This short novel is an interesting combination of elements – Wilde wrote it in a sort of high literary mode (that is to say, with ornate, self-consciously artistic language and heightened sense of style), but it also has elements of the classic horror story, like the suspenseful build to the final twist. In other words, it’s a kind of horror story that’s ascended to the level of literary horror story – other examples are Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw, or basically any short story by Edgar Allen Poe. In terms of the “literary” part, you might consider Wilde’s concern with showing Dorian’s thoughts in depth, as well as his exploration of Basil and Lord Henry. While it shows some levels of psychological detail, the novel is also highly symbolic and allegorical; Wilde was no stranger to metaphor. On the “horror” side, we’ve got the grotesque descriptions of the portrait, the terrible murder and consequent, um, disappearance of Basil Hallward, and the general ick-factor of the opium den – and, of course, the dramatic ending, shrieks and all. As I was reading, I compared both Lord Henry and Basil’s fascination with Dorian, a younger, beautiful man, to the almost neurotic one Wilde would later have with Lord Alfred Douglas, or “Bosie.” And indeed, it can be described as almost prefiguring Wilde’s later relationship with Bosie. It would be easier to say on a brief glimpse considering the way Wilde lived and dressed, that Oscar Wilde was Dorian Gray, a young man at one point taking Basil as his lover. But Wilde is heavily influenced by Lord Henry a stable character who lives on the knifes edge of morality. The reader is guided to charge Lord Henry with the offence of corrupting Dorian by making Lord Henry a character well in control of his own moral codes while Dorian is yet to discover his own moral codes and in his confusion, tries to live by someone else’s. This is indeed how society saw Oscar in relation to Lord Alfred.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 14:16:58 +0000
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