The Picture of Dorian Gray

The “Picture of Dorian Gray” is the only novel of Oscar Wilde, English author of Irish descendency.
At the time it was first published (1890), the novel provoked a hostile reaction in the British press and reading public. The main reason the book provoked this kind of reaction was it’s perceived lack of morality and moral messages. Luckily, the worldviews about morality and freedom of expression have changed in the past century and so “The picture of Dorian Gray” is known today as one of the best books ever written.

The novel is set in London, at the end of the 19th century, except chapter 17, which is set at Dorian Gray’s country estate, Selby Royal.

Dorian Gray is a cultured, wealthy and impossibly beautiful young man. Basil Hallward , an average portraitist, is completely taken away by Dorian’s beauty and purity. He paints his portrait and the painting ends up being his masterpiece. The novel opens in Basil’s studio, where Basil and Lord Henry Watton are discu...