Oscar Wilde

Neil Bartlett

Believe me, no civilised man ever regrets a pleasure... As London slides from one century into the next, a young man is cursed with the uncanny ability to remain both young and beautiful while descending into a life of heartless debauchery. With its glittering dialogue, provocative imagery and radical questioning of sexual and moral freedoms all brought sharply into focus by this brand-new adaptation, Oscar Wilde’s infamous parable has lost none of its power to provoke and disturb. Using Wilde’s original words, a company of sixteen actors and all of adaptor Neil Bartlett’s trademark theatricality, this new stage version of Wilde’s black-hearted parable was commissioned by and first produced at the Abbey Theatre, Ireland’s national theatre in the autumn season of 2012.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Kosi H

lola

Maurine | INFP | Taurus | French

Abigail F

Lyndsey McIntyre 

Kat Albanese

Alina

Macy HB

Jaylee

Haley Paluszak

Scarly

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.

moira

Iris van der zanden

Because to influence a person is to give him one's own soul. He does not think his natural thoughts, or burn with his natural passions. His virtues are not real to him. His sins, if there are such things as sins, are borrowed. He becomes an echo of some one else's music, an actor of a part that has not been written for him. The aim of life is self-development. To realize one's nature perfectly - that is what each of us is here for. 

Bailey Drew

The birds that were singing in the dew-drenched garden seemed to be telling the flowers about her.

Amalie Elisabeth

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

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

Amelia Reinertsen

I want to make Romeo jealous. I want the dead lovers of the world to hear our laughter, and grow sad. I want a breath of our passion to stir their dust into consciousness, to wake their ashes into pain. My God, Harry, how I worship her!

Amanda Shameem

Karolina 

erin alise 

Draculelle

THIS BOOK GOES HARD. also, it's basically a Victorian precursor to American Psycho. Love.

Katelyn Caillouet

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.

Dark, elegant, and endlessly quotable. A haunting tale of vanity, decay, and the price of staying beautiful.

Tanishq Khandelwal

Excellent book. I heard so much about it before beginning it and I'm happy I finally took the time to read it. Its writing is both aesthetically pleasing and philosophically rich. The story is concise and dynamic with an ever-evolving plotline that keeps you well-engaged while also building on foundational themes. I had some serious reflections and contemplations to reconcile during this reading, but it was a phenomenal experience that I would recommend to most anyone. Highly recommend, 10/10.

Kay so Queso

Joseph Bristow

I reread this book thanks to Sarah Snook blowing me away in Kip Williams' one-actor play adaptation on Broadway, and I am so glad I did. Oscar Wilde's writing is sensual and witty. Its explorations of influence, moral relativism, art, and hedonism are timeless, but I think they are especially relevant in an age where corporatism and social media rule, encouraging us to both indulge and repress ourselves to excess. And, of course, this book is gay as hell...

alice

except for winter and marie, no one is more upset about this than i am...i expected this to be a 5 star read...

Lets begin with the story itself...I love it! I actually do really like this book! I like the writing and I like the themes, and I love the explorations in this! The dynamic between Basil and Dorian is so interesting, and I like how it delves into vanity and objectification of beauty, making it something to use instead of something to have or admire. So the book itself I would probably give 4.5 stars! I did really and truly enjoy it!

Now...the 0.5 stars...how do I explain this one...I can overlook many things and I can overlook many kinds of self insert by authors...but this one is so...weird.

I knew before starting this that Wilde was on trial for "homosexual activity" and that this book was used as evidence against him. This part is obviously bad, and no one should be put on trial for being gay. What I didn't know was that part of that trial was about his sexual encounters with boys as young as 13 (and even more specifically the one boy who just turned 16). Now...knowing this really changed things for me. The before, really interesting, exploration of the desire to perserve youthful beauty and their dynamic with Basil looking at young Dorian as an object he is not just allowed but almost required to use for his own benefit, turned into a really weird..."why would he write this"

I do not believe you can ever fully separate the art from the artist, especially when they are alive, but even when they are dead. And so knowing this overlap between the book and his personal beliefs and his life...it icks me out tbh.

Stas

except for winter and marie, no one is more upset about this than i am...i expected this to be a 5 star read...

Lets begin with the story itself...I love it! I actually do really like this book! I like the writing and I like the themes, and I love the explorations in this! The dynamic between Basil and Dorian is so interesting, and I like how it delves into vanity and objectification of beauty, making it something to use instead of something to have or admire. So the book itself I would probably give 4.5 stars! I did really and truly enjoy it!

