship with the painting, just as in Christianity, the forgiven state of a human soul endures once the person has surrendered to the Lord. divine will. Gray's death at the novel's close is also indicative of this agreement. Determined to “slay this monstrous soul life” (Wilde 229), Gray pierces the painting and dies immediately in a moment that represents man's rebellion against God. It is his final rejection of the divinity that has protected him from spiritual death and from earthly traumas. This is the end of Gray's deal with the supernatural, the murder of the relationship on which his eternal life depends. The action is simply more visual and explicit in the novel because of the painting's earthly status and because Gray's physical body relies directly on the image to ward off the illnesses he has accumulated in his sinful life. Wilde's text also implies the spiritual context of Gray's work. redemption throughthe painting when it describes him burying his face in a pillow after his supplication, “as if he were praying” (Wilde 29). Years later, Gray confirms to Basil Hallward that his wish was actually something that might be called a prayer (Wilde 161). Wilde demonstrates that Gray's characterization of his supplication has a specifically Christian nature when Hallward implores him to pray: “'Lead us not into temptation. Forgive us our sins. Wash away our iniquities'... Isn't there a verse somewhere: 'Though your sins be scarlet, I will make them white as snow'?" (Wilde 162). This image of redemption recalls the comment of Wotton on Gray's “pink-white boyhood” (Wilde 21). The color imagery indicating purity in these metaphors indicates yet another affinity between Dorian Gray and the Bible, particularly in their ideas of morality and moral purification/restoration implied. in salvation. The painting redeems Gray (if only physically) to his former state of thriving youth, unburdened by the rot of aging, untarnished by the bruise of his malice, just as Christ does to sinners and forgiveness does to a soul “scarlet” with sin. Hallward's quote on sin comes from the book of Isaiah (KJV). This pre-messianic text prophesies in the following chapters that "unto us a child is born, a son is given unto us... and his." name will be called... Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). The origin of this observation implies that readers should consider the painting's restorative powers as an example of salvation; limited in this circumstance to the physical self of a blessed and cursed man. In Gray's case, however, the painting is an inversion of Christ in two respects: the image is an inanimate, enchanted object rather than a divine teacher, and it cleanses from Gray only the physical symptoms of immorality rather than completely rebuking the inner part, spiritual decay that persists in his soul and soon becomes visible on the canvas. However, these anomalies fail to significantly distort the underlying parallel between the salvation granted and the answered prayers that Christ and the painting share. Immersed in biblical references that make Wilde's text fertile ground for symbolic comparisons, the relationship between Gray and the painting mysteriously mirrors that between Christ and sin-filled humanity. Just as Gray is “converted” in the protection of the painting, Christian sinners are reconciled to “the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21), a spiritual version of Gray's spotless youth. Like Adam and Christ, Gray's painting has a moral and unyielding father who opposes the tempter's desire to ruin the golden nature of his protégé. Basil Hallward is the artistic intellect and great designer behind the portrait (Christ) who saved Gray (humanity) from facing all the repercussions of his sinful conspiracy with Wotton (the Devil). Furthermore, like his allegorical counterpart who placed the first man in Eden, Hallward presides over the garden setting in which Gray's nature is first tempted to indulge its baser desires. As the “parent” of the painting, Hallward symbolically plays the role of the Father entity in the Christian trinity. He is the main force in the novel's allegory who brings forth “the only begotten of the Father” (John 1:14) who saves humanity from the condemnation of mortality. He is a clear supporter of tradition and of a vision of morality consistent with that of the biblical law which the Father espouses: he despises the malicious and deceitful way in which Wotton speaks of his marriage, he complains that his old friend is completely ashamed of [his] own virtues” (Wilde 6) and refuses to invest in Wotton's blasé opinion that “conscience.