The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

arts · EN-US

A novel that disturbs you 160 years after it first appeared in print, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, has so much relevance and resonance even today. Dorian Gray is a strikingly handsome young man whose beauty attracts a debauched aristocrat Sir Henry Wotton. Dorian's picture has been painted by a talented artist Basil Hallward and Sir Henry becomes desperate to meet Dorian, though Basil himself is against it. Sir Henry persuades Dorian to pose for a picture painted by Basil and during the painting sessions, Henry “educates” the young and impressionable Dorian about life. Sir Henry's vicious nature, his obsession with youth and his cynical, materialistic outlook on everything begin to slowly affect Dorian. Dorian descends into a horrifying world, where he commits all manner of abhorrent deeds with all round him feeling the effects. Lives are destroyed, crimes are committed but Dorian's self-indulgent and depraved life continues. The story takes a bizarre and terrifying tw