This book was an obvious choice to begin active participation in 2012 Sister Book Challenge. It's been sitting on my shelf for years now, as I bought it bound together with The Importance of Being Earnest. I studied the latter in year 11, but never got around to reading its neighbour.
I'm glad I didn't, because I think at 17 it would have messed with my head. At 23 I still struggled with its dark themes.
I'm going to stop teasing you now and practice my good reviewer skills. The Picture of Dorian Gray is the story of a young aristocrat who gives the book its name. Soon after meeting Dorian Gray, Lord Henry points out to him that his wondrous will fade and with it his charms, while his portrait will always bear the bloom of youth. Upon hearing his, Dorian wishes the reverse were true: that he could go on looking young and unblemished, while the picture grew old. You can probably see where this is going, although I didn't: Dorian's wish is granted.
This book explores themes of morality without being preachy, instead employing a standoffish, interested manner. It looks at what "sin" does to a man. The book considers why men (sic) do wrong -- or rather, why they don't not do wrong. Dorian Gray's wealth and social standing protect him a great deal from punishment for the amoral life he leads, and his face does not bear the mark of his iniquity. It is only his soul that suffers.
I had never considered the idea of a face bearing one's past and revealing one's soul but I see now that it's a valid point. I enjoying thinking this idea through as I read the book.
Authorship of Dorian Gray is also very important. At times I felt as though Lord Henry was merely a voicepiece for Oscar Wilde's own philosophical ideas. They were interesting, but the dialogue with him became tiresome, as it was comprised almost entirely of aphorisms and epigrams.
Oscar Wilde's own private life is also relevant to the text. Apparently when it was first published in 1890 it was censored and banned in many places and widely condemned as immoral. After the first edition Wilde had to change it to be less homoerotic. The morality of the author was conflated with that of the text. This was bidirectional: Oscar Wilde's own homosexuality was seen to pollute his work, and also the immorality in the text was considered to reflect on the soul that produced it.
When I read The Importance of Being Earnest, I had no idea Oscar Wilde was a raging homo. Reading The Picture of Dorian Gray, however, I bore this fact in mind as I considered the campness of the text. The Importance of Being Earnest is heavily invested in heterosexual notions of marrying and giving in marriage**. In Dorian Gray, marriage is more of a general background to male friendship. The two main characters (both male) apart from Dorian are in love with him, though only one admits to it, and there are hints that Dorian does not exclusively "ruin" young women. I'm not sure if I would have noticed these elements if I was still ignorant of Oscar Wilde's sexuality, and I think it's a fascinating point to consider: how much of the author we put into the text. Death of the author debate, etc, etc, blah blah blah.
One more note before my final evaluation: the novel is quite mysogynistic, anti-semetic, and a little bit racist. It's hard to know how much of this is a product of its time, and how much is Oscar Wilde being an arsehole.
So: should everyone read this novel? Yes, I think so. It's brilliant, with original concepts and ideas, and I think it's the sort of book that can be read over and again. Everyone should read it -- but only once they're in their mid-twenties, maybe, and not if they're too melancholic.
*Pardon the double negative.
**It is important to note, though, that Wilde hardly takes these things seriously.
(Read Jocelyn's review here)
I'm glad I didn't, because I think at 17 it would have messed with my head. At 23 I still struggled with its dark themes.
I'm going to stop teasing you now and practice my good reviewer skills. The Picture of Dorian Gray is the story of a young aristocrat who gives the book its name. Soon after meeting Dorian Gray, Lord Henry points out to him that his wondrous will fade and with it his charms, while his portrait will always bear the bloom of youth. Upon hearing his, Dorian wishes the reverse were true: that he could go on looking young and unblemished, while the picture grew old. You can probably see where this is going, although I didn't: Dorian's wish is granted.
This book explores themes of morality without being preachy, instead employing a standoffish, interested manner. It looks at what "sin" does to a man. The book considers why men (sic) do wrong -- or rather, why they don't not do wrong. Dorian Gray's wealth and social standing protect him a great deal from punishment for the amoral life he leads, and his face does not bear the mark of his iniquity. It is only his soul that suffers.
I had never considered the idea of a face bearing one's past and revealing one's soul but I see now that it's a valid point. I enjoying thinking this idea through as I read the book.
Authorship of Dorian Gray is also very important. At times I felt as though Lord Henry was merely a voicepiece for Oscar Wilde's own philosophical ideas. They were interesting, but the dialogue with him became tiresome, as it was comprised almost entirely of aphorisms and epigrams.
Oscar Wilde's own private life is also relevant to the text. Apparently when it was first published in 1890 it was censored and banned in many places and widely condemned as immoral. After the first edition Wilde had to change it to be less homoerotic. The morality of the author was conflated with that of the text. This was bidirectional: Oscar Wilde's own homosexuality was seen to pollute his work, and also the immorality in the text was considered to reflect on the soul that produced it.
When I read The Importance of Being Earnest, I had no idea Oscar Wilde was a raging homo. Reading The Picture of Dorian Gray, however, I bore this fact in mind as I considered the campness of the text. The Importance of Being Earnest is heavily invested in heterosexual notions of marrying and giving in marriage**. In Dorian Gray, marriage is more of a general background to male friendship. The two main characters (both male) apart from Dorian are in love with him, though only one admits to it, and there are hints that Dorian does not exclusively "ruin" young women. I'm not sure if I would have noticed these elements if I was still ignorant of Oscar Wilde's sexuality, and I think it's a fascinating point to consider: how much of the author we put into the text. Death of the author debate, etc, etc, blah blah blah.
One more note before my final evaluation: the novel is quite mysogynistic, anti-semetic, and a little bit racist. It's hard to know how much of this is a product of its time, and how much is Oscar Wilde being an arsehole.
So: should everyone read this novel? Yes, I think so. It's brilliant, with original concepts and ideas, and I think it's the sort of book that can be read over and again. Everyone should read it -- but only once they're in their mid-twenties, maybe, and not if they're too melancholic.
*Pardon the double negative.
**It is important to note, though, that Wilde hardly takes these things seriously.
(Read Jocelyn's review here)
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