Ackroyd’s preface in the original Penguin Classic said that this novel leads us to know about the secret life and an analysis of the darker side of late Victorian
society. The Picture of Dorian Gray offers a disturbing portrait of an individual coming face to face with the reality of his soul. This novel talks about spiritual
corruption in which a young man exchanges his soul for eternal youth to indulge in his desires Edinburgh, 2003: ix .
Meanwhile, Camille Cauti, Ph.D. points out that The Picture of Dorian Gray is a fantasy story about a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and
beauty. According to her, this novel is not only about immortality but also about the life of the upper class people at that time since the main characters are upper
class society that shows hypocrisy http:www.awerty.comThe Picture of Dorian Gray.htm.
There have been many studies related to Wilde’s work The Picture of Dorian Gray from many different points of view. Most of the previous studies
discussed The Picture of Dorian Gray from psychological point of view, in which this thesis will also discuss the novel from the same point of view. Diiferent from
the others, this thesis is focusing on two opposing principles brought by Freud that is said to be the battle between the flesh and spirit seen from the characters and
the conflicts within the story. This thesis also tries to see whether or not the battle between the two principles within the novels reflects the author’s inner conflicts.
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B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theories on Literature
The first group of theories being used in this thesis is theories on literature. Since the thesis starts analyzing the intrinsic elements of the literary work,
therefore it is appropriate to put literary theories at the beginning.
a. Theory on Character and Characterization
Character, according
to Abrams 1993: 23 in his book A Glossary of
Literary Terms, is the person “presented in a dramatic or narrative work … interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional, and
emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say-the dialogue-and by what they do-the action”. While according to Holman and Harmon 1986: 81 in A
Handbook to Literature, a character is a complicated term including the idea of moral constitution of human personality, the moral uprightness, and the presence
of creatures in works of art which seem to be human in one way or the other. From these sources it can be concluded that character is a complicated term
presented in literary work which has the idea of moral constitution in human’s personality and having moral uprightness which the readers interpret as having the
qualities of human in one way or the other. A character may be flat or having only a single idea or quality without
much detail or round, that is having more complex characteristics as real life person. A character may also be static, experiencing only slight changes in the
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plot, or dynamic, influenced by actions and experiences and used to reveal the consequences of his or her actions Holman and Harmon, 1986: 24.
Characterization is the way in which the author reveals or creates the characters in hisher work, making them ‘alive’ for the reader Holman and
Harmon, 1986: 81. In his book Holman and Harmon 1986:81 state that there are three fundamental methods of characterization in fiction. First, the explicit
presentation by the author, second, the character’s own presentation in action without any comment from the author, and the last one is the representation from
within a character of the impact of certain events towards the character’s inner self, also without any interference from the author.
Meanwhile M.J. Murphy 1972: 161-173 in Understanding Unseens An Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students
explained that there are nine ways of how an author makes his character understandable for the reader. Sometimes the steps are not all used by authors to
show their characters’ characteristics, however some of them must exist. a.
Personal Description The author can describe a person’s appearance and clothes in details so that
the readers will be able to figure the personality of the character based on his or her appearance.
b. Character as seen by another
Instead of describing a character directly the author can describe him through the eyes and opinions of another character in the novel.
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