Name: Matthew Jackson's review of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Item: The Picture of Dorian Gray
Rating: 1
Author: Matthew Jackson

Oscar Wilde

Purchase one of 1st World Library's Classic Books and help support our free internet library of downloadable eBooks. 1st World Library-Literary Society is a non-profit educational organization. Visit us online at www.1stWorldLibrary.ORG - - [3] The studio was filled with the rich odor of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn. From the corner of the divan of Persian saddle-bags on which he was lying, smoking, as usual, innumerable cigarettes, Lord Henry Wotton could just catch the gleam of the honey-sweet and honey-colored blossoms of the laburnum, whose tremulous branches seemed hardly able to bear the burden of a beauty so flame-like as theirs; and now and then the fantastic shadows of birds in flight flitted across the long tussore-silk curtains that were stretched in front of the huge window, producing a kind of momentary Japanese effect, and making him think of those pallid jade-faced painters who, in an art that is necessarily immobile, seek to convey the sense of swiftness and motion. The sullen murmur of the bees shouldering their way through the long unmown grass, or circling with mono-tonous insistence round the black-crocketed spires of the early June hollyhocks, seemed to make the stillness more oppressive, and the dim roar of London was like the bourdon note of a distant organ.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray, the only novel by Oscar Wilde, was first published in 1890. A substantially revised and expanded edition was published in April 1891. For the new edition, Wilde revised the content of the novel's existing chapters, divided the final chapter into two chapters, and created six entirely new additional chapters. Whereas the original edition of the novel contains 13 chapters, the revised edition of the novel contains 20 chapters. The novel tells of a young man named Dorian Gray, the subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward. Dorian is selected for his remarkable physical beauty, and Basil becomes strongly infatuated with Dorian, believing that his beauty is responsible for a new mode of art. Talking in Basil's garden, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, a friend of Basil's, and becomes enthralled by Lord Henry's world view. Espousing a new kind of hedonism, Lord Henry suggests that the only thing worth pursuing in life is beauty, and the fulfillment of the senses. Realising that one day his beauty will fade, Dorian cries out, wishing that the portrait Basil has painted of him would age rather than himself. Dorian's wish is fulfilled, subsequently plunging him into a sequence of debauched acts. The portrait serves as a reminder of the effect each act has upon his soul, each sin being displayed as a new sign of aging on the portrait. The Picture of Dorian Gray is considered one of the last works of classic gothic horror fiction with a strong Faustian theme. It deals with the artistic movement of the decadents, and homosexuality, both of which caused some controversy when the book was first published. However, in modern times, the book has been referred to as "one of the modern classics of Western literature.

moira

In the wild struggle for existence, we want to have something that endures, and so we fill our minds with rubbish and facts, in the silly hope of keeping our place.

juana de arco si estuviera cronicamente online

“I don’t want to ve at mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.”

"Oh, I can't explain. When I like people immensely I never tell their names to any one. It is like surrendering a part of them. I have grown to love secrecy. It seems to be the one thing that can make modern life mysterious or marvelous to us. The commonest thing is delightful if one only hides it. When I leave town now I never tell my people where I am going. If I did, I would lose all my pleasure. It is a silly habit, I dare say, but somehow it seems to bring a great deal of romance into one's life. I suppose you think me awfully foolish about it?"

The Picture of Dorian Gray (Collins Classics)

mawi

Don't, Harry. The soul is a terrible reality. It can't be bought, and sold, and bartered away. It can be poisoned or made perfect. There is a soul in each one of us. I know it.

Here is the passionate love-letter I have ever written in my life. Strange, that my first passionate love-letter should have been addressed to a dead girl. 

Macy HB

But a chance tone of colour in a room or a morning sky, a particular perfume that you had once loved and that brings subtle memories with it, a line from a forgotten poem that you had come across again, a cadence from a piece of music that you had ceased to play—I tell you, Dorian, that it is on things like these that our lives depend.

The world is changed because you are made of ivory and gold. The curves of your lips rewrite history.

The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.

To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable.

Besides, each time that one loves is the only time one has ever loved. Difference of object does not alter singleness of passion. It merely intensifies it.

They get up early, because they have so much to do, and go to bed early, because they have so little to think about.

and brought the Moon from Carthage and given her in mystic marriage to the Sun.

Nay, without thought or conscious desire, might not things external to ourselves vibrate in unison with our moods and passions, atom calling to atom in secret love or strange affinity?

