Megan-+The+Picture+of+Dorian+Gray

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Oscar Wilde born October 16, 1854 in Dublin Ireland grew up to be the writer of __The Picture of Dorian Gray__. Wilde wrote many poems and playwrights but ended up writing only one novel in his lifetime.He attended Magdalen College in Oxford England where he was influenced to become a writer. In 1883 he moved to Paris,France where he met his wife Constance Mary Lloyd. They had two sons who's names were Cyril and Vyvyan. The summer of 1891 however he met a man named Lord Alferd 'Bosie' Douglas who slowly became his lover and they were together until Wilde was arrested. He was charged with gross indecency and ended up serving two years in prison. His wife Constance ended up leaving him and moved to Switzerland and changed the family name to Holland. After Wilde was released from prison, he was never fully able to create any major works and died on November 30 1900. (Oscar Wilde) 

The Summery  "I admit that I think that it is better to be beautiful than to be good. But on the other hand no one is more ready than I am to acknowledge that it is better to be good than to be ugly."(Wilde 204)

__The Picture of Dorian Grey__ takes place in London, England in 1890. The Main character of this story is Dorian Grey, who is a wealthy and upperclass man. In the story he ends up meeting Basil Hallward who is an artist, Basil ends up  painting a picture of Dorian Grey. The picture he paints becomes highly important in the story. While Basil is paintng Dorian, Lord Henry visits Basil. Basil decides that Lord Henrys influence on Dorian would be bad so he decides that the two should not meet but in the end they do meet. Lord Henry puts this thought into Dorian’s head that he will not always be this beautiful young man. Dorin then wish’s to have the picture age rather then him "If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! For that-for that I would not give! I would give my soul for that! (Wilde Pg.26 ). Dorian ends up staying young and beautiful while his soul ends up in the picture and starts to age every time he commits a sin. Throughout the story he is influenced by Lord Henry and is given a book at one point that causes him to commit many sins. Each time he commits the sins the picture keeps on ageing and it finally gets to Dorian Grey where a tragic end happens.

What Worked and what did not There was one quote in the preface that really helped show the meaning in this book "All art is quite useless" (Wilde) throughout the story the author develops the characters very well and you can tell the relationship between them all. There were some parts where you could be slightly confused because he uses old English from the 1890s, but for the most part you were able to understand the wording. Throughout the story Wilde contradicts what he says all the time which is a very interesting way of stateing what was being said. An example of this would be in the preface where he is talking about art and how it shows importance but just ends of stating that all art is useless. This book flows very well and is written in a great way that keeps you interested in the story.

This Book would be considered as a Gothic Novel, it is written in the past and is told by and anonymous narrator.

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Why this book should be on the outstanding book list  This Book Deserves to be on the outstanding book for the college bound for the great themes it shows throughout the book. The Theme that stood out in my mind was that influence can play a huge role in someone’s thoughts. Basil states "Don't spoil him. Don't try to influence him. Your influence would be bad. The world is wide, and has many marvelous people in it. Don't take away from me the one person who gives to my art whatever charm it possesses: my life as an artist depends on him" (Wilde 10). Basil was worried how bad influence over Dorian would end up changing his views on the world. In the story Lord Henry is an example of a bad influence he is the one to make Dorian think that he will not be beautiful in the future if he did not look the same; causing Dorian to wish is soul away. Lord Henry also gives Dorian a book causing him to commit great acts of sin. This story shows great examples of how someone can influence people greatly. It uses great detail which puts a picture into your head so you can visualize what is going on in the book quite well. The author uses interesting statements throughout the book that make you want to go back and reread what you just read and think about it for a while. The Characters become highly developed and you start to feel for them throughout story. This story deserves to be on this list because it is a well written story and shows many ideas throughout the book. I would recommend this book because it is a different kind of story that many have not heard. It is very interesting and keeps you hooked the further you get into the book. The first few chapters may be kind of slow but if you keep reading you will want to know what is going happen more and more as the story goes on. The author wrote this story very well and I recommend that everybody should read this book. This book is for those who are looking for an interesting story with a surprising twist at the end.

 Other Outstanding books you may want to consider if you enjoy this book - Bram Stokers- Dracula Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Other Books In the Same Genre- Charlotte Brontë's- //Jane Eyre// Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca

"Oscar Wilde - Biography and Works." __The Literary Network__. 2008. Jalic Inc. March 12 2009. <[]> <span style="font-size: 129%; color: rgb(128,0,128); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Wilde, Oscar. __The Picture of Dorian Gray__. New York: A Tor Books,1999.