Oscar Wilde’s Gothic novel worth a read for Halloween
By PHOENIX CARLISLE | Cover courtesy of WORDSWORTH CLASSICS
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is one of the best classic, gothic pieces of literature you will read this spooky season.
This short novel is about Dorian Gray, who becomes morbidly obsessed with a portrait of himself. Basil Hallward is stunned by Gray’s beauty, compelling him to paint Dorian in his youthful prime. This portrait ends up becoming a dark aspect in our character’s life. Dorian becomes consumed by his fear of aging, driving him to shun the portrait from his view. Throughout the novel, Dorian falls into a life of sin and pleasure, causing his self image to stay youthful while his painting rots, reflecting Dorian’s behavior. Dorian’s portrait ages him as he continues to live a narcissistic life, until it all catches up to him.
Although it is a classic, don’t shoot this one down expecting it to be hard to read or boring. The Picture of Dorian Gray is the opposite. The novel is so easy to read while being extremely entertaining. There are study guides you can reference, yet you shouldn’t need them for the majority of the book.
An original gothic tale, the vibe is spooky, dark and vile. Oscar Wilde carefully crafts the slow insanity of Dorian Gray and how it affects Basil Hallward and Lord Henry. Speaking of Lord Henry, he was the only sane one within this book, so every time Dorian did something extra/crazy, I felt like it was an episode of The Office. In my mind, Lord Henry and I would look at each other, so tired of Dorian’s actions, yet I continued to love the shenanigans.
The slow, creeping insanity is stretched out perfectly over the plot. Dorian Gray is the best example of how giving into a life of careless behavior corrupts a person. Wilde writes as though we are experiencing the horror of Dorian’s humanity slipping away. As Dorian stays youthful, his painting becomes this grotesque reflection of the impact of his drinking, sins and age. Something that I found hilarious was when Dorian would be drunk or feeling smug so he would go into the attic to yell/tease his own panting, as if he could take out everything wrong with his life on the portrait.
I love this mysterious tale so much. It’s a book that, if you know, will always be a great conversation opener due to everyone’s perception of Dorian and his actions. This book had set the standard for horror novels when it came out and will always be remembered.
The Picture of Dorian Gray is the perfect eerie novel to read on a dark October night. Read as Dorian Gray loses himself to the fear of aging when in reality he is speeding up the process. Wilde wrote a beautifully terrifying book that will shock you. This book is 100% worth it, even though it is a classic (get over yourself, classics are amazing). Please don’t embarrass yourself by calling it the “portrait” instead of the “picture.” Happy autumn and happy reading!
