Classic
The Picture of Dorian Gray
by Oscar Wilde
Summary
Beautiful young Dorian Gray wishes that his newly painted portrait would age in his place, and the wish takes hold: he plunges into years of hidden cruelty and indulgence while his face stays unmarked and the canvas grows hideous. Wilde surrounds the Faustian bargain with the epigrams of Lord Henry Wotton, whose philosophy of pleasure seduces Dorian toward ruin. The novel's glittering wit and its portrait of concealed corruption made it both a scandal and a classic.
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Historical Context & Significance
Wilde published the novel in a magazine in 1890 and in revised book form in 1891, and reviewers attacked it as immoral. Passages from it were later quoted against him at his trials, binding the book permanently to his own tragedy.