The Picture of Dorian Gray Paperback - 2003
by Oscar Wilde; Robert Mighall (Editor); Introduction by Robert Mighall
This edition of Wilde's infamous novel of spiritual corruption in which a young man exchanges his soul for eternal youth to indulge in his desires features Ackroyd's preface from the original Penguin Classics edition.
About this book
"The Picture of Dorian Gray" is a classic novel by Oscar Wilde, first published in 1890. It tells the story of a young, handsome man named Dorian Gray, who becomes the subject of a portrait painted by an artist named Basil Hallward. Dorian is introduced to the pleasures of life by his friend, Lord Henry Wotton, who encourages him to pursue beauty and pleasure above all else.
Dorian becomes obsessed with his own youth and beauty, and he wishes that his portrait would age instead of him. His wish is granted, and he remains youthful while his portrait shows the physical and moral decay of his life. As Dorian becomes increasingly depraved, his portrait becomes more and more grotesque, reflecting the ugliness of his soul.
"The Picture of Dorian Gray" is a haunting and thought-provoking novel that explores themes of beauty, morality, and the corrupting influence of society. It remains one of Oscar Wilde's most famous works and is widely regarded as a LGBTQ+ masterpiece of English literature.
Summary
The Picture of Dorian Gray was a succès de scandale. Early readers were shocked by its hints at unspeakable sins and the book was later used as evidence against Wilde at the Old Bailey in 1895.
Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, Dorian Gray makes a Faustian bargain to sell his soul in exchange for eternal youth and beauty. Under the influence of Lord Henry Wotton, he is drawn into a corrupt double life, where he is able to indulge his desires while remaining a gentleman in the eyes of polite society. Only Dorian's picture bears the traces of his decadence.
A knowing account of a secret life and an analysis of the darker side of late Victorian society. The Picture of Dorian Gray offers a disturbing portrait of an individual coming face to face with the reality of his soul.
@MajorLeagueAesthole Sadly my beauty will one day cease. Perhaps I could preserve it by having the doc pull and staple the skin of my face? No. A silly thought.
People seem put off by my self-absorption. But I can’t help but tell the truth about my excellence! It is important to be earnest, isn’t it?
From Twitterature: The World's Greatest Books in Twenty Tweets or Less
From the rear cover
Dorian Gray has just had his portrait painted. It is a perfect likeness of the quite extraordinary beautiful young man, and it prompts him to make a mad wish for eternal youth. In the years to come, he devotes his public life to and aestheticism-and his private one to decadence and debauchery.
First Edition Identification
Ward, Lock published a First UK Edition, First Printing hardcover in 1891, London. The edition is characterized by vellum backed boards. Charles Carrington published a First Illustrated Edition, First Printing in 1908, Paris. Finely bound by the Chelsea Bindery in purple morocco, spine lettered and decorated in gilt, raised bands, marbled endpapers, and gilt edges. John Lane Bodley Head & Dodd Mead published a First Illustrated Edition Thus, First Printing in 1925, US. The edition is bound in cloth boards with 12 full page engravings by Henry Keen. Brentano’s published a First US Edition, First Printing in 1906, New York. The World Publishing Co., published a Towers-Books-Edition, First Printing in 1944. Heritage Press published a First Edition Thus, First Printing hardcover in 1957, New York.
Details
- Title The Picture of Dorian Gray
- Author Oscar Wilde; Robert Mighall (Editor); Introduction by Robert Mighall
- Binding Paperback
- Edition Revised
- Pages 304
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Penguin Group, London
- Date 2003-02-04
- ISBN 9780141439570 / 0141439572
- Weight 0.51 lbs (0.23 kg)
- Dimensions 7.8 x 5.08 x 0.72 in (19.81 x 12.90 x 1.83 cm)
- Ages 18 to UP years
- Grade levels 13 - UP
- Reading level 500
-
Themes
- Catalog Heading: Classics
- Curriculum Strand: Language Arts/Literature
- Library of Congress subjects Conduct of life, Didactic fiction
- Library of Congress Catalog Number 2003267607
- Dewey Decimal Code FIC
Excerpt
Dorian made no answer, but passed listlessly in front of his picture and turned towards it. When he saw it he drew back, and his cheeks flushed for a moment with pleasure. A look of joy came into his eyes, as if he had recognized himself for the first time. He stood there motionless and in wonder, dimly conscious that Hallward was speaking to him, but not catching the meaning of his words. The sense of his own beauty came on him like a revelation. He had never felt it before. Basil Hallwards's compliments has seemed to him to be merely the charming exaggerations of friendship. He had listened to them, laughed at them, forgotten them. They had not influenced his nature. Then had come Lord Henry Wotton with his strange panegyric on youth, his terrible warning of its brevity. That had stirred him at the time, and now, as he stood gazing at the shadow of his own loveliness, the full reality of the description flashed across him. Yes, there would be a day when his face would be wrinkled and wizen, his eyes dim and colourless, the grace of his figure broken and deformed. The scarlet would pass away from his lips, and the gold steal from his hair. The life that was to make his soul would mar his body. He would become dreadful, hideous, and uncouth.
As he thought of it, a sharp pang of pain struck though him like a knife, and made each delicate fibre of his nature quiver. His eyes deepened into amethyst, and across them came a mist of tears. He felt as is a hand of ice had been laid upon his heart.
'Don't you like it?' cried Hallward at last, stung a little by the lad's silence, not understanding what it meant.
'Of course he likes it,' said Lord Henry. 'Who wouldn't like it? It is one of the greatest things in modern art. I will give you anything you like to ask for it. I must have it.'
'It is not my property, Harry.'
'Whose property is it?'
'Dorian's, of course,' answered the painter.
'He's a very lucky fellow.'
'How sad it is!' murmured Dorian Gary, with his eyes still fixed upon his own portrait. 'How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. It will never be older than this particular day of June...If it were only the other way!
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