By Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde ( ) Dublin, Ireland, Oct. 16, 1854 Christened Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde Sent to Portoro Royal School, then Trinity College in Dublin; unpopular because he loathed sports Lazy student; wouldn’t make an effort to learn any subject he wasn’t interested in, like science and math; loved Greek literature 1876 entered Oxford; went to London in married Constance Lloyd 1887 to 1889 editor of woman’s magazine Published essays, short stories, and poems in various magazines was accused of homosexual behavior and sentenced to two years in prison Died of meningitis (rare infection that affects the delicate membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord) on Nov. 30, 1900 Wrote his masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest

The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde’s only novel published in 1891 Genre – gothic, philosophical Tone – sardonic (disdainfully mocking); dark Setting – 1890s London Point of View – 3 rd person omniscient (one short paragraph that is 1 st person where Wilde becomes the narrator) Symbols – opium den, James Vane, the yellow book Themes – purpose of art, supremacy of youth and beauty, surface nature of society, negative consequences of influence Motifs – color of white, picture of Dorian Gray, homoerotic male relationships Melodrama – everything is larger than life

More like a myth or morality tale Contains so much dialogue that it is almost a written version of a stage play Very similar to Faust – Lord Henry is the “devil” figure, and Dorian Gray is Faust; the portrait symbolizes Dorian’s soul or personal morality Lord Henry tempts Dorian to indulge in an immoral lifestyle, carelessly disregarding the feelings of the people he seduces and then rejects Dorian thinks that he can escape from the consequences of his own immoral life because the portrait will take the blame for him Contains a moral ending that was expected in 19 th century literature Contains many epigrams (short witty sayings) filled with Wilde’s humour and wit – example: Lord Henry says, “I choose my friends for their beauty and my enemies for their intelligence. A man cannot be too careful in choosing his enemies.”