Reviews with content warning for Murder - The Picture of Dorian Gray

From the Preface
"All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath it do so at their own peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their own peril. It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors."

From Chapter 2
"Youth is the only thing worth having. When I find that I am growing old, I shall kill myself."

From Chapter 20
"As it had killed the painter, so it would kill the painter's work, and all that that meant. It would kill the past, and when that was dead he would be free. It would kill this monstrous soul-life, and without its hideous warnings, he would be at peace. He seized the thing, and stabbed the picture with it."

Final Scene
"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."

Review
Oscar Wilde shows his artistic mastery through the preface, where he explores how we view art and warns against the danger of searching too deeply for hidden meanings. The Book follows Dorian's tragic journey after encountering someone(shall not be named) who views youth and beauty as life's most powerful attributes. This encounter leads to his obsession with maintaining his youth an obsession so profound that he declares he would rather die than grow old.

Ironically, this declaration becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. In his final moments, Dorian believes that destroying the painting will solve everything, failing to realize that he himself is the artist's true masterpiece. He is both the art and the subject, the unchanging past incarnate, the monstrous soul he seeks to destroy. In attempting to find peace through the painting's destruction, he ultimately fulfills his earlier vow—he kills himself upon facing his own aging visage.

Dorian's fatal error lies in forgetting the books essential truth "Life itself was the first, the greatest, of the arts, and for it all the other arts seemed to be but a preparation." We must embrace life itself, not merely the temporary beauty of youth.

Content Warnings

hihicass's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

fepope's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

rosesus's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

i can completely understand why this book is a classic, even if i'm not the biggest fan of it. i think it wraps like it's plot well, and followed the general route i was expecting it to. i bet people went wild for this in the 1800's.

Content Warnings

rkivewonderland's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

mousmoulo's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

bless my useless workplace i've become literate again 🤩

anyway yeah idrk about this one. i annotated the shit out of my copy and yet by page 180 i was more than ready for it to end. i think the fact that the ending was very clearly foreshadowed since like page 3 didn't help keep my interest, but watching dorian gray's moral and psychological decline, as well as his descent into madness (and especially the (in)direct consequences of

sybil vane's death

) was incredibly interesting.

i think my biggest grievance with this book was henry's entire character. every time he started monologuing i had to sigh and brace myself for a lot of eye-rolling. obviously he's not meant to be a loveable character but jesus fucking christ dude. SHUT UP. i'm not even sure what bothered me i just needed him to stop ❤️

yeah i wouldn't say this was for me but i'm still glad i finally got around to reading it on my own time. i can still appreciate this classic for what it is and what wilde meant for it to be, and as far as certain themes go he did a splendid job given his contemporary circumstances, but i still believe he was easily at his best when he was being satirical.

Content Warnings

katelyn_stark's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Content Warnings

wellreadandhalfdead's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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