The Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar WildeThe Picture Of Dorian Gray was first published in 1890. Mine was published in Penguin Popular Classics, 1994. It was printed in Great Britain by Cox & Wyman Ltd, Reading, and Berkshire. It is written in archaic English and according to the genre it is philosophical and fiction novel, written in Gothic style. In the preface author is telling us the main purpose in writing the book. Wilde explained how important is an artist’s freedom to express everything, that there are no such things as moral or an immoral books, nor books that are well written, or badly written.

The plot of the Picture of Dorian Gray begins with a detailed description of a light summer day in London. Lord Henry Wotton was lying on the Persian divan, and in the centre of the room stood the full-length portrait of a young man of extraordinary personal beauty whose artist was Basil Hallward. There was something about this painting that occupied such public excitement, but Basil didn’t want to exhibit it because he had put too much of himself into it. The main character, Dorian Gray begins to think beauty is the only worthwhile aspect of life. Under the influence of Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian begins to enjoy in every kind of moral and immoral pleasure, which might lead to his own tragedy. Dorian has adopted a hedonistic lifestyle. During his visit to the theater, he meets a young and beautiful actress Sibyl Vane. Dorian was delighted with her acting in Shakespeare’s plays and soon both fell in love. They got engaged. Sibyl, calling Dorian as her “Price Charming”, was very happy, but her brother James was scared for her little sister. James warned Sibyl that if this “Prince Charming” harms her, he will certainly kill him. To make sure that Sibyl is right for him, Dorian invited Basil and Henry to see Sibyl perform Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. Sibyl, whose only knowledge of love was love of the theatre, started to act very badly, without passion and emotions, all because her sincere love for Dorian. Dorian, embarrassed and disappointed, told her that he leaves her because her beauty was only in her acting. When he returned home, his portrait had grown old in his place, as he wished. His portrait now will age with each sin he commits, but his appearance remains the same.

The main strengths of the book are its unusual plot and dynamic characterization. What I liked most was that I didn't find the book predictable. I really did not see the ending

coming and was surprised at every change Dorian went through. I went from loving Dorian to

hating him to not being sure how to feel about him. He was quite a nasty character at times but

also fascinating. The book came together nicely in the end and overall I enjoyed it.

This is definitely one of my favorite books I've been required to read for school, and

also it's become one of my favorite books in general. I found it particularly inspiring and thought-

provoking and also I would recommend it to everyone who is interested in both literature and

art.