The Picture of Dorian Gray and Other Writings (Enriched Classics) by Wilde, Oscar (2005) Mass Market Paperback

by Oscar Wilde

Enriched Classic

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Gothic, Literature, Horror, Historical Fiction, Read For School

Mass Market Paperback

About the author

Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, and his criminal conviction for gross indecency for homosexual acts.
Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. In his youth, Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, he read Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles.
Wilde tried his hand at various literary activities: he wrote a play, published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on "The English Renaissance" in art and interior decoration, and then returned to London where he lectured on his American travels and wrote reviews for various periodicals. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into what would be his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). Wilde returned to drama, writing Salome (1891) in French while in Paris, but it was refused a licence for England due to an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Undiscouraged, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London.
At the height of his fame and success, while An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) were still being performed in London, Wilde issued a civil writ against John Sholto Douglas, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel hearings unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and criminal prosecution for gross indecency with other males. The jury was unable to reach a verdict and so a retrial was ordered. In the second trial Wilde was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labour, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. During his last year in prison he wrote De Profundis (published posthumously in abridged form in 1905), a long letter that discusses his spiritual journey through his trials and is a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. On the day of his release, he caught the overnight steamer to France, never to return to Britain or Ireland. In France and Italy, he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life.

Reviews

[Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another classic which for a long time I wanted to read, so happy that at last I've done so!!!
It's a novel about the true values of life, the vanity of youth, and the immortality of our soul...

Wrapped up into a mystery thriller this literary gem shines forth teaching us to rethink the approach we take to life itself...

Saturated with Oscar Wildes witticism and full of pointed sarcasm of the upper classes with their false belief of security and superiority, its a real pleasure to read...

[Ava · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am eternally surprised by the enjoyment I find in classic literature. Maybe it is simply my age, but I am always shocked by the cleverness, the plot-twists, and the subtleties found in the classics. I suppose I was thinking of writing incorrectly, as an evolution with every new century of writers improving upon the last.
The Picture of Dorian Gray has reminded me that I couldn't be more wrong. Oscar Wilde's gothic novel is one that everyone should read, for it is, in my opinion, one of the best works of literature and altogether timeless. Young people, do not shy away because it is a classic. Do not fear this "school book." Believe me, it will exceed your wildest expectations. Its elements of what we now consider urban fantasy, horror, and obsession, balanced with riveting romance, harken to some of the most popular novels of our modern era.
The novel is remarkably readable. I couldn't put it down. The eloquent description paints vivid, exhilarating scenes, and the dialogue filled with Wilde's seemingly endless witty banter. The ideas of life driven only by pleasure and the senses are exhibited elegantly and hauntingly, forcing us to question our own choices. This is in part because the characters in Wilde's tale are compelling and deeply relatable, even 130 years after when they would have lived. Written in the Victorian Era, some more "scandalous" aspects of the story are hidden between the lines, but finding them makes the novel all the more stunning. This is a book that transcends age and time and, much like the portrait itself, will hold its beauty forever.

[Cami (Aelin's version) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Si me gustó pero no me fascinó. Uno de los personajes me aburrió con su superioridad moral 🙄

[Didi Aphra · Rating 5 out of 5]

devoured every page in all its homoerotic, hedonistic decadence!!!! and i'm downloading dozens of scholarly texts as i type this so perhaps (finally) another blog post is coming soon!!

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[Alicia Huxtable · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book just wasn't to my personal taste. I had heard great things about this book, yet it just didn't hold my attention for any length of time. What I did read was good writing though. Maybe I will try again at a later time but just now it holds no interest to me.

[Samantha Grenier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twenty-something man baby becomes so obsessed with his looks, he wishes to never LOOK old. (The anthem of 90% of males pushing 30.) He embarks on a Seven-Deadly-Sins tour (I suppose), then 20 pages of what fabrics look like, and what smells, smell like.

Still a highly quotable book.

[Alyssa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I appreciate the writing and the characters are great, but the plot wasn’t my favorite.

[Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was very good, I didn’t realize how easy of a read it would be. Some of these classics always seem intimidating but this one was a real pleasure to read

[Saranya De (Dido's Willow) · Rating 3 out of 5]

<<<3

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an examination of the value of beauty, conscience, and soul. It has a compelling storyline with engaging characters, yet lacks uniform interest throughout.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is about a young man who is almost obscenely beautiful. After receiving a portrait of himself, he becomes jealous of it, and sells his soul to be able to remain unchanging and instead have the portrait grow old for him. He soon realizes that everything bad that he does shows up in the picture, and that the picture is a visual representation of his soul.

Dorian does not become a good person when he realizes that his soul is hideous. He instead revels in the differences between the appearances of his body and soul. He values his own beauty too much to change what he should, and eventually meets his downfall because of it.

Much of the story is interesting, but there are some slumps within the reading. There are certain chapters which are unnecessary, even in this short book. A few parts were just boring. However, the overall story is very enjoyable and thought-provoking.

I enjoyed this book, and I recommend it to anyone who likes stories about moral issues, or just classics in general. Putting up with a few boring parts was far worth it for me in the long run of reading this book.

[Franco · Rating 3 out of 5]

This edition should be divided in two. The first part is The Picture of Dorian Gray, the fiction part, the story of Wilde's personality, aspirations and thoughts through a quite gullable character (Dorian Gray). The second part is the non-fiction-ish part, composed of De Profundis and The Ballad of Reading Goal, the former, an oh-so-long reproachful, introspective letter addressed to his gay lover written during his imprisonment for indecency; the latter, a ballad of his tormented stay in jail. While Dorian Gray seems fast-paced, clearly being initially written for a newspaper (which makes it even more shocking due to its latent homoeroticism), De Profundis is a never-ending tête-à-tête bashing which lets Wilde's thoughts meander on his two years in jail, his relationship with his lover, his public image, among others.

[Prabh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book might just be my most favorite classic ever. I mean it. Oscar Wilde was a genius.
Pretty much every sentence is such a gem that you just have to stop and replay it to fully see its meaning. Except for that one chapter, Chapter 18 perhaps it was, which describes a span of 20 years in Dorian's life, which goes a bit too elaborate in its description of details and philosophy for my taste, I just could not give enough of this book. Lord Henry might just be the most annoying yet most charismatic character I've ever read. And you just can't help but pity Dorian, despite all his sins.
I'm more of a library patron than a bookstore frequenter, but this is one book I really want to own forever.

[Zar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the time of my life. Hats off to my lovely Oscar.

[Stanley Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent…

This has been on my to read list for some time, so I decided to indulge myself while waiting on a couple new books to be released. I knew the premise of the book, the portrait would age while Dorian remained youthful. What I did not know is that the portrait would not only age but would show the strains of Dorian’s indiscretions. Overall an excellent book and highly recommended…SLT

[pau ☆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book, it will be one of my favorites for sure! I agree that he is a lord of language, he has astonishing quotes that I wish I could get them tattoed on my brain. Additionally, the themes of morality, beauty, rights and wrongs (and homosexuality) are managed so well throughout the book, i'm literally obsessed. You guys wouldn't get it but I am not the same person I was before reading this, I love you Oscar Wilde !!!!!

[Kelsie Irwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great concept. Would have enjoyed this more without the many pages of descriptive filler, which without having read Wilde before, I'm sure is just his writing style.

[Terry M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Very scandalous back in that time. Enjoyed the story very much!

[Sebastian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gay vibes

[Torri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not fond of Dorian nor harry , poor Basil.

[Fio · Rating 5 out of 5]

reread. wilde sabía cosas

[Sanchit Gangwar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every piece of art is open to interpretation, therefore enfeebling the intentions of the artist. This piece of art, which deals with so many of life's affairs and at the same time concentrates on a niche section of society and just society itself, is just another in the multitudinous artifacts that humanity has succeeded to produce.

What one takes away after reading this novel depends as much on the reader's literary, historical, and mythical know-how as it depends on his/her perception of beauty and art. The characters and society portrayed in the novel all seem to be aesthetes and the major characters are devoted to art to an extent which appears to surpass the limits of devotion.

