Tori-The+Picture+of+Dorian+Gray

Author Biography
 Oscar Wilde was born on October 16th, 1854, in Dublin, Ireland. He was the second son to the family, his full name being Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde. He was a playwright, poet, and author of many short stories and one novel. He personally believed greatly in art providing a sensuous pleasure rather than having moral or sentimental messages. This view of art eventually led him to write his only novel, __The Picture of Dorian Gray__. A good quote that describes this work, one in the novel itself, is: "The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame" (Wilde 185). Wilde's novel is very controversial in the points it makes within its pages. His literary-filled life ended on the 30th of November in 1900 (Biography and Works 2008).



Oscar Wilde's __The Picture of Dorian Gray__
"The artist is the creator of beautiful things" (Wilde 3). This line starts off the Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray. It has a great symbolistic value when looked at in relation to the story in the novel. There is not much that can be said about that, however, without ruining the book.

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Basil Hallward, a talented painter, meets a young man Dorian Gray and requests to paint a portrait of him. Dorian accepts, and soon the portrait is finished. It is Basil's best work yet, and Hallward finds himself obsessed with Dorian. The young man, though, sees the beauty in himself, and after borrowing a book from his new good friend, Lord Henry Wotton, falls in love with his own beauty. This becomes a problem, however, and when Dorian falls for a young actress called Sibyl Vane, he ends up leaving her, and she loses all love for herself and acting. Sibyl kills herself soon after Dorian leaves her. This begins to show the destructive power of Dorian Gray, and it only escalates as the book continues on. It is discovered that Dorian's beauty is now ageless; instead it is the portrait that ages. Filled with hate and disgust for the ugly painting that shows his true self, Dorian hides it in a locked attic room. ======

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Dorian Gray's aetheticism eventually leads to his own death at the end of the novel. He grows angry at the portrait and seeks to destroy it. He takes a knife and stabs the heart of the painting. A cry is heard from inside the room and the servants force their way inside. "When they entered, they found hanging upon the wall a splendid portrait of their master as they had last seen him, in all the wonder of his exquisite youth and beauty. Lying on the floor was a dead man, in evening dress, with a knife in his heart. He was withered, wrinkled, and loathsome of visage. It was not till they had examined the rings that they recognized who it was" (Wilde 190). ======

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In the end, Dorian's true self is killed, and the painting is returned to its own ageless beauty. Dorian lives a sort of double life throughout the novel, hating the painting and loving his beauty and youth. Wilde does a wonderful job of illustrating a mental picture of what is going on. The book is known for its prominent homosexuality, but the original version was more obvious. It was edited in 1981 to the version it is now. The 1980 version had overt homosexual references. Hedonism is also present throughout the whole book, as Dorian indulges in whatever pleasure he can, whether moral or immoral. Because of the things shown in the book, it is very controversial, less so now than it was in the 1800s when it was originally published. ======

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This was a wonderful book. It was very deep, and the writing style of Oscar Wilde is marvelous. Wilde was a very talented writer. I only had some trouble getting through the first couple of chapters, but after that, the book moved smoothly and easily. ======

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 If you liked this book, I would recommend this.

 **__Works Cited__** 
"Oscar Wilde - Biography and Works." __The Literary Network__. 2008. Jalic Inc. March 11 2009. []