The Picture of Dorian Gray: Metaphors 5 key examples

Even where metaphor or simile are not present, flowers appear almost constantly throughout the novel. The very first line, in fact, involves not one but two different flowers:

The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden, there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn.

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As metaphor, flowers are particularly apt because of their ability to conjure clear imagery that is both visual and olfactory. This much is clear from that opening line, which emphasizes the perfume-like qualities of flowers’ scents. Visually, flowers are universally identifiable signs of natural beauty. They are, in some ways, the ultimate object of aestheticism—rich sensory experiences that last only fleetingly, leaving the beholder wanting more. It would make sense, then, why Wilde fixates on their form and function throughout Dorian Gray. The temporary joy brought by a flower underscores the central theme of the story: that beauty is temporary and defies attempts to circumvent its fading. In the "monstrous orchid" metaphor above, Wilde takes things one step further: as a virtue, beauty may only be superficial; even as the metaphors of the yellow book draw Dorian in, they corrupt his mind.

In this passage, Wilde conveys the intoxicating power of Henry’s worldview through the comparison between his philosophy and a young dancing woman. The metaphor contains an entire story of this woman behaving like a Bacchante—a female priestess of the Roman god of wine Bacchus. Through allusion, therefore, Wilde accesses the ancient mythical figures of Bacchus and Silenus and uses them to anchor his metaphor. Silenus is the foster father of Bacchus, and together with the Bacchantes, the figures are responsible for all manner of wine-soaked debauchery. Through this metaphor, Henry’s philosophy gains the power of a maddeningly drunk ancient ritual. As the reader soon learns, Henry’s colorful speech proves quite effective: Dorian Gray falls prey to his hedonism and, as the metaphor would have it, "drinks the wine" of Henry’s ideas.

This is one in a lengthy catalogue of classical allusions that Wilde uses in reference to Henry and, in particular, Henry’s affinity for Dorian and his own ideology. By surrounding Henry’s character with the world of classical mythology, Wilde is able to more emphatically differentiate between Henry’s hedonism and Basil’s Christian morality.

The strength of this metaphor hinges on the similarity between the intense, destructive effects of opium usage and the trance-like dream state Dorian Gray falls into merely through reading. The book is treated very much like a drug, not unlike opium—a comparison that speaks to the potential power of literature to affect a reader like an intoxicant. This is an especially striking portrayal considering the controversy surrounding Wilde's work (and his alleged immorality) when The Portrait of Dorian Gray was published, particularly given the public fear that the rampant excesses of aestheticism and the literary works being produced as a part of the movement would encourage actual hedonistic indulgences like drug use and debauchery among readers.

The memory of the murder, through this personification, becomes a creeping intruder sneaking into Dorian’s head in the “blood-stained” aftermath of a horrible crime. The memory betrays Dorian’s new identity as a murderer by behaving as one, invading his consciousness with knowledge of his actions. By describing Dorian’s memory in this way, Wilde both heightens the horror of Dorian’s actions and brutally conveys the painful feeling of confronting them—whether Dorian wants to or not.  Dorian's inability to escape the consequences of his own actions is a recurrent theme throughout the novel, and this passage is just one more example of Dorian facing down his deteriorating morality.

This portrait metaphor, addressed directly in Dorian’s eruption in this passage, is significant enough to transform the story as a whole into a sort of allegory. Try as Dorian might to avoid moral consequences for his rapidly accumulating transgressions, they nonetheless are brought to bear on the increasingly terrifying painting hidden in his house. His “pride and passion,” in the end, are the cause of his unintentional suicide: in striking against the painting that has come to embody his sin, Dorian strikes at the heart of his own being and dies because of it.

As an allegory, then, does The Portrait of Dorian Gray warn the reader not to succumb to the temptations of selfishness? Does Wilde mean to warn the reader that, inevitably, one's sins are reflected in their character in one way or another? Perhaps, but, as Wilde warns in his preface, books are often the victims of spurious attempts to moralize works of aesthetic value that were never designed to carry such messaging. An alternate reading of this allegory could therefore conclude that Dorian’s dramatic descent into the depths of depravity in the aftermath of learning about hedonistic philosophy and reading Lord Henry’s “poisonous book” is a satirically exaggerated thought experiment, meant to critique the protestation and censoring of literature for its perceived effect on the reader’s character.