But women never know when the curtain has fallen. They always want a sixth act, and as soon as the interest of the play is entirely over, they propose to continue it.

It often happens that the real tragedies of life occur in such an inartistic manner that they hurt us by their crude violence, their absolute incoherence, their absurd want of meaning, their entire lack of style. They affect us just as vulgarity affects us. They give us an impression of sheer brute force, and we revolt against that.

The secret of remaining young is never to have an emotion that is unbecoming. 

Beautiful sins, like beautiful things, are the privilege of the rich. 

The real drawback to marriage is that it makes one unselfish. And unselfish people are colourless. They lack individuality. 

He lives the poetry that he cannot write. The others write the poetry that they dare not realize.

Basil, my dear boy, puts everything that is charming in him into his work. The consequence is that he has nothing left for life but his prejudices, his principles, and his common sense. The only artists I have ever known who are personally delightful are bad artists. Good artists exist simply in what they make, and consequently are perfectly uninteresting in what they are.

The passion for property is in it. There are many things that we would throw away if we were not afraid that others might pick them up.

They spoil every romance by trying to make it last forever.

I find him in the curves of certain lines, in the loveliness and subtleties of certain colours.

Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter. The sitter is merely the accident, the occasion.

Matthew Jackson

“when i get older i want to killmyself” the book in one quote 

mahek

sani

“if a man treats life artistically, his brain is his heart.”

oh my god. thank god that i picked it up and i am now indefinitely in love with oscar wilde’s writing. the way he managed to portray dorian gray from a youthful, beautiful and shy boy to a corrupt, hedonistic criminal. i am awfully fond of lord henry and his philosophical words. he was the most intriguing character, second to only dorian gray. i will probably post a more coherent review later on. 

 ☆ some of my favourite quotes :

“the worst of having a romance of any kind is that it leaves one so unromantic.”

“i am jealous of everything whose beauty does not die.”

“when one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one’s self, and one always ends by deceiving others. that is what the world calls a romance.”

“to define is to limit.”

“that a burnt child loves the fire.”

Hanna Rybchynska

This was so interesting and different ! It has a really bold statements but it is normal for the time it was written. Really good read.

Chloé

the male characters having wives and girlfriends is hilarious to me cause they were queer as hell.

Enthralled by a portrait of himself, young Dorian Gray makes a Faustian bargain to exchange his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Thus he is able to indulge in his desires, as only the portrait bears the traces of his decadence and becomes a nightmarish picture of his soul. Edited with an Introduction by Robert Mighall Preface by Peter Ackroyd

rip dorian gray you would’ve loved young and beautiful by lana del rey

this was such an easy read and a very thrilling experience. as dorian gray devotes himself to pleasure and desire, his portrait ages and decays over time. a reflection of his heinous acts of sins.

corruption arc >>>>>>>

literauri

Sure it gets pretentious at times but that's a given considering it's an English classic written by a self proclaimed socialite, which some children have the misfortune of coming across in school but personally I was always intrigued by this story and I finally got the chance to read it when it was gifted to me. Sometimes the writing got too overly descriptive but I still couldn't put it down because I was enraptured in the plot and because I found Hendry hilarious. I mean Hendry sure is a prick but he's so funny to read for me. he says such bizarre things and the funniest little things annoy him. it is sure a little misogynistic but it was expected since it was about some kinds of obsessive toxic queer relationship of english old gay men. oh and poor Basil...he was all just a teenage girl in love. i also for some reason kept imagining Hendry Mads Mikkelson, Basil as Jude Law and Dorian as Hugh Dancy. 

Nans

Jenny Qian

these men need therapy 💀

also henry babes,,, stfu

Das Bildnis DES Dorian Gray Roman

envee

the picture of dorian gray has to be one of my all time favourite books.
where i live people often come across this book in school but unfortunately not me. after reading this years ago i was just so devastated to never tall about it in depth during class. this book is written so beautifully and tells such a tragic story of a man. oscar wild had the beautiful gift of creating such beautiful images with his words, almost in a poetical kind of way and it just fills me with such a happy feeling while reading his sentences. i really can't explain it, you have to read it yourself to get a grasp of what it really means.
everything portrayed has such a beautiful symbolic character and i guess you really have to read it a few times to really understand everything. for me his work was so enjoyable and eady to follow and i highly recommend to read it if you don't already have

Amna A.

"What the worm was to the corpse, his sins would be to the painted image on the canvas."

