This is the only novel published by Oscar Wilde and he did
suffer quite a bit for the consequent controversies and outrages it sparked;
for it was written in 1895.
It has a prologue justifying the work of art as a beautiful
thing. As much as the fact that the book is worth picking up only to read the
prologue, the wisdom in reading the eerie story that follows also stands.
Dorian Gray is a young man who wishes to give his soul to a portrait of himself
in order to keep his own beauty eternally. Unfortunately for him, this wish of
his comes true. The storyline is simple. It is about Dorian’s obsession with
beauty and his subsequent unethical and evil deeds that cause his portrait to
age and ultimately culminates in his stabbing the picture and dying as a
consequence. Oscar Wilde uses three characters through whose dialogues he puts
to the reader a lot many ideas of age, beauty, art, youth, wealth, pleasure,
morality, happiness, truth and the soul. There is also a subtle hint towards
homosexuality. Through not only witty dialogues, but even by descriptions Wilde
talks of things and beliefs that contradicted those existing in that society.
Of the many wonderful things that one discovers about this
novel, the one thing that struck me most was placing of Dorian Gray in the
contrasting company of the nobility as well as the filthy back-street brothels
and dingy alleyways; a contrast that so exactly depicted his character and
lifestyle.
The dual identity issue of Dorian Gray is used in many
contexts and is most probably one that we are all familiar with in some way or
another. This is the novel that original put forward the idea. It is one of
those masterpieces that one enjoys ever so much more every next time one reads
it.
GENRE: Gothic, philosophical and speculative fiction
No comments:
Post a Comment