The Picture of Dorian Gray

“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame. The Picture of Dorian Gray, the only novel by Oscar Wilde is also his most famous work. First published in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine in 1890, the novel was recognised as a masterpiece decades later. Initially, it garnered negative criticism due to the undercurrents of homosexuality which hurt Victorian sensibility. In his characteristic witty fashion, Wilde conveys brilliantly the relationship between art, life and morality. Dorian Gray, a disarmingly good-looking young man, marvels at his own portrait and is resentful of the idea of the portrait remaining beautiful while he is destined to age. Thus, he makes a Faustian wish to remain young and retain his physical beauty forever whereas his portrait is to be marked with age and his moral degradation. Oscar Wilde notably defended The Picture of Dorian Gray by seeking the artist’s right to make ‘art for art’s sake’, a concept famous during Aestheticism in the latter half of the 19th century. The Picture of Dorian Gray remains influential even in the 21st century.”