Explain the view on beauty and morality that Oscar Wilde provides in 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is highly allegorical and perfectly summaries the Aesthetic theories about the purpose of life which is only found in the pursuit of pleasure and beauty. Dorian realizes this during his first meeting with Lord Henry. The man explains that beautiful young people have the world in their hands. However, beauty is not a long-lasting quality. Thus, Lord Henry makes the young boy face the sad reality of its fleetness. Once his most appreciated characteristic is gone, Dorian will be lost. Moreover, the novel also attributes to the concept of beauty, escapist qualities. Indeed, it becomes a realm that shelters people from their real selves. For instance, to avoid his hideous self, Dorian immerses himself in a world of beautiful things, i.e. music, art, jewels, etc.
Dorian soon realizes that beauty and youth are valuable tools to achieve his desires. This represents the beginning of Dorian's deprecation. Thus, to preserve his pretty features, he sells his soul to the Devil. In this way, Dorian freely lives a life in the name of atrocities and nasty behaviours. He becomes an immoral being while still keeping his beauty. Yet, no one ever suspects that Dorian truly is this hideous human being. Wilde plays with the correspondence existing between the physical and spiritual realms: beautiful people are automatically moral human beings while ugly people will always be immoral. However, his variation of this concept is the picture. Indeed, when Dorian destroys it, he cannot avoid the punishment for all his sin which is death. Eventually, the picture will be saved and restored in its beauty thus conveying the message that art is the only eternal form of beauty.