Riot’s Overview:
I’d like to start off this series of brief reviews of classic literature by stating straight out I am not a fan of antiquated writing, something that makes this endeavor seem nonsensical at the start but I’m going to dive into it anyways. The Picture of Dorian Gray stylistically shied away from the antiquated style at times, but dove headfirst into it in others, as should be expected in a novel from 1891. The novel swings wildly from beautifully crafted and detailed descriptions of settings to bland, aristocratic conversations of upper-class, British dandy type men. Overall, the story is compelling and as a Psychology graduate, it was interesting to see how Wilde spends multiple clever moments outlining the influence of the emerging field as it implies to personal impulses and actions. Reading through it, I felt a strong influence could be tied to Robert Louis Stevenson’s, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (a novella that I ironically enjoyed more than Dorian Dray even though it was published five years prior). Both book’s protagonists find a supernatural way to explore their more primal impulses: Dr. Jekyll creates a completely separate persona through science and Dorian Gray uses a painting to deflect all the damage that a soul takes from giving into their desires. Both maintain the same final message though, there’s no such thing as a scapegoat for evil.
Riot’s Plot Synopsis: (I’ll be doing my best to keep these story summations as brief as possible)
The Picture of Dorian Gray, being only 160 pages long (for my edition) covered very little by means of actual events. It opens up on an art studio where we are introduced to the three main players of the story, Dorian Gray, Basil Hallward, and Lord Henry Wotton. Most, if not all the story is told within the dialogue of these main characters. At the art studio, we come to find out the premise of the entire story, while posing for a portrait for Basil, Dorian Gray is coaxed into seeing and believing the things that Lord Henry Wotton is saying, a proverbial diarrhea of nihilistic-esc views that lead Gray to believe that nothing but beauty is worth pursuing in the world. He proceeds to make a wish that Basil’s beautiful portrait/rendition of his image would take the brunt of time and aging and would leave his physical body free to remain young and beautiful. While this initially seems to be working out splendidly for Gray, the dream doesn’t last very long. He eventually becomes involved with a young actress, Sybil Vane, and the two quickly and madly fall in love with each other, abruptly getting engaged without Vane even knowing Gray’s actual name. In a couple brief chapters, the reader is hit with a massive load of foreshadowing, as Vane’s sailor brother vows to enact revenge on his sister’s lover should anything bad happen to her. The shine quickly comes off the apple for Gray after he brings his two friends to watch the young and beautiful Vane perform at the local theater. Vane’s performance is viewed by all in attendance as utterly terrible, which brings a large amount of shame and disdain into Gray’s heart, after he spent a large portion of a chapter singing Vane’s praises to his friends. The reader comes to find out that Vane’s utterly hopeless love for Gray has shown her the futility of trying to act any longer and that the couple’s love is all that should matter in this world. What should have been a tender, loving moment between the two turns sour as Gray shuns Vane, breaking off their engagement and saying he no longer loves her. Realizing his mistake not a day later, Gray vows to make things right with Vane, only to find out she has committed suicide in the same theater he last left her in. This becomes the catalyst to Gray’s spiral as he returns home to find that his portrait has mysteriously been altered, reflecting the horrible guilt that Gray is feeling from Vane’s demise. Rather than renouncing his ways or trying to improve himself, Gray instead dives headfirst into pursuing all the lusts and sins of the flesh. This is further antagonized by Lord Wotton, who provides Gray with a book that further spurs on his maddening decent. Gray’s reputation in London deteriorates over the years along with the image of his painting, prompting a visit from his old friend, Basil. After a lengthy discussion about the path Gray’s life has taken, Basil (unknowingly exposing Gray’s madness concerning the painting) convinces Gray to show it to him. Once the horror of the painting is revealed to another person, Gray’s insanity fully takes over. While Basil pleads with Gray to revoke his wicked ways, Gray eventually murders Basil and later calls in some crooked favors (by way of blackmail) to have Basil’s body disposed of. With Basil’s travel plans serendipitously creating a cover story for his absence in society, it seems that Gray has gotten away (literally) with murder. The only witness? His portrait that then reflects bloody hands from the ghastly deed. Fate would inevitably begin to catch up to Gray though, as he unsuspectingly comes into contact again with Sibyl Vane’s brother who has not forgotten his promise to enact revenge for his sister’s death. Briefly believing he found his sister’s killer, Gray avoids being murdered by stating that his youthful face could not be the person responsible for Vane’s suicide over a decade prior, to which the brother agrees. After Gray has made his escape, an older prostitute informs the brother that he is in error and he just let his sister’s “murderer” get away. Gray, for the next few snippets of time, is haunted by the idea of the brother being in pursuit of him, to the point that he sees the brother’s face stalking him throughout London. It isn’t until Gray goes out on a hunting trip that his suspicions are confirmed. Gray is saved once again by pure luck as the brother is accidentally killed by a hunter as he is stalking Gray. Although officially safe, Gray is shaken to the core by the encounter. After a brief conversation with his old friend, Lord Wotton, Gray returns home and is consumed once again by how horribly deteriorated his painting has become. Finding the knife that he used to murder Basil, Gray attempts to destroy the painting. The open narrative then switches to following the perspective of Gray’s house servants, who hear a blood-curdling scream in the room that houses the painting. After breaking into the room from the rooftop/balcony window, they find a withered and horribly disfigured body lying next to a beautiful and well preserved image of their master. Fate has finally caught up to Dorian Gray.
