The Picture of Dorian Gray- Oscar Wilde

The picture of Dorian Gray ,published in 1890, is a philosophical novel with gothic undertones. The books follows Dorian Gray , a beautifully handsome man , who sits for Basil Hallward, an artist who becomes obsessed with his charm and wants to paint him. Dorian is enchanted by his own painting and soon became envious of the portrait.
During this time Dorian meets Basil’s friend Lord Henry and influenced deeply by his well-phrased epigrams of hedonism . In a fit of anger , while thinking about how his beauty is fading away , he pledges his soul for the painting to age instead of him. Unknown to him his wish comes true and, while Dorian remains young, his portrait starts aging . Soon, Dorian realises that every sin he committed is reflected in the portrait and that he can live a life full of sensations and never get old. Dorian starts engaging in scandals and sinful pleasures after this revelation, but later has to pay for them .
From the very beginning of the novel , the three protagonists of the novel have  starkly contrasting personalities, reminiscent of Freud’s concept of id, ego and super ego . You can never figure out which character Wilde related to while he painted the picture of Dorian Gray  . Whether it was Basil , an artist so hopelessly infatuated with his muse or Henry Wotton ,a very strongly opinionated man who espouses a philosophy of self-indulgence or Dorian himself , a handsome but equally narcissistic man with his indomitable confidence .
The maxim of aestheticism “art for art’s sake” is reflected in the opening of the novel, which specifies art’s aim to “reveal the art and conceal the artist.”  Altogether, this thought-provoking and timeless held together by beautiful prose. The work, an archetypal tale of a young man who purchases eternal youth at the expense of his soul, was a romantic exposition of Wilde’s own aestheticism. The book is dark, of despair and hopelessness with despicable characters making the book an easy selection.

The picture of Dorian Gray ,published in 1890, is a philosophical novel with gothic undertones. The books follows Dorian Gray , a beautifully handsome man , who sits for Basil Hallward, an artist who becomes obsessed with his charm and wants to paint him. Dorian is enchanted by his own painting and soon became envious…