The Picture of Dorian Gray
In a world where beauty is worshipped and youth fleeting, The Picture of Dorian Gray tells the haunting tale of a man who trades the erosion of his soul for the preservation of his face. Beneath the glittering charm of Dorian’s exterior lies a portrait—locked away and festering—bearing the grotesque truth of his moral decay. As he indulges in every pleasure and evades every consequence, the novel dares to ask: what becomes of a life unburdened by guilt but untouched by grace? Wilde’s gothic masterpiece is a seductive meditation on vanity, corruption, and the cost of eternal youth—a mirror both enchanting and unforgiving. How long can one outrun the shadow cast by his own desires?
- Originally Published: 1890
- Publisher: SF Classic, 2020
- Genre: Gothic fiction
- Pages: 254
- Book Type: Hardcopy
- ISBN: 978-1774378359
- Access: Members
Description
The Picture of Dorian Gray is Oscar Wilde’s only novel, first published in 1890, is a brilliantly designed puzzle, intended to tease conventional minds with its exploration of the myriad interrelationships between art, life, and consequence. From its provocative Preface, challenging the reader to believe in ‘art for art’s sake’, to its sensational conclusion, the story self-consciously experiments with the notion of sin as an element of design. Yet Wilde himself underestimated the consequences of his experiment, and its capacity to outrage the Victorian establishment. Its words returned to haunt him in his court appearances in 1895, and he later recalled the ‘note of doom’ which runs like ‘a purple thread’ through its carefully crafted prose.
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