Now...the 0.5 stars...how do I explain this one...I can overlook many things and I can overlook many kinds of self insert by authors...but this one is so...weird.
I knew before starting this that Wilde was on trial for "homosexual activity" and that this book was used as evidence against him. This part is obviously bad, and no one should be put on trial for being gay. What I didn't know was that part of that trial was about his sexual encounters with boys as young as 13 (and even more specifically the one boy who just turned 16). Now...knowing this really changed things for me. The before, really interesting, exploration of the desire to perserve youthful beauty and their dynamic with Basil looking at young Dorian as an object he is not just allowed but almost required to use for his own benefit, turned into a really weird..."why would he write this"

I do not believe you can ever fully separate the art from the artist, especially when they are alive, but even when they are dead. And so knowing this overlap between the book and his personal beliefs and his life...it icks me out tbh.

The Portrait of Dorian Gray was first published in 1890 by Oscar Wilde. It's seen as one of the first Gothic horror fiction stories and it was criticized as scandalous and immoral! This is the special Reader's Choice Edition which has been carefully designed for Dorian Gray and Oscar Wilde fans for extra easy reading. Plot summary: This classic book is about a young man named Dorian Gray. He is the subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward who thinks he is very good looking, with a pure beauty. One thing leads to another and Dorian embraces a new hedonism with Basil and a new group of friends. He begins to believe that the only things worth pursuing in life are beauty, fulfillment of the senses, and pleasures of the flesh... This is an excellent book for yourself and your own library. Or, you can give "The Portrait of Dorian Gray" (Reader's Choice Edition) away as a special gift.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (Reader's Choice Edition)

Portrait of Dorian Gray

Delightful exploration of what happens to our humanity when we're shielded from the consequences of our actions. 

Chloe 

An exquisitely beautiful young man in Victorian England retains his youthful and innocent appearance over the years while his portrait reflects both his age and evil soul as he pursues a life of decadence and corruption.

#G584

i read this back in 2022 and i need to re-read it because my memories tell me i liked it more than just 3 stars so idk why i gave it just 3

micaela

The Picture of Dorian Gray, moral fantasy novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde, published in an early form in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in 1890. The novel, the only one written by Wilde, had six additional chapters when it was released as a book in 1891. The work, an archetypal tale of a young man who purchases eternal youth at the expense of his soul, was a romantic exposition of Wilde's own Aestheticism. The story begins in the art studio of Basil Hallward, who is discussing a current painting with his witty and amoral friend Lord Henry Wotton. Henry thinks that the painting, a portrait of an extraordinarily beautiful young man, should be displayed, but Basil disagrees, fearing that his obsession with the portrait's subject, Dorian Gray, can be seen in the work. Dorian then arrives, and he is fascinated as Henry explains his belief that one should live life to the fullest by indulging one's impulses. Henry also points out that beauty and youth are fleeting, and Dorian declares that he would give his soul if the portrait were to grow old and wrinkled while he remained young and handsome. Basil gives the painting to Dorian. Henry decides to take on the project of molding Dorian's personality. A few weeks later, Dorian tells Henry that he has fallen in love with an actress, Sibyl Vane, because of her great beauty and acting talent. Henry and Basil go with him to a dingy theatre to see Sibyl, but her performance is terrible. Sibyl explains to Dorian that now that she knows what real love is, she can no longer pretend to be in love on stage. Dorian is repulsed and wants nothing further to do with her. When he returns home, he sees a cruel expression on the face of his portrait, and he decides to seek Sibyl's forgiveness. Henry arrives the next day, however, with news that Sibyl committed suicide the previous night, and he convinces Dorian that there is no reason for him to feel badly about it. Dorian has the portrait removed to his attic. Henry sends Dorian a book that he finds poisonous and fascinating (critics have suggested that it might be Against the Grain by Joris-Karl Huysmans). Under the book's influence, Dorian spends the next 18 years in the pursuit of capricious and sybaritic excess, and he becomes increasingly drawn to evil. He frequently visits the portrait, noting the signs of aging and of corruption that appear, though he himself remains unblemished.

