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A review by solly
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
4.0
3.5/4 stars
I read this for the first time, in French, when I was in high school (as I like to say, in my emo-gay-snob phase). I liked it, but I don't think I understood it as I did rereading this with a knowledge of Victorian History and literature. I think this is probably best appreciated with some ideas of the codes of the time.
First of all, because it made me realize how gay it was! Like, reading it the first time, my 15yo self was like "oh but this isn't as gay as I thought it would be"! What a mistake!!! Weird that Wilde didn't get arrested immediately after publishing this because for Victorian standards, this is super duper gay. And it's the censored version!!! It is super explicit that Basil Hallward is in love with Dorian Gray, and some implications about Dorian's 'sins' are kinda pointing to ew! bisexuality! how dare he!
It's also super interesting in a lot of other ways. It's infused with Dandyism and Decadent period/writing, with Lord Henry embodying both of these "philosophies". Wilde also said something along the lines of "Basil is what I think I am, Lord Henry is what society sees me as, and Dorian Gray is what I wish I could be-in other ages, perhaps." and that makes you think about that ending, would Dorian Gray meet a tragic fate at the end if Wilde hadn't felt the pressure of his time telling him to have Dorian pay a price for his sins?
The book also obviously *suffers* from the biases of its time, and there are quite a few instances of racism, sexism, antisemitism. Can hardly be helped in a book written by a white English Victorian nobleman, but sometimes it's really ewww.
It was a nice read. I think I got more out of it because I studied a lot about the period, and I don't think I would have enjoyed it that much otherwise. There's a lot to analyse and I'll probably be writing something for uni about gender in the book =D
I read this for the first time, in French, when I was in high school (as I like to say, in my emo-gay-snob phase). I liked it, but I don't think I understood it as I did rereading this with a knowledge of Victorian History and literature. I think this is probably best appreciated with some ideas of the codes of the time.
First of all, because it made me realize how gay it was! Like, reading it the first time, my 15yo self was like "oh but this isn't as gay as I thought it would be"! What a mistake!!! Weird that Wilde didn't get arrested immediately after publishing this because for Victorian standards, this is super duper gay. And it's the censored version!!! It is super explicit that Basil Hallward is in love with Dorian Gray, and some implications about Dorian's 'sins' are kinda pointing to ew! bisexuality! how dare he!
It's also super interesting in a lot of other ways. It's infused with Dandyism and Decadent period/writing, with Lord Henry embodying both of these "philosophies". Wilde also said something along the lines of "Basil is what I think I am, Lord Henry is what society sees me as, and Dorian Gray is what I wish I could be-in other ages, perhaps." and that makes you think about that ending, would Dorian Gray meet a tragic fate at the end if Wilde hadn't felt the pressure of his time telling him to have Dorian pay a price for his sins?
The book also obviously *suffers* from the biases of its time, and there are quite a few instances of racism, sexism, antisemitism. Can hardly be helped in a book written by a white English Victorian nobleman, but sometimes it's really ewww.
It was a nice read. I think I got more out of it because I studied a lot about the period, and I don't think I would have enjoyed it that much otherwise. There's a lot to analyse and I'll probably be writing something for uni about gender in the book =D