The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a philosophical novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde. A shorter novella-length version was published in the July 1890 issue of the American periodical Lippincott's Monthly Magazine.[1][2] The novel-length version was published in April 1891.
"Dorian Gray" redirects here. For the character, see Dorian Gray (character). For other uses, see Dorian Gray (disambiguation) and The Picture of Dorian Gray (disambiguation).Author
English
823.8
PR5819.A2
The story revolves around a portrait of Dorian Gray painted by Basil Hallward, a friend of Dorian's and an artist infatuated with Dorian's beauty. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton and is soon enthralled by the aristocrat's hedonistic worldview: that beauty and sensual fulfillment are the only things worth pursuing in life. Newly understanding that his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses the desire to sell his soul, to ensure that the picture, rather than he, will age and fade. The wish is granted, and Dorian pursues a libertine life of varied amoral experiences while staying young and beautiful; all the while, his portrait ages and visually records every one of Dorian's sins.[3]
Wilde's only novel, it was subject to much controversy and criticism in its time but has come to be recognized as a classic of Gothic literature.
Publication and versions[edit]
1890 novella[edit]
The literary merits of The Picture of Dorian Gray impressed Stoddart, but he told the publisher, George Lippincott, "in its present condition there are a number of things an innocent woman would make an exception to."[5] Fearing that the story was indecent, Stoddart deleted around five hundred words without Wilde's knowledge prior to publication. Among the pre-publication deletions were: (i) passages alluding to homosexuality and to homosexual desire; (ii) all references to the fictional book title Le Secret de Raoul and its author, Catulle Sarrazin; and (iii) all "mistress" references to Gray's lovers, Sibyl Vane and Hetty Merton.[5]
It was published in full as the first 100 pages in both the American and British editions of the July 1890 issue, first printed on 20 June 1890.[8] Later in the year the publisher of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, Ward, Lock and Company, published a collection of complete novels from the magazine, which included Wilde's.[9]
Reactions[edit]
Contemporary response[edit]
Even after the removal of controversial text, The Picture of Dorian Gray offended the moral sensibilities of British book reviewers, to the extent, in some cases, of saying that Wilde merited prosecution for violating the laws guarding public morality.
In the 30 June 1890 issue of the Daily Chronicle, the book critic said that Wilde's novel contains "one element ... which will taint every young mind that comes in contact with it." In the 5 July 1890 issue of the Scots Observer, a reviewer asked "Why must Oscar Wilde 'go grubbing in muck-heaps?'" The book critic of The Irish Times said, The Picture of Dorian Gray was "first published to some scandal."[40] Such book reviews achieved for the novel a "certain notoriety for being 'mawkish and nauseous', 'unclean', 'effeminate' and 'contaminating'."[41] Such moralistic scandal arose from the novel's homoeroticism, which offended the sensibilities (social, literary, and aesthetic) of Victorian book critics. Most of the criticism was, however, personal, attacking Wilde for being a hedonist with values that deviated from the conventionally accepted morality of Victorian Britain.
In response to such criticism, Wilde aggressively defended his novel and the sanctity of art in his correspondence with the British press. Wilde also obscured the homoeroticism of the story and expanded the personal background of the characters in the 1891 book edition.[42]
Due to controversy, retailing chain W H Smith, then Britain's largest bookseller,[43] withdrew every copy of the July 1890 issue of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine from its bookstalls in railway stations.[5]
At Wilde's 1895 trials, the book was called a "perverted novel" and passages (from the magazine version) were read during cross-examination.[44] The book's association with Wilde's trials further hurt the book's reputation. In the decade after Wilde's death in 1900, the authorized edition of the novel was published by Charles Carrington, who specialized in literary erotica.
Modern response[edit]
The novel was considered a poorly written novel and unworthy of critical attention until about the 1980s. Richard Ellmann wrote that "parts of the novel are wooden, padded, self-indulgent"; Édouard Roditi held a similarly negative opinion about the novel. Afterwards, critics began to view is it as a masterpiece of Wilde's oeuvre. [45] Joyce Carol Oates wrote of the book "it is exceptionally good-in fact, one of the strongest and most haunting of English novels", while noting that the reputation of the novel was still questionable.[46]
In a 2009 review, critic Robin McKie considers the novel to be technically mediocre, saying that the conceit of the plot guaranteed its fame, but the device is never pushed to its full.[47] On the other hand, in March 2014, Robert McCrum of The Guardian listed it among the 100 best novels ever written in English, calling it "an arresting, and slightly camp, exercise in late-Victorian gothic".[48]
Editions include:
