Therefore, from my simple analysis I would say that Oscar intentionally tried to show how gender inequality existed in England at that time, how women were seen as brainless beauty in a place where its powerful ruler was the greatest queen, the mighty queen Victoria. It is an irony, isn't it?Â
Second, the picture of Dorian Gray is a product of Oscar's protesting action toward the problematically cultural-moral values and beliefs of people in England during the Victorian era
Young vs Old (the way how people at that time used "age" as one of the parameters in judging people's quality)
In this novel, the writer also used binary opposition tenet which was in term of age; young versus old. Oscar implicitly reveals how age could be seen as a crucial thing in human lives. The characters like Henry and Dorian who are narrated as young men seem to be given better quality. They are portrayed as the ones who were more capable, powerful and respectable. They are narrated to have better, more pleasurable lives.
"because you have the most marvelous youth and youth is the one thing worth having"
-Lord Henry-
"When your youth goes, your beauty will go with it... and when one loses look, whatever they may be, one loses everything"
-Lord Henry-
As I already mention, I think from this novel, we could learn how at that time many people in England stick to problematic and unhealthy beliefs such as they did use "age" as one of the key parameter's in measuring one's worthiness and quality. Dorian and Lord Henry for instance they did believe that youth was one of the greatest assets a person had in which could be very beneficial to lead him to a satisfying life because when he was young, he could achieve whatever he intended to have, the world was with him. Other people would respect and adore him for the young outlook he embraced and the moment when he started aging, than he would lose all the sweets of life. No more respect and adoration, no more popularity. That is why in this novel Dorian is portrayed as a young man who was very obsessed to stay young and delicate. On the other hand, being old was considered as the unlucky, annoying and miserable thing. They believed that elder people would not be able to achieve as much and as great as they did when they were still young. That is why they believed one's quality and worthiness degraded at the time when he started aging.
From the analysis, I could conclude that Oscar implements "binary opposition" by comparing two contradicted things "old" and "young" in aims to portray how a few of beliefs and values that society in England at that time were more likely problematic.
Other forms of binary opposition (Pretty vs Ugly and Intellectual vs Stupid: the way how people at that time used "physical outlook and intellectual capability" as the other important parameters in judging people's quality and worthiness)
