'The Portrait of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde - A Review

It's pretty privilege 

Rating - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Genre - gothic, philosophical

Themes - beauty, corruption, youth, idolism, pleasure, morality

Similar Books/ Plays - 'The Importance of Being Earnest' - Oscar Wilde, 'A Streetcar Named Desire' - Tennessee Williams, 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' - Robert Louis Stevenson

'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde follows the story of the beautiful and charming Dorian Gray who unintentionally sacrifices his soul to retain his beauty and youth. Now whilst Dorian Gray remains beautiful and youthful, his portrait hiding in the attic bears the consequences of his decadence. 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' explores through its' anti-hero Dorian Gray, themes of morality and the superficial pursuit of beauty and pleasure at the cost of one's moral compass.  

I really enjoyed this book as it raised interesting ideas on morality and corruption. Lord Henry Wotton acts the philosophical vehicle in the novel who treats Dorian Gray as a psychological experiment. We see how his deluded ideas corrupts the young Dorian who idolises him, adopting his ideas which regurgitates them without any question. We also see how the power dynamic in their relationship change as Dorian begins corrupting other people and committing heinous crimes whilst Henry has no idea about this and refuses to believe his scandalous reputation, all because he is so beautiful. Basil Hallward, in contrast, acts as the voice of morality, a soft and delicate character who idolises Dorian Gray. It's interesting how much a single person can influence another, Henry's impact on Dorian through his ideas as well as Dorian's influence on Basil through his beauty. Perhaps this shows the weakness of human nature and its susceptibility to external influences. 

The narration of the novel was also particularly interesting. It is very dialogue heavy and Wilde is amazingly specific about the exact facial expressions of his characters, perhaps because Wilde is mainly a playwright and 'Dorian Gray' is his only novel. A lot of the philosophical ideas raised in the novel are expressed through Lord Henry, however the narrator (perhaps Wilde himself?) provides philosophical thoughts to ponder on as well, using the collective pronoun "we" and sometimes "I" which makes the narrator seem like someone part of society just like us rather than an omniscient and ambiguous entity. Wilde makes many references to Greek culture and mythology through out, maybe to build contrast between the old and the new encompassed by Dorian who attempts to preserve his youth despite the inevitability of aging. Just like the fall of Ancient Greece, he is bound to fall as well. And then there's the recurring motif of flowers. Could it symbolise beauty? Delicacy and our vulnerability to corruption? Is it part of the youthful façade Dorian creates to hide his wicked and wretched soul? Who knows.

I can't actually think of other novels reminiscent to Wilde's 'The Picture of Dorian Gray', it's a unique novel in that sense. 'The Importance of Being Earnest' (also by Wilde) shares the same philosophical aspect with Lord Henry being similar in character to Algernon as they both act as vehicles to express ideas and thoughts, however wrong and misguided they may be. Robert Louis Stevenson's  'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' does share the same idea of duality and appearances in opposition to reality, however I read that book a while ago and don't remember much of the plot. After much consideration Dorian Gray is slightly reminiscent to Blanche DuBois, the protagonist in Tennessee Williams' stunning play 'A Streetcar Named Desire'. Both characters are driven to their downfall due to the pursuit of pleasure whilst ignoring the consequences, so perhaps both texts could be acting as a warning against excess and abundance. 

Overall for its philosophical takes and interesting construction of plot and narrative, I give 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde five stars. I'm still trying to crack what exactly Oscar Wilde wanted to communicate in his novel, but I think I've been converted into an Oscar Wilde fan.