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the picture of delorean gray
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The Picture of Dorian Gray and Three Stories
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"The Picture of Dorian Gray, " Wilde's only full-length novel, is the enduringly eerie fable of a portrait that ages and decays as its model remains ever young and beautiful. Dorian Gray, a naive and irresistible young man, is lured by decadent Lord Henry Wotton into a life of depravity. Dorian becomes steeped in sin, but his face remains perfect, unlined - while only his portrait, locked away, reveals the blackness of his soul.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1,1891
This edition
- Format
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320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
- Published
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June 1, 1995 by Signet Classics
- ISBN
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9780451526014
- ASIN
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0451526015
- Language
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English
About the author
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Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, and his criminal conviction for gross indecency for homosexual acts.
Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. In his youth, Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, he read Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles.
Wilde tried his hand at various literary activities: he wrote a play, published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on "The English Renaissance" in art and interior decoration, and then returned to London where he lectured on his American travels and wrote reviews for various periodicals. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into what would be his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). Wilde returned to drama, writing Salome (1891) in French while in Paris, but it was refused a licence for England due to an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Undiscouraged, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London.
At the height of his fame and success, while An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) were still being performed in London, Wilde issued a civil writ against John Sholto Douglas, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel hearings unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and criminal prosecution for gross indecency with other males. The jury was unable to reach a verdict and so a retrial was ordered. In the second trial Wilde was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labour, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. During his last year in prison he wrote De Profundis (published posthumously in abridged form in 1905), a long letter that discusses his spiritual journey through his trials and is a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. On the day of his release, he caught the overnight steamer to France, never to return to Britain or Ireland. In France and Italy, he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life.
Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. In his youth, Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, he read Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles.
Wilde tried his hand at various literary activities: he wrote a play, published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on "The English Renaissance" in art and interior decoration, and then returned to London where he lectured on his American travels and wrote reviews for various periodicals. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into what would be his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). Wilde returned to drama, writing Salome (1891) in French while in Paris, but it was refused a licence for England due to an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Undiscouraged, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London.
At the height of his fame and success, while An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) were still being performed in London, Wilde issued a civil writ against John Sholto Douglas, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel hearings unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and criminal prosecution for gross indecency with other males. The jury was unable to reach a verdict and so a retrial was ordered. In the second trial Wilde was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labour, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. During his last year in prison he wrote De Profundis (published posthumously in abridged form in 1905), a long letter that discusses his spiritual journey through his trials and is a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. On the day of his release, he caught the overnight steamer to France, never to return to Britain or Ireland. In France and Italy, he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life.
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Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 99 votes)
5 stars
30(30%)
4 stars
34(34%)
3 stars
35(35%)
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99 reviews All reviews
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3.5/5
this is a book i might have to come back to in order to figure out how i feel about it. i don't hate it, i like it—but it's not particularly the kind of outstanding that people have talked about that i expected to experience.
the story's great. the writing is surprisingly easy to read. the pacing is weird, but i don't hate it. i love the commentary on narcissism, beauty, and art and how they're all connected. i love how wilde manifested this in the portrait. the passages are witty, the dialogue is funny, thought-provoking, and quote-worthy though it drags at times. the three main characters are very interesting and the relationships between them and how they influence each other deserves a different conversation on its own that might lead one to believe i think of this book as a five-star-read but, no.
despite the usual justification of it being a classic, it's weirdly anti-semitic at times, and the misogyny is a really interesting thing to read about, knowing the homoerotic subtext of this book and the widely known fact that oscar wilde was part of the community. we all know how men think about women, but it's interesting to see what a gay man has to say. it's not tasteful but it lends a better understanding into the lives of these characters, especially dorian's and henry's, all hedonistic and lavish.
this is one of those books that i don't love, but that i liked enough, that i have many thoughts about, and thus, can talk about for hours.
this is a book i might have to come back to in order to figure out how i feel about it. i don't hate it, i like it—but it's not particularly the kind of outstanding that people have talked about that i expected to experience.
the story's great. the writing is surprisingly easy to read. the pacing is weird, but i don't hate it. i love the commentary on narcissism, beauty, and art and how they're all connected. i love how wilde manifested this in the portrait. the passages are witty, the dialogue is funny, thought-provoking, and quote-worthy though it drags at times. the three main characters are very interesting and the relationships between them and how they influence each other deserves a different conversation on its own that might lead one to believe i think of this book as a five-star-read but, no.
despite the usual justification of it being a classic, it's weirdly anti-semitic at times, and the misogyny is a really interesting thing to read about, knowing the homoerotic subtext of this book and the widely known fact that oscar wilde was part of the community. we all know how men think about women, but it's interesting to see what a gay man has to say. it's not tasteful but it lends a better understanding into the lives of these characters, especially dorian's and henry's, all hedonistic and lavish.
this is one of those books that i don't love, but that i liked enough, that i have many thoughts about, and thus, can talk about for hours.
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An author's own comments on his fiction are interesting, maybe even useful for understanding his intentions, but not some kind of divine revelation.