 Dorian Gray, a young good-looking man who wished away his soul in order to preserve his innocent, youthful appearance which was captured on a canvas by a talented artist. As time went by and those around him lost their innocence, Dorian still clutched on to his youthful blond hair, bright blue eyes, and red lips; the image of innocence itself. However, as he glances back at his portrait that withholds his soul, he sees his sins etched into his features, which reveal his actual identity. Quite haunting.

maitha mana

Dorian Gray, a man who was deemed by friends and society as beautiful and pure, and had his portrait painted to capture his "soul". With time, the painting starts to change and evolve and reflect Dorian's innermost reality, "the corruption of his own soul". The painting which also reveals the duality of man. This leads to Dorian straying away from innocence, and leads him to war with himself and those around him.

Selin Igten

to cure the soul by means of the senses, and the senses by means of the soul

The Picture of Dorian Gray is the only published novel by Oscar Wilde, appearing as the lead story in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine on 20 June 1890, printed as the July 1890 issue of this magazine. Wilde later revised this edition, making several alterations, and adding new chapters; the amended version was published by Ward, Lock, and Company in April 1891. The title is sometimes rendered incorrectly as The Portrait of Dorian Gray.The novel tells of a young man named Dorian Gray, the subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward. Basil is impressed by Dorian's beauty and becomes infatuated with him, believing his beauty is responsible for a new mode in his art. Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, a friend of Basil's, and becomes enthralled by Lord Henry's world view. Espousing a new hedonism, Lord Henry suggests the only things worth pursuing in life are beauty and fulfillment of the senses. Realizing that one day his beauty will fade, Dorian (whimsically) expresses a desire to sell his soul to ensure the portrait Basil has painted would age rather than himself. Dorian's wish is fulfilled, plunging him into debauched acts. The portrait serves as a reminder of the effect each act has upon his soul, with each sin displayed as a disfigurement of his form, or through a sign of aging.The Picture of Dorian Gray is considered a work of classic gothic fiction with a strong Faustian theme.Sample text:Chapter 1The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden, there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn.From the corner of the divan of Persian saddle-bags on which he was lying, smoking, as was his custom, innumerable cigarettes, Lord Henry Wotton could just catch the gleam of the honey-sweet and honey-coloured blossoms of a laburnum, whose tremulous branches seemed hardly able to bear the burden of a beauty so flamelike as theirs; and now and then the fantastic shadows of birds in flight flitted across the long tussore-silk curtains that were stretched in front of the huge window, producing a kind of momentary Japanese effect, and making him think of those pallid, jade-faced painters of Tokyo who, through the medium of an art that is necessarily immobile, seek to convey the sense of swiftness and motion. The sullen murmur of the bees shouldering their way through the long unmown grass, or circling with monotonous insistence round the dusty gilt horns of the straggling woodbine, seemed to make the stillness more oppressive. The dim roar of London was like the bourdon note of a distant organ...

The Picture of Dorian Grey

Rodrigo Figueiredo Severino

Although a little too overdescriptive and pretentious at times for my taste, a stunningly thought out and written story with shocking turns and with a knock out ending.

Ich glaube, das war eins der besten Bücher meines Lebens. 1891 geschrieben und trotzdem so krass aktuell, so viel Weisheit und so ein eleganter Schreibstil. Hätte ich einen Stift zum markieren gehabt, das ganze Buch wäre farbig. Auch das Ende war perfekt, ich bin hin und weg. 

( Obwohl ich sehr traurig bin, dass es keine fanfiction gibt, in der der gute Dorian Gray sein queeres Leben einfach ohne Sünde auslebt und alle sich lieb haben 👉🏻👈🏻 )

Leon

Ich glaube, das war eins der besten Bücher meines Lebens. 1891 geschrieben und trotzdem so krass aktuell, so viel Weisheit und so ein eleganter Schreibstil. Hätte ich einen Stift zum markieren gehabt, das ganze Buch wäre farbig. Auch das Ende war perfekt, ich bin hin und weg. 

( Obwohl ich sehr traurig bin, dass es keine fanfiction gibt, in der der gute Dorian Gray sein queeres Leben einfach ohne Sünde auslebt und alle sich lieb haben 👉🏻👈🏻 )

Robert Mighall

Coralie Bickford-smith

The handsome appearance of dissolute, young Dorian Gray remains unchanged while the features in his portrait become distorted as his degeneration progresses.

river

this has nothing to do with the book itself, but this edition of the book has notes letting you know what was edited for the 1891 version which i thought was cool

Isabella 

This book is absolutely haunting, yet beautiful. It has beautiful imagery and philosophies, and was overall a very entertaining read. There were so many provoking lines and passages that it makes you ponder. This is a book I would love to reread again. The storyline was interesting enough that it kept me wanting to read. Overall, It's a fascinating read, and I would recommend it to anyone. The theme is timeless as It raises numerous questions concerning our own notions in society.

