Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

253 reviews

larvaeya's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

3.0

wish it were more gay..
Also - misogyny and sexism.. yay

Enjoyed the first third of the book, the middle was meh and the last third was pretty good.

Still hard to read and will not read again

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism

3mi1y's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny and Sexism

kananineko's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I loved this! Great classic. Probably one of the most digestible bc of its relatively short length. My only complaint would be that some sections dragged in the middle to me (all the super long descriptions of what Dorian was learning)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Stalking, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Racism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation

thequeercaseofmarius's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Dark, bewitching, and so very gay. 

‘Why is your friendship so fateful to young men?’ 

In The Picture of Dorian Gray; Oscar Wilde crafts a narrative of Queer love, desire, vanity, and fear, embodied in a twink who wishes to remain young and beautiful forever. Wilde’s only novel is one that is both frighteningly fantastical, but also harrowingly personal. In Dorian we see the picture of the dark version of ourselves; the Hyde to our Jekyll, and it is his ability to transform with each reader that makes The Picture of Dorian Gray so enduring as a staple of Queer Literature, and one of the bestselling titles in Penguin’s Classics series.

Wilde’s writing and descriptions are breathtakingly beautiful, so much so that I would find myself rereading the same sentences over and over again. Wilde’s genius and intellect is also evident in the text, and his use of Queercoding through historical and art references is very clever.

Our main cast of characters are so very gay, and it’s crazy because it’s almost like Wilde met my gay friends and acquaintances and wrote a book about us (I like to think that I am Basil). But I also see each character as a different side to the Queer experience; Basil being the Queer artist who represents the beauty and tenderness of love between men, Lord Henry as the witty sass Queen that gay men are often viewed as from the outside, and Dorian represents Queer fears and anxieties that most of us have experienced some point in our life. The result is one of the most ingenious Queer horror stories ever written. 

The Picture of Dorian Gray should be a (not-so) straight five-stars, however it does contain some racism and anti-semitism that I can’t ignore. It is a book of it’s time, but I’m also aware of writers and people from Wilde’s time who tried their best at not being racist. I think it’s important to appreciate this novel for everything good about it, but also to recognise it’s faults rather than excuse them, so that we as the readers can grow as people. 

‘Each man sees his own sin in Dorian Gray. What Dorian Gray’s sins are no one knows. He who finds them has brought them.’

-Oscar Wilde 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Antisemitism, and Classism

Minor: Misogyny and Sexism

This novel is VERY dark as it covers a lot of internalised homophobia and fear of your own Queerness.

leniornot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Racism and Sexism

lizziaha's review against another edition

reflective

4.0

I do think this book is mostly Oscar Wilde taking the opportunity to poke fun at anything and everything while trying to be absolutely charming. I did not agree with every little quip or moral that the book had to offer but I suspect that I am not supposed to. I do find Wilde’s treatment of women to be a little sus, as always. But the Faustian bargain—the main crux of the story—is intriguing. I think I might appreciate the book more upon rereading it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, and Classism

Minor: Animal death

honeyvoiced's review against another edition

dark

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Suicide, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Misogyny and Antisemitism

Minor: Drug use, Racial slurs, and Racism

adelekittey's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Boooooringgggg

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and Antisemitism

rrenreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

lord henry (derogatary)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, and Murder

snackattackisback69's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I love this book and it's exploration of morality. Not many classics I've read have managed to grip me as much as this story did. I would have loved to have seen more of the corrupt and self destructive behaviours exhibited by Dorian but with the censorship of the time it wouldn't have been possible. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Misogyny and Sexism

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Suicide, Antisemitism, and Gaslighting