The Picture of Dorian Gray

I read this for school and had always heard great praise about it. When I started to read it i expected something more supernatural and instead got a self involved conceded man. The over all idea that Wild provided of manipulation and good vs evil was well shown in the novel as well as the most innocent turning to evil.

The picture of Dorian Gray is a story depicting the human soul and the negative implications of narcissism. In addition, it also takes a unique artistic perspective on the importance of preserving “innocence”. First published in 1890 in Lippincott’s monthly magazine it was decried immoral. That being said, The Picture of Dorian Gray was a novel simply ahead of the time it was published. In revising the text the following year, Wilde included a preface, which serves as a useful explanation of his philosophy of art. The purpose of art is to have no purpose. In order to understand this claim fully, one needs to consider the moral climate of Wilde’s time and the Victorian sensibility regarding art and morality. The Victorians believed that art could be used as a tool for social education and moral enlightenment, as illustrated in works by writers such as Charles Dickens. Not too entirely stray from this novel, the preface in itself is truly a masterpiece. I highly recommend this novel to those who have a serious and sincere interest in the arts.

"[W]hat does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose … his own soul?'" (Chapter XIX)

The Picture of Dorian Gray was entertaining to read and had an unexpected ending. The prose was beautiful, and there were many references to roses. The idea of this story is very creative and I was surprised that the story was this interesting. The only problem I had was that there were too many conversations to demonstrate Lord Henry's thoughts.


One day, Basil Hallward, an artist, sees Dorian Gray at a gathering and feels instantly connected to him. Basil feels that Dorian can inspire his work to be tremendous.

Basil befriends Dorian, and asks him to come to his studio so that Dorian can get his picture painted. Dorian is beautiful and young, and Basil always tells him that.

Soon after, however, Basil hints to his friend, Lord Henry, about his strange meeting with and interest in Dorian Gray. And that Dorian has inspired him, and his paintings to be the best that he has ever painted.

Hearing that Dorian is untainted, Lord Henry wants to show Dorian the world, and to help Dorian experience new thoughts and emotions. Although Basil wants to keep Dorian to himself, because he knows the mind games that Lord Henry plays with all of his friends, Henry ends up meeting Dorian by accident, when Dorian comes to the studio. That is how innocent Dorian's life changes.

Later, Lord Henry tells Dorian that he can have everything he wants in his youth, because of his appearance, but that beauty won't last forever. Dorian becomes upset, and after Basil is finished painting picture of him, Dorian wishes that he could look like the Dorian in the picture forever, and that the Dorian in the picture would age instead him.

See the wicked evils that Dorian commits to alter the face in the picture. Read the thoughts and ideas Lord Henry plants into Dorian's mind, like a devil whispering into his victim's ears.


The following are a few lines I enjoyed:

"The advantage of the emotions is that they lead us astray, and the advantage of science is that it is not emotional." (Chapter III)

"Experience was of no ethical value. It was merely the name men gave to their mistakes." (Chapter IV)

"It often happened that when we thought we were experimenting on others we were really experimenting on ourselves." (Chapter IV)

"... who were extremely old-fashioned people and did not realize that we live in an age when unnecessary things are our only necessities…" (Chapter VIII)

"So I have murdered … her as surely as if I had cut her little throat with a knife. Yet the roses are not less lovely for that. The birds sing just as happily in my garden." (Chapter VIII)

"'To cure the soul by means of the senses, and the senses by means of the soul!'" (Chapter XVI)

"It is said that passion makes one think in a circle."(Chapter XVI)

"Knowledge would be fatal. It is the uncertainty that charms one. A mist makes things wonderful." (Chapter XVIII)

"Crime belongs exclusively to the lower orders … I should fancy that crime was to them what art is to us, simply a method of procuring extraordinary sensations." (Chapter XIX)

4/5

Honest to God, Dorian Gray could be the only book I was allowed to read for the rest of my life, and I would not grow tired of it. I cannot explain how much impact it has had on my life, and how much it has changed me as a person. this sounds cliche and ridiculous, but it also has changed the way I look at everybody else.
I could go on until the Second Coming about my favourite book, but one cannot truely appreciate this masterpiece simply by reading a review by some stranger over the internet. You must experience this work of amazing fiction for yourself.
Thank you for taking time to read this, and thank you, Oscar Wilde.