The launch of the Sterling Signature Classics program. Sterling will roll out six new Signature Classics each season. When handsome young Dorian Gray sees a painter's stunning portrait of him, he is transfixed by its reflection of his own beauty. He is also troubled by the knowledge that the image in the painting will remain forever youthful and handsome while he himself grows older and less desirable. He wishes aloud that the roles were reversed, saying that he would give his soul if only the painting would suffer the ravages of time and he were to remain forever young. From that point on, Dorian lives a life of hedonistic indulgence, knowing that only the painting will show his moral corruption.

giulia

"I am jealous of everything whose beauty does not die. I am jealous of the portrait you have painted of me. Why should it keep what I must lose?"

Eine Geschichte über die Seele eines Menschen, dessen Sünden ihn in den Abgrund gerissen haben. Ein Buch über Kontrollverlust, die Triebe der eigenen Seele, sinnliche Erlebnisse und das Treiben eines Menschen, dessen alleinige Aufmerksamkeit auf den weltlichen Genuss gerichtet ist.

Die Idee, dass ein Kunstwerk, sein eigenes Porträt, die Züge seiner Seele wiedergibt und für jeden sichtbar macht, der das Kunstwerk betrachtet, während seine eigene Erscheinung makellos und unschuldig bleibt, finde ich faszinierend und genial.

 Sünden trieben Dorian in einen Käfig, aus dem er nicht mehr herausfand, ein Gefängnis, das er selbst gebaut hatte. „Sünden sind für unser Herz wie Gift für unseren Körper“ sagte ibn Qayyim in einer seiner Bücher. Oscar Wilde verstand es, diese Bedeutung poetisch und malerisch wiederzugeben.

Was mich verwunderte, ist, dass er nicht wirklich an Reue dachte, als ihn seine Taten fast in den Wahnsinn trieben. Am Ende wollte er zwar gut werden, doch stellte sich heraus, dass er dies nur aus Eitelkeit und Überheblichkeit wollte. Das Einzige, was ihm letztendlich in den Sinn kam, war, sein eigenes Porträt zu zerstören. Wie kann Zerstörung die Lösung seines langsamen Untergangs sein? Er fand keinen Ausweg, und es schien mir, als ob er gar nicht wirklich aus diesem „bequemen Leben“ entkommen wollte. Ich musste daran denken, dass die Tür, reumütig zu Allah zurückzukehren, niemals verschlossen ist; wir müssen dies nur aufrichtig wollen. Diese Hoffnungslosigkeit, die Dorian empfand, könnte uns niemals treffen, auch wenn die Sünden um Berge größer sind als die von Dorian Gray.

Ein Buch mit einer bedeutungsvollen Nachricht, die in Poesie und Literatur eindrucksvoll verpackt wurde. Ich mochte die Sprache, die Dialoge, das Setting und die geschichtlichen Hintergründe, die ich zwischen den Zeilen herauslesen konnte, die Geheimnisse des 19. Jahrhunderts.

Zainab 

Eine Geschichte über die Seele eines Menschen, dessen Sünden ihn in den Abgrund gerissen haben. Ein Buch über Kontrollverlust, die Triebe der eigenen Seele, sinnliche Erlebnisse und das Treiben eines Menschen, dessen alleinige Aufmerksamkeit auf den weltlichen Genuss gerichtet ist.

Die Idee, dass ein Kunstwerk, sein eigenes Porträt, die Züge seiner Seele wiedergibt und für jeden sichtbar macht, der das Kunstwerk betrachtet, während seine eigene Erscheinung makellos und unschuldig bleibt, finde ich faszinierend und genial.

 Sünden trieben Dorian in einen Käfig, aus dem er nicht mehr herausfand, ein Gefängnis, das er selbst gebaut hatte. „Sünden sind für unser Herz wie Gift für unseren Körper“ sagte ibn Qayyim in einer seiner Bücher. Oscar Wilde verstand es, diese Bedeutung poetisch und malerisch wiederzugeben.

