Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Portrait of Dorian Gray: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (Reader's Choice Edition)

Oh, how to begin talking about this book? I adored it, despite it being clearly problematic at times (misogyny, antisemitism, romanticizing adults attracted to children and the likes, though some of it isn't clear whether it is coming from the characters or the author) but it is also so wonderful. Wilde's prose is incredibly poetic but by all means, my favourite thing about this classic is all the references and themes of beauty and greek ideals, as well as tragedy, terror and fatality, because it parallels my favourite book of all time: The Secret History. I wonder if Donna Tartt drew some of her inspiration from Wilde, and more specifically Dorian Gray.

"Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic" "Beauty is terror, whatever we call beautiful we quiver before it"

"There is something fatal about a portrait" "Does such a thing as the fatal flaw, that showy dark crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside literature? I used to think it didn't. Now I think it does. And I think that mine is this: a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs"

Dorian, which at times does remind me a little of Henry, is constantly being referred to as greek figures like Appollo or Narcissus. The way Sybil, his first love, is described reminds me a lot of Camilla.

There's also this romanticising of suicide/death where Sybil's, and later Basil's, ends are seen as a beautiful thing, through the lens of Shakespearean references like Romeo and Juliet or Ophelia, and it is simply used as a device to further Dorian's transformation.

As an artist myself, this novel, just like the works it draws parallels with, really touched me. I found the end of both the book and of Dorian's, incredibly fitting. How he, or rather his youth, it's memory, ended up absorbed in his portrait, as it was always meant to. How his soul, and its true nature, was released as Dorian enacts the final act, which reflects what he himself admired in his love interests, which is to kill himself, though quite inadvertently.

As a queer person, I can’t end this review without mentioning that I appreciated reading a classic written by another queer person, despite Wilde being problematic. And I appreciated all the queer subtext, if you can call it that (as to me, it was the clearest thing). I believe this book to be about the tragic love story of Dorian and Basil, or at least, of Basil's love for Dorian, and Dorian's love for himself.

Content Warnings

readingwithasha's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

"What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose...his own soul?"

This is the fundamental question explored in Oscar Wilde's magnum opus, The Picture of Dorian Gray. In only 270 pages, Wilde creates a compelling story with enough background that the foreground is that much more electric. The characters are complicated, elusive, and perhaps most importantly, flawed.

The ending, in particular,

reminded me so much of Black Swan! The Aronofsky HAS to be inspired by this story. The constant pursuit of beauty, youth, and perfection ultimately leading to their demise. And of course at the end, when Nina thinks she's stabbing the Black Swan, she's actually stabbing herself.

The interplay between love, violence, lust, and greed is extraordinarily compelling.

Content Warnings

neali's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious medium-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

Content Warnings

perth_is's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

happy pride month, everyone

Content Warnings

micaela11's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No

2.5

overall interesting but all those quotes about women, society and morality were way too on the nose and extremely repetitive, i guess at the time it might have been shocking because people weren't allowed to say stuff like that but side eye if you find it really smart now

Content Warnings