Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

I loved this book! A friend told me that she loved it (you know who you are muffin!) so I decided it was something I had to read. I consider this of the “freaky moral” genre. I’m pretty sure I made that up. It has a bit of a surreal fairytale feel to it that held my attention right to the end.

Dorian Gray is a pure young man when he first meets Henry Wotton. Personally, I view Henry as the embodiment of the devil in the story. Henry is the reason that Dorian transforms into the vain and evil man that he becomes by the end of the book. There is also another character, Basil Hallward, who is the embodiment of reason, morality, good and sanity. Like an angel and a devil on each shoulder, Basil and Henry play tug of war with Dorian until finally Henry’s wild and eccentric personality wins, corrupting Dorian forever.

At the beginning of the story Basil paints a picture of Dorian. The picture becomes the embodiment of Dorian’s soul. No one really knows how this happened, it just does by something invisible magical force. During the course of his life, Dorian never ages and changes but the always picture does, reflecting his true self. The picture also changes to reflect Dorian’s soul and the marks left on it by the evil things he does. Dorian is responsible for a young woman’s suicide, for murdering someone else, for blackmail, for drug use, for adultery, and the list goes on. By the end of the book, the picture (Dorian’s soul) is distorted and grotesque. Dorian obsesses about his soul and the picture, refusing to let anyone see it and eventually not even being able to look at it himself. Ultimately, this leads to his complete madness and self-destruction.

This book is also homoerotic. Innuendos aside, many men outwardly profess their love for other male characters in the story. There is no doubt that the reader is intended to question Henry in particular’s sexual orientation. His love for Dorian, as well as Basil’s, are not platonic in nature. It is also implied that Henry is married simply for appearance and we find out that his wife is not only suspicious of the same thing. I am not sure what the purpose was for this, but I definitely enjoyed it. It is not something you expect to find, especially in novels of that time period.

This book’s representation of the human soul is also interesting. The implied frailty of the soul is ever present with the picture and Dorian’s obsession with it. The shame that Dorian experiences when visually faced with his rotting soul is a really interesting concept. It also begs the question, what is a soul and do they really exist?

I would recommend this book. There is no doubt that it is a classic for a reason. Scholarly studies aside, anyone should read this book because it really is a good story.


Book Information
Title: The Picture of Dorian Gray
Author: Oscar Wilde
Year of publication: 1891
Publisher: Ward London
Purchased at: Free Kobo Book
Reading Time: Rating: 5/5