The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde (4.5)
It was a pleasure to re-read this, one of my favorite
classic novels. It reminds me of a Jane Austen novel with added biting humor,
deep philosophical questions and some pretty horrible behavior. As with Austen,
the major players live lives of leisure. The story begins with a soulful
painter finishing his masterwork, a portrait of an exquisite young man. His
friend, Lord Henry, is present and delights in the young man’s beauty and
innocence. Lord Henry’s cynically taunts the young man to realize that the
painting is likely the best he will ever be – it’s downhill from here! The book
investigates the philosophical question of what would happen if your
indiscretions do not affect your visage, i.e. if your soul is represented
elsewhere than on your face? Vanity, morality, shallowness, and selfishness are
all in play here. What makes this novel unique is that the horrific happenings
are told with melodious language (“a spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go
down”?). Lord Henry, whom I assume is a representation of Mr. Wilde, is full of
wonderful aphorisms: ‘The one charm of the past is that it is the past’, and
‘The real drawback of marriage is it makes one unselfish. And unselfish people
are colorless. They lack individuality.’ Reading Wilde is like enjoying a fine wine,
which these characters can understand!
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