The Picture of Dorian Gray Book Review

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

1890

Gothic, Philosophical Fiction

Over the years in the classic lit community, I have heard so much about The Picture of Dorian Gray. On Instagram, I follow classic lit meme accounts (yes, I know that says a lot about me,) and one of the most popular books to ‘meme’ is The Picture of Dorian Gray. Along with jokes, Oscar Wilde’s only novel has been praised for its amazing prose and starting the aestheticism movement in literature. After reading The Picture of Dorian Gray, I can only agree about the book’s beauty and meme-ability.

I will be honest in saying that I did struggle a bit reading this book. It had been over a year since I last picked up a book published before 1970 for fun. Getting into the flow of words that are not as familiar as the current day vernacular definitely took some time. Trying to enjoy classics instead of studying them like I do for school takes even more time. In the end though, it was worth it! I ended up putting down the novel a couple times so I didn’t plough right through it in one sitting!

Wilde’s prose is vivid and unlike anything I’ve ever read. Every chapter has dozens of quotable lines. Wilde’s work in poetry shines through and adds a lot of feeling to the characters. The only other author that I have read before with a similar dedication to description and detail is John Steinbeck, though obviously the two authors have different content within their works.

The character Dorian Gray is truly what makes this novel. He is very much a stagnant character whose representation of art in life makes for an interesting character study. I liked how the book spans many years to show how much his character stays the same even though he ruins the life of those who surround him. I also found much of the homoerotic subtext to be interesting. Other than some of Shakespeare’s works, The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of the oldest books I have read to have characters rumored/presumed to be gay. I think representation is so important in literature, and it's very difficult to find in older books. 

I do want to mention here that this book, unfortunately, has a couple paragraphs that include blatant anti-Semitism and misogyny. As much as I adored reading The Picture of Dorian Gray, I can’t write this review without acknowledging that there are parts of this book that may not be comfortable for some to read. Overall, I really wanted to write about this because of how it fits in with the larger discussion of how issues in books in the larger literary canon aren’t always discussed. While I’m far from saying that I or anyone else can’t adore some elements of The Picture of Dorian Gray, it’s important to acknowledge how other parts of this book perpetuated story types and have the possibility to cause pain. 

I would still recommend the book to anyone interested in reading a literary classic, but I would also recommend reading some of the articles that outline the issues. Compared to other books I have read from the nineteenth century, I think The Picture of Dorian Gray stands out. I felt like the character of Dorian and his friends are identifiable in the modern day. Plot-wise, I also found it really compelling and different from a lot of other things I have read.

Rating: 4/5 Overall, I enjoyed the reading experience and hope to come across one of Wilde’s books of poetry in a secondhand store soon!