Oscar Wilde - 1890 - novel - p. 170 

A controversial novel that may have contributed to Wilde’s later conviction for indecency, The Picture of Dorian Gray was abridged by an editor without Wilde’s knowledge even before publication and still ruffled the feathers of much of British society. Basil Hallward paints a portrait of a beautiful man named Dorian Gray, who becomes obsessed with his own beauty to the exclusion of all else. Influenced by the hedonistic outlook of the aristocrat Henry Wotton, Dorian wishes that his portrait would age rather than he himself.

He realizes that his wish has come true when, after he offends an actress named Sybil, he comes home to find that the portrait has mysteriously taken on a mocking sneer--and Sybil has killed herself. Believing himself consigned to the lures of hedonism, Dorian indulges his every whim and amoral impulse, Inspired in part by the influence of a prurient French novel. Finally, his misdoings catch up to him and become too much to bear.

Wilde noted that the three main characters represented various aspects of his own personality: self-perception, social perception, and aspiration. As a result of the furor the book caused, subsequent editions were published with a preface by Wilde explicating the role of art in society.

Key elements: art, crime, Europe, Gothic, homosexuality