It is generally said that Oscar Wilde is influenced by Shakespeare. In this article I will examine William Shakespeare's Macbeth and Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, and discuss similarities in their structure, plot, and motif, and their use of ruined historical background in their tragedies from the viewpoint of the double images reflected in their works. From the beginning to the end, above-mentioned two tragedies seem to deal with the mutual theme of inward conversation, or double images, which develop their stories. There are also similarities in their structure and plot, and effective use of the historical background. First, the alteregos of the heroes are expressed as tempters as if they are stimulating the main character from outside. Temptations arise in the heroes' minds Lady Macbeth's words of malicious desire in Macbeth, and pleasure seeking in Dorian Gray. They develop into the double images in the heroes' mind, cause conflicts in the their personalities, lead them into the chaos, and finally drive them into self-destruction. These phenomena are described as if they are conversations with his lady in Macbeth's case, and with the influential friends and the portrait in Dorian' s case. However, these phenomena can be interpreted as inner dialogues interacting with the heroes' alter-egos in their unconscious. Thus, we 117can say that the similarity in their structure consists of the following steps: temptation >> action >> conflict >> destruction. Second, the morbid idea in the historical backgrounds is effectively used in both tragedies. In Macbeth, under the influence of James I, Satanism and the superstitious belief of witches such as witch-hunts and witch-trials are effectively used to make its uncanny atmosphere impressive. In Dorian Gray, humanism restricted under the excessive Puritanism in the Victorian Age is effectively contrasted with Greek philosophy and new hedonism, and make the author' s art theory convincing. In addition, each work clarifies the most significant similarity, that is, the author's morality, by plotting the hero's sufferings from double images and a sense of guilt, and his dreadful conclusion. Hence, both Shakespeare and Wilde greatly succeed in making the characters vivid by inward conversation in the character's mind. As outlined above, we can conclude that the dualism, or double images reflected in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray is under the strong influence of the dualismreviewed in Shakespeare's Macbeth in the structure, motif, plot and in the effective use of the historical background. Each author tries to introspect the inner self through literature and regards life as the greatest art.
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