Comparing Narcissus And The Picture Of Dorian Gray
764 Words4 Pages
The story of Narcissus, the greek beauty is widely known around the world and throughout civilizations. It stands as a reminder of the awful consequences of vanity, yet, it also stands as a reminder of beauty and youth, and the great lengths people go in order to maintain it. In this essay, the connection between the protagonist of “the Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar wilde and Narcissus will be explored. As well as what it means to be an actual Narcissus and the consequences this brings. In order to examine this in full detail, the story of Narcissus will be reminded to the reader, as well as Dorian Gray’s story. Then, both stories shall be compared and analyzed. Only in this way, the connection between both stories can be completely evaluated.…show more content… Narcissus was the son of the River God Cephisus and a nymph. He was a young man with extraordinary beauty, and extreme vanity. In previous encounters he had proved himself to be selfish and uncaring for anything other than him and his own benefit. One day, when walking by a river, he decided to drink some water. Unfortunately for him, he saw his own reflection in the water. He was so mesmerized by his own beauty that he did not want to move away. He stayed there looking at himself and eventually died of starvation. When analyzing this story, one finds that the main attributes of Narcissus were based solely on his beauty and his own obsession with it. Perhaps this may also describe Dorian in a perfect