Please comment on motifs in The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Let us remember that motifs are defined as recurring
structures, devices and contrasts that can help develop and inform the major themes of
the text being studied. Clearly, one central motif to this novel which is inescapable is
that of the portrait of Dorian Gray. Note that it is referred to as "the most magical of
mirrors" and reflects his soul by indicating the physical consequences of his actions
and which he is spared from suffering in his own body. This parallels Dorian's
hedonistic quest to live life satisfying his own desires and seeking pleasure first and
foremost by constantly coming to haunt him with guilt and
conscience:

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Eternal youth, infinite passion, pleasures subtle
and secret, wild joys and wilder sins--he was to have all these things. The portrait was
to bear the burden of his shame; that was
all.

In it he sees echoes and
traces of his sins. In particular the cruelty that characterised his relationship with
Sibyl Vane is present there in the smirk that he sees and the blood on his hands after
his murder of Basil.

As with any motif, you would benefit
from tracing the portrait and how it operates through the novel, identifying its
importance and how it relates to other key themes in the text.