THE CHARM OF CORRUPTION BEHIND A RESPECTABLE FAÇADE IN THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

Medeniyet, yalnızlık, bencillik, tembellik ve çökme gibi kışkırtıcı şeylerle dolu bir olgudur. Kültür, bir toplumda yaşayan insanların karakterini, ahlakını ve zekâsını etkileyen ana faktördür ve bu insanların tecrübe ettiği her ne varsa, kültürlerinden ayrı düşünülemez. Ahlaki çöküşün bir aynası olan, Oscar Wilde'ın kaleme aldığı Dorian Gray'in Portresi, suç ve kültür arasında hiçbir temel uyumsuzluğun olmadığını gösterir. Statü ve dış görünüşün çok önemli olduğu bir toplumda, sadece iki seçenek vardır: bireyler ya medenileşecek ya da yozlaşacak. Oscar Wilde'ın Dorian Gray'in Portresi adlı eserinde resmedilen Viktorya aristokrasisinin ve orta sınıfın ikiyüzlülüğü, yozlaşmış toplum ile bireylerinin yozlaşmış tabiatı arasındaki yakın ilişkinin iyi bir örneğidir. Suçla saplantılı olma, hata ya da bireysel suç gibi kültürel bir olgudur. Bu yüzden, yazımın amacı, başkarakter Dorian Gray'ın toplum içinde saygıdeğer ve şerefli bir rol üstlenirken, hem kültürel hem bireysel dürtülerin etkisiyle dünyevi arzu ve tutkularından dolayı nasıl suça, yolsuzluğa ve ikiyüzlülüğe bulaştığını göstermektir. Dorian Gray, toplum içindeki görünüşteki saygın duruşunun aksine, kültürel ve estetik dürtülerden dolayı, gizli kötü yanının kurbanı olmuştur. Güzellik, gençlik ve ölümsüzlüğe olan aşırı tutkusu, kaçınılmaz ölüm, yaşlılık ve insanoğlunun yozlaşmış çifte tabiatı gibi hayatın gerçekleri karşısında başarısız olur. Bu nedenle, bu çalışma, aynı zamanda, Gray'in düşüşünün hedonist nedenlerle, kibir, narsisizm, estetik duygusuyla ve ebedi gençliğe ve güzelliğe duyulan can alıcı arzuyla körüklendiğini belirtecektir. Bu, Gray'in kendi içindeki kötülüğe ve kötülüğün çekiciliğine ayna tutan, çift yönlü bir hayattan aldığı lezzete işaret etmektedir

DORIAN GRAY’İN PORTRESİ’NDEKİ SAYGIN GÖRÜNTÜ ARDINDAKİ YOZLAŞMA BÜYÜSÜ

Civilization is a phenomenon full of temptations such as isolation, selfishness, idleness and decadence and culture is the main factor which affects the character, morality and intellect of people of a society and whatever is experienced by these people it is inseparable from their culture. A mirror of moral decay in Victorian middle-class, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde indicates that “there is no essential incongruity between crime and culture”(Pater, 1986: 152). In a society in which status and appearance are of great importance there are only two options, individuals will be either civilized or corrupted. The hypocrisy of Victorian aristocrasy and the middle-class depicted in The Picture of Dorian Gray is a good example of the close connection between a corrupted society and the depraved nature of its individuals. Preoccupation with crime is a cultural phenomenon as well as an error or individual guilt. Hence the purpose of my paper is to demonstrate how the protagonist, Dorian Gray, is involved in crime, corruption and hypocrisy because of his worldly desires and passions affected by both cultural and individual incentives, while he assumes a respectable and honourable role in society. Dorian Gray has become the victim of his hidden malicious side, in contrast to his seemingly respectable posture in society, owing to cultural and aesthetic temptations. His extreme desire for beauty, youth and immortality fails in the face of life realities such as inevitable death, oldness and corrupted dual nature of human beings. Therefore this study will also point out that Gray’s downfall is incited by hedonist reasons, vanity, narcissism, passion for aestheticism and a fateful wish for eternal youth and beauty. This refers to the evil within himself and his enjoyment of a double-edged life that reflects the beauty of evil

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