Was mich verwunderte, ist, dass er nicht wirklich an Reue dachte, als ihn seine Taten fast in den Wahnsinn trieben. Am Ende wollte er zwar gut werden, doch stellte sich heraus, dass er dies nur aus Eitelkeit und Überheblichkeit wollte. Das Einzige, was ihm letztendlich in den Sinn kam, war, sein eigenes Porträt zu zerstören. Wie kann Zerstörung die Lösung seines langsamen Untergangs sein? Er fand keinen Ausweg, und es schien mir, als ob er gar nicht wirklich aus diesem „bequemen Leben“ entkommen wollte. Ich musste daran denken, dass die Tür, reumütig zu Allah zurückzukehren, niemals verschlossen ist; wir müssen dies nur aufrichtig wollen. Diese Hoffnungslosigkeit, die Dorian empfand, könnte uns niemals treffen, auch wenn die Sünden um Berge größer sind als die von Dorian Gray.

Ein Buch mit einer bedeutungsvollen Nachricht, die in Poesie und Literatur eindrucksvoll verpackt wurde. Ich mochte die Sprache, die Dialoge, das Setting und die geschichtlichen Hintergründe, die ich zwischen den Zeilen herauslesen konnte, die Geheimnisse des 19. Jahrhunderts.



It started off slow, but after you get to one part (about page 50ish can’t really remember) I couldn’t put it down.I loved this book so much. Especially the ending! I understand why it is so highly spoken about. It is one of the best pieces of art ever made! 🖼️🖤

Sadie Hoffman

D D D 

This is my 2d reading after probably ...decades! Last time was when I was in secondary school, and in French. 

For me, this is typically the kind of book that I will read again (I put "Orlando" or "Mrs Dalloway" in the same bag): I stopped at almost every corner to think about a sentence that I picked here and there like some sort of poppy, keeping them for a "brain chewing" later. 

Some books need a longer digestion process than others, especially when the plot, as here, is quite simple; and when style and thoughts, along with the character's development take "toute la place". 

I had completely forgotten the power of the "book" on Dorian Gray's days and nights. 

What is evil, ugly, or just bad : getting old (here yes, according to Sir Henry, Dorian, Oscar Wilde), experiencing what society back in the day called vices (that depends), crimes... 

The "Picture" keeps the trace but doesn't spare Dorian Gray of the (cumulative) memory of his actions and thoughts. 

As self judgement and gradual self pity and self hatred are still around, Dorian Gray  despite allowing himself an XXL size tolerance for experimenting, can't find satisfaction, which is not the case of Sir Henry for that matter. 

I still wonder if there was still a few grains of remorse in him or if it was because he reached an extreme level of boredom that he grabbed the knife. Was Dorian Gray fit for that hedonist life style, after all? or even for life generally speaking as he didn't seem to fit in any scenario, although he was the life of the party. Who was this guy?

Barbara

This is my 2d reading after probably ...decades! Last time was when I was in secondary school, and in French. 

For me, this is typically the kind of book that I will read again (I put "Orlando" or "Mrs Dalloway" in the same bag): I stopped at almost every corner to think about a sentence that I picked here and there like some sort of poppy, keeping them for a "brain chewing" later. 

Some books need a longer digestion process than others, especially when the plot, as here, is quite simple; and when style and thoughts, along with the character's development take "toute la place". 

I had completely forgotten the power of the "book" on Dorian Gray's days and nights. 

What is evil, ugly, or just bad : getting old (here yes, according to Sir Henry, Dorian, Oscar Wilde), experiencing what society back in the day called vices (that depends), crimes... 

The "Picture" keeps the trace but doesn't spare Dorian Gray of the (cumulative) memory of his actions and thoughts. 

As self judgement and gradual self pity and self hatred are still around, Dorian Gray  despite allowing himself an XXL size tolerance for experimenting, can't find satisfaction, which is not the case of Sir Henry for that matter. 

I still wonder if there was still a few grains of remorse in him or if it was because he reached an extreme level of boredom that he grabbed the knife. Was Dorian Gray fit for that hedonist life style, after all? or even for life generally speaking as he didn't seem to fit in any scenario, although he was the life of the party. Who was this guy?

Every words written are so beautifully put. Although it's funny that once someone speaks here it's just constant two pages of one dialogue, these old people talks so much damn! But those dialogues made this book so much more interesting. The painter and it's muse, the muse and it's obession of being longed for.

Matthew Jackson &
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

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