If you were given the choice to remain beautiful and young forever, would you take it? Dorian Gray is a young man of incredible beauty based in his boyish youth. Our tale begins with him posing as inspiration for a painter, Basil Hallward while having a conversation with a mysterious friend of Basil’s, Lord Henry Wotton. These conversations inspire tendrils of curiosity in Dorian that later grow to form the very roots of his personality. Basil gushes about how beautiful Dorian is while completing his painting which gives Dorian pause. While listening to Lord Henry talk about the complexities of life and Basil talk about his boyish looks, he realizes it is all temporary. He will grow old and wither while the painting remains perfectly young and beautiful.

The pacing of the overall novel can grind to a monotonous halt at times which can cause the reader to drag the story along with them like heavy luggage at a train station. However, Oscar Wilde has a keen art for describing subtle feelings or shifts in emotion through actions which is especially difficult given the actions are written, not viewed. The book uses a writing technique that explains entire subplots and layers of foreshadowing without directly saying it, which is a reflection of the indirect actions popularized in Victorian England, where the narrative takes place. Through extensive descriptions of Dorian’s hobbies or Lord Henry’s monologues, we see a growing sense of superiority sprouting in Dorian. Someone so kind and charming, albeit ignorant, was still nice to those around him without regard to their social status. Dorian, by the end, has become entirely obsessed with his own selfish desires and his ego, which brings me to my least favorite points in the book.

The narrative is told from multiple points of view. However, the majority of them are people who believe themselves so self-righteous or so overwhelmingly confident, we can’t bear to read their words. Yet we have to in order to fully understand the developing emotional state of all characters at a given time. I have no desire to hear dinner guests drone on about how politics are boring unless you’re someone who knows nothing about politics. Nor do I want to hear Lord Henry talk about how useless art is. Yet it is these conversations that define the actions for all characters in the big. One man is so invested in his work because his wife is cheating on him which makes his actions later in the novel so easy to telegraph. Lord Henry describing how useless art truly is defines the crumbling relationship he has with Basil throughout the novel, foreshadowing deterioration. With that balance in narrative in mine, I rate this book a 7 out of 10. If you can stand the characters long enough, an interesting tale awaits you. As always, thank you for reading my review. I look forward to any feedback you have.

SPOILER WARNING

It is pretty easy to see based on the title of the novel and the actions of the first chapter that Dorian accidentally wishes for the painting to grow old while he retains his youth forever. This is reflected by the very first horrible crime he commits. He falls in love with a young woman at a theatre, only 17 years of age. She was acting as Juliet in Shakespeare’s famous play and she was a beautiful young star. Dorian brags to his friends about her until they go and visit the theatre with him only to see his beautiful actress being the worst performing actor to ever grace a stage. She was horridly boring and dreadfully emotionless, but with a purpose. When confronted by Dorian backstage regarding her terrible acting, she stated she has no desire to pretend to feel love with grotesque old men as her cohorts when she has the real love of Dorian. This act of defiance on the stage was not only a social suicide and a job ruining event, but it also made Dorian wildly angry. He threw her to the ground and called her a disgusting woman who he will never see again. He brags about how he was going to save her from a life of poverty and how she has ruined that for herself, forever. After returning in the evening, Dorian thinks about the horrible things he said only to see a grim sneer appear on the face of his painting. It was his terrible actions that are now reflected in the face of his painting instead of afflicting his own.

He is determined, the next day, to apologize to the girl and marry her until he learns that this beautiful young woman ended her own life due to his words. Bring in Lord Henry to explain to Dorian that her death is the most interesting and poetic thing that a person could have possibly done. Her entire life, though young, was one big dramatic performance that ended in spectacular fashion. If anything, Dorian did her a favor. Thus the ugliest parts of this book show themselves. These characters are absolutely intolerable. This all happens completely without consequence. Repeatedly over the course of 30 years Dorian ruins the lives of all people around him. The whole town finds ways to avoid this aged yet beautiful bachelor due to the horrendous reputation that follows him. He and his cohorts are a reflection of people who are so self-righteous and “sophisticated” that they do the worst possible things for fun and spend their evenings at fancy dining events, justifying their own actions. The ending is certainly a form of penance. If you ask me however, it is not nearly enough to compensate for what everyone else experienced. Thank you again for reading my review.