‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ by Oscar Wilde

I have a dirty little secret to reveal: up until last weekend when I opened up my beautifully bound Penguin Classics edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray I had never before read any of Oscar Wilde’s material. I have visited his Père Lachaise grave twice, though I was too afraid of contracting impetigo to add to the lipstick marks, but only now have I got around to enjoying his work. I would have deemed my oversight deserving of a slap on the wrist but after reading the masterful novel I feel that a good solid punch in the face would be more appropriate. Once again I feel it would be somewhat tawdry to review such a prolific work of literature so I shall instead detail my personal response to the story of Dorian Gray, interspersed with some key facts about the text.

The novel was first published in 1890 as the lead story in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine, before being revised by Wilde and then published by Ward, Lock, and Company in the April of 1891. It is considered to be a work of traditional Gothic fiction with Faustian overtones and themes of aestheticism, duplicity, influence, morality and responsibility. Of his only published novel Wilde is purported to have said that ‘in every first novel the hero is the author as Christ or Faust.’ The vain and narcissistic Dorian Gray is clearly modelled on the latter, and many parallels can be drawn between the two tales.

Somewhat unbelievably, the critics’ initial response to The Picture of Dorian Gray was largely unfavourable; some adjectives used to describe it were nauseous, unclean and effeminate. Most of the criticism was directed at the novel’s homoerotic nuances. An annotated and uncensored version of the book was published under the Belknap imprint of Harvard University Press this year.

In all honesty, The Picture of Dorian Gray exceeded my every expectation. The novel shifts seamlessly in tone from light-hearted frippery to blood-spattered Gothic horror, and Wilde’s unparalleled voice excels at establishing a wide variety of moods. The exchanges between Dorian Gray, the painter Basil Hallward and Lord Henry Wotton are remarkably vivid and imbued with Wilde’s revered wit. An air of hedonism and frivolity pervades the initial chapters of the novel - all ladies bemoaning their weighty bonnets and the names dropping like rain - and it is this vibrant yet benign beginning that renders later events such as the suicide of Sybil Vane and Dorian’s sudden brutal murder of Basil Hallward all the more shocking.

Wilde’s talent is absolutely impossible to refute. As a poet he was able to hone his skills regarding description and elevated language, however what surprised me was the pace and believability of the dialogue between the characters. Never before or since has dialogue been so layered and thoughtful. Overall it is my opinion that The Picture of Dorian Gray is an undeniable jewel of a novel. It is an endlessly quotable text and a truly rare experience that affects both heart and mind.

This piece was originally published on alisonlaurabell.tumblr.com in August 2011.