eBook
English language
Published Feb. 15, 2022 by Ryerson Pressbooks, Pressbooks.
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) is a philosophical novel by Irish playwright Oscar Wilde; it is his only novel. The story centre’s on Dorian Gray, the subject of a full-length portrait in oil by Basil Hallward, an artist impressed and infatuated by Dorian’s beauty. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, an aristocrat who teaches him that beauty and sensual fulfilment are the only things worth pursuing in life.
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) is a philosophical novel by Irish playwright Oscar Wilde; it is his only novel. The story centre's on Dorian Gray, the subject of a full-length portrait in oil by Basil Hallward, an artist impressed and infatuated by Dorian's beauty. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, an aristocrat who teaches him that beauty and sensual fulfilment are the only things worth pursuing in life.
Oscar Wilde would not appreciate me trying to place unintended meaning atop this classic work of fiction so I'll just say that it's a beautiful representation of Wilde as an artist - sumptuous prose with cutting wit, disarming passages that wax poetic buttressed against satire, social commentary and (forgive me, Oscar) a little cynicism. A delight.
