The Picture of Dorian Gray

By Oscar Wilde

Completed on May 23, 2018

“Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul.”

Oscar Wilde is a renowned poet and playwright, and the realization that I had not read his only novel came as a surprise to me a couple of weeks back. I had no idea what to expect from The Picture of Dorian Gray save good writing, and that I found aplenty in the book.

In structure, TPODG is very different from a traditional novel. It resembles a play in places, especially early on in the book, no doubt due to the author’s panache in that form, and then there are entire chapters which feel like essays on society. Only in the last quarter of the book does it get a coherent structure, and it is a pleasure when it does. I would have loved to read more novels from Wilde, and it is a shame he didn’t write any.

In essence, it is a book about beauty and corruption, and how one can often entail the other. It is a study in human behavior, and about the things one is capable of if our actions don’t have consequences. I have always maintained that I love morally gray characters and anti-heroes, and Dorian Gray was probably the most corrupt protagonist of his time. No wonder then that the book was shunned at the time of publication.

Wilde is a skilled wordsmith, though, and his genius is most evident when he writes dialogues. Lord Henry Wotton, conspicuous from the beginning by his rather cynical approach to life and people, is also perhaps the wittiest character I have read in fiction. I would be remiss in my duty if I don’t mention a particular conversation towards the end between Lord Henry, his cousin Gladys, and Dorian Gray. It flows like honey, and every statement is a quote in itself.

I would have given the book a perfect rating if not for some of the essay-like chapters towards the middle which drag on unnecessarily. They do nothing to drive the plot forward, and merely serve to portray the author’s repertoire.

It is still a classic, and perhaps because it resembles some of Thomas Hardy’s tragedies in narrative, I loved it immensely. Highly recommended!