That being said, my perception of art and beauty is what I think is the most prevalent one; "ignorant" or "naive" might be one of the more bland words which critical artists might use to describe it. I do not try to find hidden beauty in beautiful things, nor do I criticize that microscopic irreconcilable scratch that mars the beauty of an otherwise excellent object. In other words, I see things as they are, neither worrying about what they or their constituents signify nor deriving sensory or sensual pleasure out of objects not ostensibly meant to do so.

The Picture of Dorian Gray, unfortunately, deals with just such things. It was the first composition by Oscar Wilde that I read and although I might not have fully understood what Wilde wanted to convey I definitely do not regret reading it any more that I regret reading De Profundis, which was one of the "Other Writings" that this edition of the book refers to. Both texts had a simple story behind the complex play of words that garnish them. Both of them contained references to mythology and history that I had never heard of before and probably would have not bothered to carry on with the book had this edition not contained "Notes" explaining them.

I would like to add though that this was not a failure on Wilde's part as he targeted the English readers of Victorian Era and, unsurprisingly, I'm not English and definitely do not belong to the Victorian Era. The target readers were expected to be informed about Narcissus, Adonis, Marquis de Sade and such. Neither did I have any such knowledge, nor an inclination to learn about such creatures. I took what I had to take away from these compositions and I'm satisfied, if not delighted.

The third and the last composition which this edition of the book contains is The Ballad Of Reading Gaol. This, for me, was a sharp contrast from the previous two readings as the language was much simpler and was not gilded with esoteric references. However, at the same time, the ballad, true to the nature of ballads, filled me with delight that was missing in the previous two readings. The stanzas were wonderful and I can unhesitatingly say that the three star rating is mostly the contribution of this last and, in no way, the least composition.

[Vishal Choradiya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find myself not as enamoured by Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” as some of my friends and students, who highly recommended it, are. The novel is prefaced by Wilde’s cocksure apology for aestheticism (art for art’s sake) but ironically, the story itself, particularly the fate of its handsome, hedonistic protagonist, contravenes its radical philosophy. The tragedy, with elements of gothic magic realism, is reminiscent of Faust, the astronomer/necromancer who was believed to have sold his soul to the devil—here, the bargain being Gray’s eternal youth. Wilde appears to convey many of his deeply-held beliefs through the cynical epigrams of Lord Henry, the incorrigible sensualist and mocking misogynist who is aptly dubbed ‘Prince Paradox’. Unfortunately, a surfeit of such one-liners end up depriving them of their profundity—initially seductive and amusing, the untruth of many of them is eventually exemplified by the poisonous effect they have on the man who adopts the unapologetically decadent lifestyle they advocate.

The novel suffers from the frequent use of stock expressions, indulgent descriptions of luxury (especially insufferable is the transitional chapter that traces in unnecessary and dreadfully Orientalist detail Grey’s excesses over a period of eighteen years), and the altogether predictable employment of the character of James Vane. Worst of all is the shallow intellectual engagement of its principal cast, which never once examines its own upper-class indolence and privilege during the course of its endless dinner parties, meetings at the club, and evenings at the opera. Also, expectedly, they never explicitly discuss the homoeroticism that seemingly underpins their relationships. Nevertheless, the reader’s interest is retained by the witty repartee, a few unexpected plot twists, and some interesting insights into human psyche—not enough though to salvage what is, in all, a daring but deeply flawed work.

