The Picture Of Dorian Gray
(Oscar Wilde)
Bottom Line Up Front: A fun read to think of how devilishly immoral London high society may have been and to enjoy Wilde?s wit, but nothing more.
I?ve never enjoyed a book with a ridiculously weak plot as much as I have ?The Picture of Dorian Gray? by Oscar Wilde. The plot is absurd. A British gentleman, Dorian Gray, vows he would give up his soul to keep his youthful beauty. This oath is made while Dorian contemplates his freshly painted portrait. And under the delightfully wicked guidance of Lord Henry, a witty and morally vacant London gentleman, Dorian succeeds in corrupting every aspect of his life, ruining numerous people in his devastating wake. Dorian?s morality spirals downward rapidly, as he engages in ungentlemanly affairs, drug-use, corruption of peers, and implied homosexuality. All the while he retains his youthful good looks and charm.
The best part of the novel is Lord Henry, the gleeful devilish mentor to Dorian in London?s high society. With lines like, ?Being natural is simply a pose, and the most irritating pose I know,? Lord Henry is written as the stage character Wilde would love to play himself.
The familiar sold-your-soul-to-the-devil plotline, even if completely improbable and stale, is ferociously funny and classy under Wilde?s guidance. The implications of British high society engaging in such behavior, and valuing superficial beauty above moral beauty, made the novel a controversy of its time. Wilde thrived on the controversy and in his gay gaiety grew even more famous as a writer.
The book is tedious at times because the moral conflict in the plot seems mostly absent and the novel is almost like one great backdrop for all of Wilde?s great lines with little substance to the actual characters or plot. But the lines are great to read nonetheless.
Resumos Relacionados
- The Picture Of Dorian Gray
- The Picture Of Dorian Gray
- The Picture Of Dorian Gray
- The Picture Of Dorian Gray
- The Picture Of Dorian Gray
|
|