All Time Classics

The only crime of this book is misogyny and Mr. Henry

The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirredamidst the trees of the garden, there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or themore 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 hiscustom, innumerable cigarettes, Lord Henry Wotton could just catch the gleam of the honey-sweetand honey-coloured blossoms of a laburnum, whose tremulous branches seemed hardly able to bearthe burden of a beauty so flamelike as theirs; and now and then the fantastic shadows of birds inflight 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-facedpainters of Tokyo who, through the medium of an art that is necessarily immobile, seek to conveythe sense of swiftness and motion. The sullen murmur of the bees shouldering their way through thelong unmown grass, or circling with monotonous insistence round the dusty gilt horns of thestraggling woodbine, seemed to make the stillness more oppressive. The dim roar of London waslike the bourdon note of a distant organ.In the centre of the room, clamped to an upright easel, stood the full-length portrait of a youngman of extraordinary personal beauty, and in front of it, some little distance away, was sitting theartist himself, Basil Hallward, whose sudden disappearance some years ago caused, at the time, suchpublic excitement and gave rise to so many strange conjectures.As the painter looked at the gracious and comely form he had so skilfully mirrored in his art, asmile of pleasure passed across his face, and seemed about to linger there. But he suddenly startedup, and closing his eyes, placed his fingers upon the lids, as though he sought to imprison within hisbrain some curious dream from which he feared he might awake."It is your best work, Basil, the best thing you have ever done," said Lord Henry languidly. "Youmust certainly send it next year to the Grosvenor. The Academy is too large and too vulgar.Whenever I have gone there, there have been either so many people that I have not been able to seethe pictures, which was dreadful, or so many pictures that I have not been able to see the people, which was worse. The Grosvenor is really the only place.""I don't think I shall send it anywhere," he answered, tossing his head back in that odd way thatused to make his friends laugh at him at Oxford. "No, I won't send it anywhere."Lord Henry elevated his eyebrows and looked at him in amazement through the thin bluewreaths of smoke that curled up in such fanciful whorls from his heavy, opium-tainted cigarette."Not send it anywhere? My dear fellow, why? Have you any reason? What odd chaps you paintersare! You do anything in the world to gain a reputation. As soon as you have one, you seem to wantto throw it awa

Complete

I liked it, of course. I love all the gayness and the repressed (and not so repressed) sexuality. The first part is amazing but after that, some time skips were a bit confusing.

LIMEKI 

Your experience of this book may or may not be improved by understanding the context it is set in (both fictional and the author's). For that matter mine came loaded with annotations. I did lose interest in some parts that seemed to drag on, but overall a curious read full of witticisms by Henry and co. that commentate on life... some ringing true (for better or for worse) in modern times.

Throckmorton

going into this blind made me feel like i was a victorian seeing ankle for the first time. dang! men are crazy. 

Ianna Chia

The picture of Dorian Gray

Maureen

"We degenerate into hideous puppets, haunted by the memory of the passions of which we were too much afraid, and the exquisite temptations that we had not the courage to yield to. Youth! Youth! There is absolutely nothing in the world but youth!"

***

The amount of vanity in this book is insane. You wouldn't think someone so absorbed like Dorian Gray could exist in this world, but he did. All because Wilde made it possible. The prose is so lovely and there were plenty of great quotes! I'm glad I finally got around to reading this book. The characters' mindsets are unlike any I've ever read before, so it was interesting to read their unique outlook on life.

Angie 

Ghofran Mustafa 

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

I'd stay up late for the last week with stacked cups of tea, reading and thinking about Dorian..
The story of the novel is known, but this does not mean that it will not surprise you. I read it with a friend of mine, and we talked about it a lot, and about the film adaptation, "which I considered as a distortion of the novel."

 As is evident when you read it, you will see in it,
 External beauty, narcissism, people and society's view, their reverence for appearances...
 The characters, I wish there were more details about them, about their lives and actions, especially Lord Henry. And how it affected Dorian's personality, to the point where they became similar, with a negative impact on everyone around them.
And more about the painter too.

It made me think and raised a lot of questions that I asked myself over the course of the chapters, but the biggest question remains; Was Dorian the victim of his friend, Lord Henry, who corrupted his soul, or was he like that from the beginning?

Anna 

nakonec jsem si řekla, že kde to půjde, budu u klasik psát normální recenze, na které jsem zvyklá, a u kterých se můžu normálně rozepsat :) 
✩
Obraz Doriana Graye jsem četla jako další knihu do povinné četby, tentokrát jsem ale předem věděla, že se nemusím bát toho, že by se kniha nedala číst. a přesně tak tomu i bylo.
doriana graye jsem měla přečteného za 5 dní, do děje jsem se jednoduše dostala a čtení mě bavilo. s tímto příběhem jsem se seznámila poprvé, nikdy jsem nevěděla, o čem to přesně je. musím říct, že jsem byla lehce zmatená tím, jak málo se tam toho doopravdy dělo. kniha je plná filozofických myšlenek místy tak moc, že převažují děj. i tak se to ale čte rychle, hlavně kvůli té děsivé atmosféře, které se nám dostane zhruba v polovině knihy.
oblíbila jsem si vedlejší postavy, například basila, malíře, který obraz doriana graye stvořil. líbilo se mi vykreslení tehdejší šlechty a autorův výsměch mnoha tehdejším tradicím či myšlenkám. 
další zajímavostí je, že v knize se objevují homosexuální podtóny, takže byla kniha dříve hodně cenzurovaná. 
✩
4*/5*, tuhle knížku rozhodně doporučuji přečíst jak k maturitě, tak klidně i 'jenom tak'. myslím, že se líbí snad každému z mého okolí, kdo ji četl :)

chaca

SO GOOD. it was fascinating to see how dorian’s behavior change throughout the years. would definitely re-read it.

