Dorian Gray syndrome "fountains of youth"" (2001), in a symposium about the unrealistic male pursuit of bodily perfection — by means of lifestyle-enhancing drugs, aesthetic surgery, and psychotropic medicines — and its consequences for his mental health as a social being. The culturally descriptive name of the syndrome refers to the eponymous protagonist of the novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1891), by Oscar Wilde, the story of a very handsome young man who much admires and envies the just-completed portrait of himself, and wishes that it would grow old, rather than he. In order to resist the physical corruptions of time and
The Picture of Dorian Gray Dorian possesses at the start of the story. Throughout, Lord Henry appears unaware of the effect of his actions upon the young man; and so frivolously advises Dorian, that "the only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing." As such, the devilish Lord Henry is "leading Dorian into an unholy pact, by manipulating his innocence and insecurity." In the preface to "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1891), Wilde speaks of the sub-human Caliban character from "The Tempest". In chapter five, he writes: "He felt as if