Riot’s Themes:
Nihilism vs. Morality: While I would say that I am a realist, there is something about the nihilistic side to realistic thinking that can get positively annoying. Arguably the biggest player of the book, Lord Henry Wotton, is the type of realist that makes you want to tear your own hair out because of how hopelessly negative they are. I mention “arguably” because it is likely that without his influence, the self-inflicted tragedy that is Dorian Gray’s story may have never actually happened. So while Gray is the main player/protagonist of the book, Lord Wotton is the spark that lit Gray’s entire world on fire. Their conversations are peppered with Henry’s sarcastic and negatively charged outlooks on everything and ignites a “lifelong” inclination towards the depraved and sinful natures of the upper-class lifestyle. For Wotton (and eventually Gray) the pursuit of the beautiful never really leads to anything meaningful.
Repressed Homosexual Impulses: In the foreword to the edition I read, it very briefly covered Oscar Wilde’s life and quickly mentioned how Wilde’s homosexual impulses may have contributed to much of the story. While I am choosing not to dive too far into the background or history of these stories, it also mentioned that the content of the book was actually used in a trial that inevitably saw him convicted of sodomy. Reading through the book, I couldn’t help but notice more than a few moments where the male protagonists were possibly chummier than might have been accepted at the time. The painter responsible for Gray’s picture, Basil Hallward, remarks on more than one occasion that he felt utterly lost without Gray constantly in his life. Maybe it was the fact that I had been reading Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles before this one, but these characters definitely read like they were closer than one might see from the outside. The book is, after all, a dive into the world of “exploring your passions.” I felt the bigger argument that the literature subconsciously points to a homoerotic theme comes in the form of Wotton’s constant, sarcastic quips and outright sexist remarks that are peppered throughout the story. If Oscar Wilde held any hidden disdain for the females of our species, it came out in the dialogue of Lord Henry Wotton.
Good vs. Evil: I briefly covered this in the overview but the clearest of themes from the book comes in this common and age old argument. Dorian Gray, vastly influenced by Lord Wotton, wishes for a way to explore life and all its dirty little secrets without having to become subject to the ravages of his decisions nor the deterioration of time. With his picture taking the brunt of the bad effects of his decisions, Gray is free to do whatever he wants while maintaining his boyish looks and charm. As we have all learned throughout the years though, a person can never fully escape the consequences of poor decisions and Gray is systematically worn down merely by the knowledge that the painting exists and that it reveals all the worst parts of his soul.
Upper vs. Lower Class: I won’t spend too much time on this one. But it was interesting to watch Wilde spend large portions of the book shining the spotlight on the seediness of the actions and attitudes of the upper class. It was clear he held no high regard for these types of people, using their wealth and influence to do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. If Gray’s painting was the main catalyst for his decent into depravity, money/wealth was the means by which he dove headfirst into it.
Riot’s Opinion:
The Picture of Dorian Gray was a fun, less than one week long (should have been 2 days max) read that struggled to hold my attention at times but had me hooked in others. As stated before, I’m no fan of nihilistic outlooks on life and the fact that Lord Wotton played such a massive role in the events and content of the story left me annoyed at multiple stages. The events of the tale I think provide a relevance to today’s society that people might need though; namely that you can’t just do whatever you want without any consequences. Evil will always catch up to you, always. People like Wotton and Gray, who seem to make sure they take no responsibility for the way their lives turn out, is a more pervasive commentary on today’s culture than it might have applied in the past. This could be because Wilde was trying to make a larger commentary on how the upper class behaves/acts, but that trope has been played out in every media source since the dawn of time. What should be terrifying to all of us today is just how pervasive the acceptance of that lifestyle/outlook is in general society. Also, while a minor personal annoyance, I am not particularly fond of authors that spend lengthy amounts of time quoting other literature that influenced them in their personal writing. As a writer myself, I understand why we are all bound to allow this to happen at times, but Wilde definitely could have reigned this in. Would I recommend this book to my closest friends? Probably not. But it might serve as a great lesson to the general public to really rethink what they truly value and what things are placed on the pedestals of their lives.
Riot’s Rating: 5/10
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