Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - The Picture of Dorian Gray

Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

188 reviews

jo35_21's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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.

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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

lamnhi's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

pizzaisjesus98's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

Damn near perfect

Content Warnings

entrancedbywords's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

Let me lose my 💩 for a moment! I totally forgot I owned a copy of Dorian Grey. I went through a short lived phase of trying to collect as many penguin classics as possible. Unfortunately cause I own so many books, I forget I owned this and almost re-brought recently when I went out shopping.

Anyway...I've heard so much about this. I know it has stage plays and I haven't seen any. But now I can form my own idea of how this book can be interpreted.

When I read books I usually don't care about the author. No offence but your personal life is none of my business. But for some reason I decided to google Oscar Wilde. Bruh, what world have I been living under to find out he was gay and this book was written because he wanted to live openly in a society that excluded gay people.

I aboustely love "old english" books. I love the way English has evolved to what it currently is and how poetic in a sense something used to be.

So, this story is supposed to be how Wilde saw himself or at least a verison he wished he could be. I didn't see the gay subtext that was supposedly littered through but rather I saw a reckless, selfish, curious, imaginative man. A man who acts highly yet somehow easily influenced while feeling so certain of himself. If that's how Oscar Wilde wanted himself to be than that's something else entirely.

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