In his preface to Dorian, Wilde wrote about how it's gauche to attempt to pinpoint the meaning of a work of art. This is pretty adolescent stuff, especially when Wilde put so much effort into the wording of the preface. We all know he fancied himself an aesthete, but when you go and read the story itself, you inevitably conclude that underneath all of the fussy fixation on beauty, Dorian was actually a scared baby who was being gradually suffocated by internal guilt.
That is the moral of the story, that you can't cover over truth with beautiful words.
In his preface to Dorian, Wilde wrote about how it's gauche to attempt to pinpoint the meaning of a work of art. This is pretty adolescent stuff, especially when Wilde put so much effort into the wording of the preface. We all know he fancied himself an aesthete, but when you go and read the story itself, you inevitably conclude that underneath all of the fussy fixation on beauty, Dorian was actually a scared baby who was being gradually suffocated by internal guilt.
That is the moral of the story, that you can't cover over truth with beautiful words.
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This is my first time reading this since high school and it's definitely more misogynist and anti-Semitic than I recall...
But, you know, still funny and insightful. Would watch Dorian Gray's reality television show.
But, you know, still funny and insightful. Would watch Dorian Gray's reality television show.
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truly captivating, i did not want to put the book down. i feel that dorian's character was kind of easy to empathize with because he was the most real, i could somewhat understand why he was the way he was at times. i found it interesting how much he aged/changed mentally throughout the story despite not changing physically. i think there's a lot to be learned from this book. ( I also found Lord Henry's philosophies and points of views really thought provoking)
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I’ve tried to appreciate Oscar Wilde and finally have to admit I just don’t enjoy his writing. There is too little plot and description that goes on forever. A paragraph can go on for longer than a page. But it’s good to read a classic every so often, and this was on my list. I thought I knew the premise- a painting that ages instead of its subject. To a point that is true, but the idea goes much deeper. The painting takes on the visage of the subject’s soul, and Dorian Gray’s soul becomes dark and ugly. Such an interesting idea, but the book itself was a chore to get through.
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I’m not technically finished with this book. I finished The Picture of Dorian Gray, and I’m going to hit pause for now—at least until after book club.
I’m going to say I liked it. There were parts that I hated (any time Henry/Harry was talking and chapter 11) but there were other parts that were really excellent. Once you get past chapter 11 things really start moving and Wilde plays up the gothic elements (also we get a break from Henry/Harry). That’s when I feel like the novel really hit its stride. Then Henry/Harry pops back up and it’s annoying for a bit. I think he’s supposed to serve as comic relief in this latter part, but it just didn’t land for me. He’s one of those men who thinks he’s charming everyone around him, and is unaware that everyone sees through it and hates him. Anyway, we get back on track after that and finish strong. The one time I didn’t hate Henry/Harry is during their final conversation when you can really see who was naïve all along. I’m noticing now that Henry/Harry really became the villain for me, and am feeling impressed at how Wilde maintained the humanity of and sympathy for Dorian despite the character’s depravity. I think this will be a good one for book club. There will be lots to talk about. Clubbers beware; it seems like I’ll be ranting about Henry/Harry.
I’m going to say I liked it. There were parts that I hated (any time Henry/Harry was talking and chapter 11) but there were other parts that were really excellent. Once you get past chapter 11 things really start moving and Wilde plays up the gothic elements (also we get a break from Henry/Harry). That’s when I feel like the novel really hit its stride. Then Henry/Harry pops back up and it’s annoying for a bit. I think he’s supposed to serve as comic relief in this latter part, but it just didn’t land for me. He’s one of those men who thinks he’s charming everyone around him, and is unaware that everyone sees through it and hates him. Anyway, we get back on track after that and finish strong. The one time I didn’t hate Henry/Harry is during their final conversation when you can really see who was naïve all along. I’m noticing now that Henry/Harry really became the villain for me, and am feeling impressed at how Wilde maintained the humanity of and sympathy for Dorian despite the character’s depravity. I think this will be a good one for book club. There will be lots to talk about. Clubbers beware; it seems like I’ll be ranting about Henry/Harry.
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Look, I appreciate the literary brilliance, but by the end, I felt like my brain had been put in a blender on high speed. The writing? Beautiful. The story? Intriguing. My comprehension level? Somewhere between ‘Huh?’ and ‘Excuse me??’
The first half had me hooked, and I was vibing with the dark, eerie atmosphere. But then the psychological weirdness cranked up to 100, and I found myself questioning reality, the meaning of life, and whether I accidentally skipped a chapter (I didn’t). Wilde, my guy, I respect the vision, but did you really have to make me feel this intellectually inferior?
Three stars for the vibes, the drama, and the existential crisis. Would I recommend it? Yes, but only if you’re ready to sacrifice a few brain cells in the process.
The first half had me hooked, and I was vibing with the dark, eerie atmosphere. But then the psychological weirdness cranked up to 100, and I found myself questioning reality, the meaning of life, and whether I accidentally skipped a chapter (I didn’t). Wilde, my guy, I respect the vision, but did you really have to make me feel this intellectually inferior?
Three stars for the vibes, the drama, and the existential crisis. Would I recommend it? Yes, but only if you’re ready to sacrifice a few brain cells in the process.
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