[Mary McCoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found the play on words to be delightfully fun and admire Oscar Wilde for his talent! Using an online anagram generator, the twenty-two letters in the book title becomes: Example#1 I, a cad, to preferring youth! Example#2 A cad referring, "Youth… I opt..." Example#3 A Cad Referring Pith to You. This last one may be an example of a paradoxical epigram. Or, is the title to be read as "the picture of" meaning the embodiment of a specified state or emotion and the name Dorian to translate into the Dorians of Greece who were seen as uncivilized, or is it the Gaelic word Doireann which translates to tempestuous weather [http://www.ceantar.org/Dicts/MB2/mb14...], and the last name Gray as having an intermediate and often vaguely defined position, condition, or character (neither black or white), or is it gray as in old, pale, ill, and aged? What's in a name? The anagram for Dorian Gray is "organ diary" and "a drag irony." Sibyl Vane has a first name which means prophetess or seer; the last name for vane meaning a device for direction, or the homophone vain and vein (as in the reference to how Basil is slain). James Vane might be so named for Saint James the Great (a fighter and an apostle) or James the First, King of England, France and Ireland, defender of the faith. Basil Hallward, as in sweet basil, might be so named for Saint Basil the Great who was known for his excessive asceticism, defending the church, his writings of the kneeling prayers and the last name of Hallward might be the guard/protector of the hall. Lord Henry Wotton may be so named after Sir Henry Wotton, English poet, diplomat, and art connoisseur who lived from 1568-1639 and said "An Ambassador is an honest man, sent to lie abroad for the good of his country"... no doubt reflects his disillusionment with the duplicity of the role.[http://www.englishverse.com/poets/wot...]

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, so I have to put a disclaimer on this book. I reccommended this book for our church book club, after reading it as a very naive 15 year old. I remember liking the idea of a picture that got ugly with sin and time rather than the person, and thought it would be a good pick for an October (Halloween) book club. Obviously at 15 I missed a lot of the more mature themes of the novel. Having said that, I would reccommend that if you want to read this book, read the novel first then go through and read the introduction and any information about Oscar Wilde available in your copy.

Dorian Gray is a very handsome young gentleman in 1890's London. After a portrait is painted of him by his good friend Basil Hallward, Dorian wishes that the portrait would grow old instead of him. Dorian's wish is granted and the portrait ages instead of himself. When Dorian realizes what is happening with the portrait, he begins a life of sin that shows up on the painting but not on himself.

This is a cumbersome read at times, I had to skim through some of the flowery parts. Even though it wasn't everyones favorite read for book club, there is so much to discuss, and we had a great discussion.

[MacK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe my favorite book of all time.

This is a remarkable feat from Wilde, whose other works, though incredibly enjoyable dramas tend to remain superficial, with English dorks like me digging deep enough to find the real nuggets of wisdom behind his clever epigrams.

But in this he really lets loose, the epigrams are still there, engendering chuckles and amusements but the brooding, sinister and indeed evil side of Dorian shines through with a blistering critique of social structures, the aesthetics of beauty and the power of mentors upon the weak willed.

Perhaps the reason I'm so drawn to this book is that I love bad guys and Dorian is the coolest bad guy since Milton's Satan. Or perhaps it's the fact that a student told me I reminded him of Dorian Gray. Whatever the case, it's one of my favorites

[Mysty Vander · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel reads like one long conversation piece, which I enjoy as it keeps you going and makes it a smooth transition from one piece to the next. The supernatural is such a light addition to the lives of our main characters (primarily Dorian, Henry, and Basil) that it is not hung with major disbelief. Quite a few conversation pieces cause you as a reader to question the foundations of a philosophical life: what is beauty, what is youth, what is intelligence and wisdom and for which do we live all the better for having? I always enjoy this conversation script, it's light yet provocative.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is art, and what is it's purpose? Oscar Wilde's witticisms never ceases to amaze me... or confuse me. To me, this was more of a play that a story: the characters all played their own role. There is love, not tragedy, no accomplishment, than what we are the reader perceive. What we are left with are paradoxes that boggle the mind. Just look at the controversial preface. Is all art really "useless"? Wilde, you contradict yourself. This book is very proof that art is not useless.

[Kaylee Fowler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok so, the Picture of Dorian Gray is one of the best books I have ever read.

The plays? Hilarious, and a wonderful satire on daily Victorian life

Salome? A little hardcore, by which I mean, it's get-this-chick-into-a-psychiatric-ward-stat level of hardcore, but it offers a very different take on a classic Bible story.

Five stars, well deserved in my opinion

[Jeni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enthralling look at Wilde's genius for prose. Dorian Gray was his only real novel, and the essay "De Profundis" which follows is a necessary education for anyone interested at a peek into Wilde's soul. Loved them both.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up from the library because it had De Profundis in it, which I really wanted to read. Having never actually read Dorian, I found it quite enjoyable and the social philosophies interesting. Profundis was fascinating.