The Myth-Archetypal Interpretation Of Life Theme In The Picture Of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde,born in Ireland,is an outstanding dramatist,novelist,essayist,poet and also the advocate of “art for art’s sake” movement in Britain in the 19 th century.His long novel,The Picture of Dorian Gray(hereafter abbreviated as Picture),is considered the best work to embody his artistic appreciation.Under the basic real background,the author describes a fictional,even bizarre story,making the novel full of metaphorical meaning and becoming a fable about art and life.Myth-Archetypal theory combines the objective description with the supernatural performances,absorbs the materials from the folktales and myths and legends,and also relates to the social reality.The thesis applies the analytic methods of myth-archetype criticism and text analysis,from a new viewpoint of the supernatural power and metaphor of the myth,mainly through the life analysis of Dorian without his soul from degeneration to death and the interpretation of the picture’s moral metaphor,exploring the complexity and conflict of human nature.The study finds that the introduction of myths breaking the limitation of traditional creative techniques,meanwhile,Wilde reinvests them with new form and connotation,arousing people’s concern about life and reality.