The Price of Untamed Shadow in the Picture of Dorian Gray

Abstract

The human psyche will forever remain a subject of profound mystery that demand deep enquiry about its nature and how it operates.The motivation behind this extended essay lies forth in bringing an analysis of Oscar Wilde’s Novel The Picture of Dorian Gray from a Jungian perspective; the archetype of the shadow is a central focus throughout the work. The reader could interpret the characters in the novel as a manifestation of various archetypes established by Jungian psychoanalysis. The essay aims to view literature under the scope and lens of psychoanalysis alongside diving into the definition and origin of the key concept of the shadow and how it shapes itself in the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. Another aim is to clarify why shadow integration is necessary by exhibiting instances from the novel and from history where man’s untamed psyche was the product of death and destruction, the damage can be avoided by introducing the readers to methods and tools that Jung advises to become more aware of the unconscious and therefore to not remain a slave to the animalistic buried urges of the shadow by completing the individuation process.