«Degeneramos en espantosas marionetas, obsesionados por el recuerdo de pasiones ante las que tuvimos demasiado miedo, y ante las exquisitas tentaciones a las que no tuvimos el coraje de ceder. ¡Juventud! ¡Juventud! ¡No hay absolutamente nada en el mundo más que la juventud!» Una piedra angular en los debates entre la ética y la estética, en las relaciones que mantienen el bien y el mal, el alma y el cuerpo, el arte y la vida.

El Retrato de Dorian Gray

Andrea Morales

what a RIDE !!!
definitivamente uno de mis clásicos favoritos, I was very intrigued even in the slower moments throughout the entire book, and the ending was ??!!! and I loved it.
also the gay subtext was chef’s kiss mmmm

“no hay libros morales ni inmorales. los libros están bien escritos o no lo están.”

imagine giving your crush a potrait painted by you which curses him with eternal youth and then he kills you 😭😭 oh basil you're loved

armoni mayes

When I first started reading this novel I thought it was pretty boring for the first ~80 pages BUT after that it really started to pick up. I finally understand the hype around Wilde as an author and absolutely loved his writing style. I would recommend this book to a friend as an easy way to get into the classics!

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

Vince Hilahan

suddenly have the inclination to get my portrait painted and break some hearts

..19th century Patrick Bateman

chapter 11 had me not reading sorry...to every other chapter ily

Anjorin Molayo 

A very complex book but also good! this book has so many quotable quotes that made me fall in love especially quotes from Lord Henry. 

“Youth is the only thing worth having.”

“Beauty is a form of Genius—is higher, indeed, than Genius, as it needs no explanation. It is of the great facts of the world, like sunlight, or springtime, or the reflection in dark waters of that silver shell we call the moon. It cannot be questioned. It has its divine right of sovereignty. It makes princes of those who have it. You smile? Ah! when you have lost it you won’t smile. . . . People say sometimes that Beauty is only superficial. That may be so. But at least it is not so superficial as Thought is. To me, Beauty is the wonder of wonders. It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible. . . .”

“Conscience and cowardice are really the same things, Basil. Conscience is the trade-name of the firm.”

“Sin is the only real color-element left in modern life.”

“Art has no influence upon action. It annihilates the desire to act. It is superbly sterile. The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.”

“Good resolutions are useless attempts to interfere with scientific laws. Their origin is pure vanity. Their result is absolutely nil. They give us, now and then, some of those luxurious sterile emotions that have a certain charm for the weak. That is all that can be said for them. They are simply cheques that men draw on a bank where they have no account.”

“Love is a more wonderful thing than Art.”

“When we are happy we are always good, but when we are good we are not always happy.”

“Most people become bankrupt through having invested too heavily in the prose of life. To have ruined one’s self over poetry is an honor. ”

“The reason we all like to think so well of others is that we are all afraid for ourselves. The basis of optimism is sheer terror. We think that we are generous because we credit our neighbor with the possession of those virtues that are likely to be a benefit to us. We praise the banker that we may overdraw our account, and find good qualities in the highwayman in the hope that he may spare our pockets. I mean everything that I have said. I have the greatest contempt for optimism. As for a spoiled life, no life is spoiled but one whose growth is arrested. If you want to mar a nature, you have merely to reform it.”

These are just few from the ones I highlighted. I absolutely love Lord Henry’s character.

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.

The novel’s overall tone and world-building feel more dreamlike than grounded in reality. Take, for example, Chapter 11, where Dorian Gray reflects on his hedonistic pursuits over the years—music, tapestries, and jewels—activities chosen not for genuine appreciation, but as vehicles for self-gratification and the extraction of knowledge for personal gain. This indulgence in pleasure represents his moral decline, his conscious choice to tarnish his soul. However, Dorian’s worldview often feels impractical and detached, more like a symbolic fantasy than a tangible reality. His existence is governed by the illusion of fantasy—where beauty and wealth come easily, and challenges are bypassed. Dorian’s physical beauty opens doors for him, but his internal growth remains stagnant, almost childlike in its innocence, as if he’s unaware of the true, nuanced struggles of life. This detachment from reality leaves his character somewhat one-dimensional, with little sense of development or emotional maturity. As a result, the novel’s value seems elusive, with the ideas it explores remaining frustratingly just out of reach, as though the story itself is a shadow, slipping away from any firm grasp. 

The Picture of Dorian Gray

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