The picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The picture of Dorian Gray PDF: Irish author Oscar Wilde wrote a philosophical book titled The Picture of Dorian Gray.
The American magazine Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine published a shortened novella-length version in its July 1890 issue.
In April 1891, the novel-length edition was released.
Basil Hallward, a friend of Dorian Gray and an artist enamored with Dorian’s beauty, produced a portrait of Dorian Gray that serves as the central focus of the narrative.
Dorian first meets Lord Henry Wotton through Basil, and is immediately attracted by the aristocrat’s hedonistic worldview,
which holds that the only things worth pursuing in life are beauty and sensual fulfillment.
Dorian, who has recently realized that his beauty will deteriorate, expresses the wish to sell his soul in order to make sure that the image will age and deteriorate rather than him.
Dorian’s dream comes true, and he lives a libertine lifestyle filled with many immoral encounters while remaining youthful and attractive.
Throughout this time, his portrait ages and graphically documents all of Dorian’s misdeeds.
It was widely debated and criticized at the time but is now regarded as a classic of gothic fiction. It was Wilde’s only book.
Details of The The picture of Dorian Gray PDF
- Publisher : Dover Publications;
- Language : English
- Paperback : 176 pages
- Reading age : 18 years and up
- Item Weight : 4.8 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.25 x 0.5 x 8.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #40,320 in Books
- #6 in LGBTQ+ Classic Fiction
- #1,392 in Classic Literature & Fiction
- #3,435 in Literary Fiction (Books)
Author of The picture of Dorian Gray PDF
Preface of The picture of Dorian Gray PDF
The Picture of Dorian Gray’s 1891 printing contained a preface in which Wilde responded to critiques of the magazine edition of the book and defended the reputation of his work.
The introduction became famous in and of itself as a literary and creative declaration in favor of artists’ rights and art for the sake of art due to its content, presentation, and style.
Wilde employed aphorisms to clarify the function of art, the value of beauty, and the place of the artist in society in order to convey how the book should be understood.
It traces Wilde’s cultural acculturation to Taoism and Chuang Ts’ (Zhuang Zhou’s) worldview.
In the article The Artist as Critic, Oscar Wilde stated: “Before writing the preface, Wilde had published a book review of Herbert Giles’s translation of Zhuang Zhou’s work.
The sincere ratepayer and his happy family have undoubtedly often chuckled at the philosopher’s dome-shaped forehead and at the peculiar angle from which the landscape beneath him seems to them.
They would shudder if they truly understood who he was. As a result, Chuang Ts spent his entire life preaching the great doctrine of inaction and emphasizing the futility of everything.
The Picture of Dorian Gray’s introduction was first published in the novel’s April 1891 edition, but by June 1891, Wilde was defending the work against claims that it was subpar.
The picture of Dorian Gray Summary
An opinionated man named Lord Henry Wotton is watching the sensitive artist Basil Hallward paint a portrait of Dorian Gray,
a handsome young man who serves as Basil’s ultimate muse, on a lovely summer day in Victorian England.
Dorian thinks that beauty is the only aspect of life worth pursuing while posing for the painting because he has been exposed to Lord Henry’s hedonistic worldview.
Dorian wishes that his portrait will age instead of him as a result.
Dorian thoroughly embraces his sensuality while being influenced by Lord Henry’s hedonistic nature.
He comes across the Shakespearean actress Sibyl Vane, who works in a run-down, working-class theater.
Dorian approaches her, pursues her, and soon pops the question. Sibyl, who has fallen in love with him,
refers to him as “Prince Charming” and swoons with joy at being loved, but her protective brother James warns that if “Prince Charming” hurts her, he will be killed.
The elderly guy was stabbed in the heart, and when the servants opened the locked door, they discovered his lifeless body.
Only the rings on his fingers let the servants recognize Dorian from the deformed corpse, while the image next to him is once more lovely.
