Thank you very much. In point 1 I need to formulate my question better. As for the other points I'd like you to revise the language, especially in point 4.
1) Why is Wilde's "The picture of Dorian Gray profoundly allegorical? What does the picture symbolize and what is the moral of the novel?
2) The story can be intepreted as a 19-th century version of the myth of Faust, who sells (or sold?) his soul to the devil in exchange for absolute knowledge.
3) This soul becomes the picture (better: can be compared tothe picture), which records the signs of time, the corruption and the sins hidden behind Dorian's eternal beauty.
4) Wilde plays on the Renaissance correspondence existing between the physical an spiritual realms: beautiful people are moral people; ugly people are immoral people.
5)His variation on this theme is in his use of the magical portrait.
The picture is not an autonomous self: it stands for the dark side of Dorian's personality, his double, which he tries to forget by locking it in(to) a room.
1 answer
Remember that short stories, songs, poems, and other short works use quotation marks around their titles, but titles of books, films, and other long works are italicized:
(Broken Link Removed)
And you might want to check out different sections here if you have questions about the novel:
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/doriangray/
2) The story can be interpreted as a 19th century version of the myth of Faust, who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for absolute knowledge.
3) This soul can be compared to the picture, which records the signs of time, the corruption, and the sins hidden behind Dorian's eternal beauty.
4) Wilde plays on the Renaissance beliefs regarding the physical and spiritual realms: Beautiful people are moral; ugly people are immoral.
5)His variation on this theme is in his use of the magical portrait. The picture is not autonomous: It symbolizes the dark side of Dorian's personality, his double, which he tries to forget by locking it in a room.