The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde

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“It is the spectator, and not life that art really mirrors”.

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In “The Picture of Dorian Gray” the wonderful fop Oscar Wilde paints a bleak picture of the repellent side of human nature as the beautiful hero Dorian Gray ages not one jot between lewd acts and malefaction but the sinister portrait of him hanging in the attic takes on all the pestilence, age and filth that befits the face of one so lost in hedonism.

That portrait is an iconoclastic image of the age: it matters little if you have ever read the book but I would be surprised if many English-speaking adults did not know at least the central theme of this most famous of short stories. The once pure “child” that is the early Dorian reveals all the stains on his blackened soul through the hidden picture.

There are many themes, if you chose to follow them, that bring a multi-layered offering to the reader, and it is testament to the great skill of the novelist that they never stumble over one another or over complicate the incredibly simple and straightforward landscape that makes it an accessible morality tale for a child.

Most obviously is the fascinating semi-autobiographical element of the story as Wilde consistently painted himself to be the hand-wringing, devious, cowardly, base, walking conundrum that is Sir Henry Wootton who is single-handedly responsible for the tarnishing of the otherwise pure heart of Dorian. Wilde was prepared to paint an ironic picture of his own “perverse” lifestyle as it was seen through the eyes of others to beat them at their own game; to throw a gauntlet to the reader asking am I really such a monster? Can one man really ruin the heart and soul of another?

To say that Wilde wrote in a tongue-in-cheek way hardly does it justice and the most fascinating theme for me is that of what constitutes art. Wilde knew the outcry that would go up on publication of this story and pre-empts it primarily through the equally famous introduction to the work, which he opens:

“The artist is the creator of beautiful things.”
…and later:
“An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style.”

The question continues to loudly blast at us throughout the story: does writing about wicked things make an author wicked? Well of course not, but Wilde’s loud cry in 1891 was met with derision and scorn by its critics.

Self destruction is something that Wilde knew a good deal about and this theme speaks to a sad core running through Wilde’s own life. We will all meet our ends at some time or another and whilst Wilde does not patronise the reader by alluding to an all-powerful God he does ultimately take Dorian up the stairs to face the deformed picture of his now terrible self, just as we must all some day be true to ourselves and answer to our own consciences.

Of course the biggest theme of all is that of individualism and where it sits in any given society. Wilde was true to himself and his homosexual nature at great personal cost but Dorian was not. Dorian Gray was a creature of the night flitting from one den of iniquity to another all under the cover of darkness and/or shame. Ultimately he pays the greatest possible price – was that really for his misdemeanours or on a different spectrum entirely, was it rather for his dishonesty to himself?

Few can read A Picture of Dorian Gray without finding themselves mulling these still relevant topics but that does not mean there is nothing else to the work. Far from it: Dorian Gray is a novel veritably dripping with opulence through the luxuriant writing style that Wilde is now so famous for. From the beautiful and glamorous world in which the charming and apparently perfect young gentleman moves in, to the untold horrors of the filthiest of unspeakable whorehouses that he roams to Wilde is simply in his element. His language is rich as only his can be.

This novel is really a horror story, it is chilling and dark throughout as the reader can barely believe the depths to which our hero has sunk. However, it is interesting how often the veil is drawn across before actual acts of “debasement” are perpetrated and they are rarely, if ever, spelt out to the reader. More powerfully, one is left to fill in those terrible blanks.

I make no apology for bringing into this review so much of the life and times of the author himself because "A Picture of Dorian Gray" is so intricately tied up with it and Oscar Wilde is so widely known and respected today, thank goodness. It is one of his best works and is a stark reminder of the changing face of what society can accept and embrace and it is a beautifully well-constructed and written work.

If you have never read it, well, read it.

If you have read it, well, read it again.