The picture of Dorian Gray

316 pages

Langue : English

Publié 26 février 2010 par W F Howes.

ISBN :
978-1-4074-5403-0
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Numéro OCLC :
620267456

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4 étoiles (2 critiques)

When Dorian Gray has his portrait painted, he is captivated by his own beauty. Tempted by his world-weary, decadent friend Lord Henry Wotton, he wishes to stay forever young, and pledges his very soul to keep his good looks. Set in fin-de-siecle London, the novel traces a path from the studio of painter Basil Hallward to the opium dens of the East End. As Dorian's slide into crime and cruelty progresses he stays magically youthful, while his beautiful portrait changes, revealing the hideous corruption of moral decay. Ever since its first publication in 1890 Wilde's only novel has remained the subject of critical controversy. Acclaimed by some as an instructive moral tale, it has been denounced by others for its implicit immorality. Combining elements of the supernatural, aestheticism, and the Gothic, The Picture of Dorian Gray is an unclassifiable and uniquely unsettling work of fiction.

52 editions

Really good, but with minor pacing issues

4 étoiles

Beautifully written. However, there was one or two chapters in the middle that devote themselves to talking about Dorian's various fads and passing interests, and while I enjoyed the flowery prose they just meandered uninterestingly and I didn't see how they added to the plot or to the allegory—although it's very likely that I could've just missed the meaning. Other than that though, I really enjoyed it. Wonderful philosophical introspections (including questionable ones by Lord Henry), and a consistent but hidden underlying allegory (although admittedly obvious if you know about Wilde's personal life).

Unrelated, but even if I didn't know Wilde was primarily a playwright I still would've been able to tell because all the dialogue feels like a play rather than a novel.

Sujets

  • Hedonism
  • Fiction
  • Appearance (Philosophy)
  • Portraits