The Picture of Dorian Gray: A mirror reflection of man & his soul

 

Genre: Gothic Fiction

I was introduced to my favourite author Oscar Wilde through this book in my graduation years. I had no background, whatsoever, about the book. I picked it up as it was prescribed in my course & thought it is just a drama. When I started reading the curious case of Mr.Gray page after page, this novel absorbed me in. The Victorian critics called it “poisonous” as they thought that the story was immoral; to my mind it is “poisonous” too, but just because this book spreads on you like venom – slow & with impact. Once you start it, you will be absorbed in the world of Dorian Gray.

The story starts in the late 19^th century (around the same time it was written, i.e, 1890). Dorian Gray is an extremely good looking man & is described in the book to have a skin made of ivory & rose petals. Gray is the subject of a portrait being made by Basil Hallward, a sensitive artist & highly moral man. Gray is his ultimate muse & there are undertones of Basil having something more than friendship for Gray in his heart. Lord Henry Wotton, a dandy & rich socialite, happens to pass by Basil’s studio & observes Gray being painted on a canvas. When Gray sees his finished portrait & the perfection in it, he breaks down crying as the thought of age marring his good looks crosses his mind. Lord Henry, strongly opinionated as he was, also encourages this thought & tells Gray that beauty, riches & a hedonist lifestyle are the only true good deeds in the world & worth living for, rest all means nothing. As long as he is beautiful & rich, he will have all pleasures & none if these are absent. Gray is so influenced by this thought that he enters into a Faustian deal (deal with the devil), where every misdeed he does will reflect on the face of his painting & not on him. Hence he will remain young & handsome forever, while his painting will suffer the ravages of his deeds & his age.

Post this deal, Gray completely gets absorbed in a life of debauchery & excesses. He breaks the heart of his devoted lover, Sybil, a theatre actress, who thereafter commits suicide. Shaken by this & yet finding a sense of ecstasy in his new found corrupt life, Gray falls deeper & deeper into a vortex of corruption, lies, sins, dishonesty & extreme pleasure derived out of the riches earned thereafter. After sometime, when he sees his portrait, he is shocked to see how grotesque his picture has become. This feeling hits Gray with ferocity & leads him into drugs (referred to as opium den in the book). At this point Gray struggles with two feelings – remorse & exhilaration. While he is resentful of his acts & its effect on his picture, he has gone so deep into the pit of corrupt pleasures that he cannot come out of it. In a way he starts leading a dual life, & it seems as if he I not one but two people.

The book becomes darker & more meaningful with each turning page. Wilde was so authentic & accurate in his portrayal of his 3 major characters of the book (Gray, Basil & Lord Henry) that you can actually find such characters around you all the time. There are so many people who still think life’s biggest pleasures are in money & beauty & youth, & are truly defeated in the end by this very thought.

Wilde has studied basic human psyche so beautifully & converted it into this Gothic novel with such ease. The book is dark & with a shocking end. Like I pointed out earlier, the book consumes you, spreads in you like poison. Even today it is so powerful that it will absorb you in its world. Money, beauty, youth, parties, pleasures, this is what we think true life is…but Dorian Gray’s story holds up a mirror to your soul. Do you want a normal life with normal ups & downs but a satisfying end or do you want a life like Dorian Gray? A deal with the devil is the easiest path to follow, & one that will bring untold riches & pleasure…but after reading Dorian’s plight, a reader would think, is this really a happy life, where you look good from outside but your soul is rotting minute by minute.

The book was poorly received when it came out in 1890, as it was perceived immoral, too dark, hedonist & with undertones of homosexuality. Today it is a classic (albeit underrated) in Gothic fiction. It is Wilde’s only novel (his primary field being plays), but one that stays with you till years.

TIP: Read it with some time in your hand and when you are least expected to be disturbed – like a weekend at home. It will absorb you like nothing can.