Oscar Wilde’s longest work of prose fiction,
The Picture of Dorian Gray, tells the disturbing story of the corruption of a young man. Dorian Gray is seduced by his own exceptional beauty and by a mentor, Lord Henry Wotton, who preaches the heady doctrine of a new hedonism. Dorian pursues a life of pleasure and increasing debauchery but never displays any sign of growing any older or any less beautiful. Nobody knows that he has a portrait hidden away that ages instead, becoming more loathsome, repulsive and accusatory as the years go by. From the time of its original publication, the novel has intrigued readers and confounded critics who have continually disagreed on its literary and moral merits.
Wilde wrote The Picture of Dorian Gray as a result of a commission in 1889 from J. M
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Citation: Markey, Anne. "The Picture of Dorian Gray". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 May 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7386, accessed 21 November 2024.]
