The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a cautionary tale of the desire for beauty and youth, and the young Dorian Gray’s descent into corruption. Interlacing the ideas of beauty, art, sin and consequence, Oscar Wilde’s only novel caused outrage within the Victorian establishment.
- Luscious and naughty, with an important message about Oscar Wilde’s society
- Prescient exploration of our obsession with youth and desirability.
- The controversy this book caused by challenging cultural paradigms makes this a must-read.
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde’s controversial life is almost as famous as his outstanding variety of literary work. Born to Anglo-Irish intellects in Dublin, Wilde followed in their footsteps reading classics atTrinity College, and then Greats at Magdalen College, Oxford. Moving to London he became one of the city’s leading personalities, with his flamboyant style and sharp wit making him hugely popular within the social and cultural circles.
Wilde was one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian period, with his dramas being performed both in London and Paris, with The Importance of Being Earnest, deemed his masterpiece. A leading voice in the advocacy of the rising philosophy, aestheticism, and ‘art for art’s sake,’ Wilde brought these themes of beauty, decadence and sin into his work, most famously in his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray.
In 1895, he was convicted of gross indecency and sentenced to two years’ hard labour. It was this imprisonment that seriously implicated his health and served as the inspiration of his last piece of work The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Not long after, in 1900, Wilde died destitute and exiled aged 46 in Paris.
Illustrations by artist Phillip Osborne.
Finit! Can't wait to keep reading! These initial dialogues between these three characters were quite interestingly amusing and captivating. Touching on many character developments: Basil's obsessive, single minded foucus on his art, or Lord Henry's arrogant, manipulative demeanor and discourse, and of course Dorion's blatant concern for only himself and his vanity. What will he do to keep his "youth"? :-).