The picture of dorian gray

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

When in 1890 was published 'The picture of Dorian Gray', this work was welcomed with scandal and furious polemics, but at the same time it was an enormous success because as Oscar Wilde said:

"The public, learning that this book is evil and that should be seized and forbidden by the government, it will race to read it "

The story is the life of Dorian Gray.

Dorian Gray is a rich aristocratic young man who, unlike the others, has a particular natural gift: in fact he is so good looking that everyone looks at him is unable to remain unmoved e to his features and his beauty. For this reason his friend, the painter Basil Hallword, decides to portray him .

When Dorian watch the picture is so amazed by the perfection of his beauty that, not bearing the idea to look older and to lose his own beauty, he expresses the desire to remain young forever. Convinced that the only purpose of the human life is that to realize his wishes and his dreams, together with the friend Lord Henry Wotton he spent his life living only for pleasure, making use of everybody and letting people die because of his insensitivity, the example his fiancée Sybil Vane.

But the desire of Dorian has been realized, and the signs of the age, experience and vice, instead of destroy him, appear on the portrait that day after day continues to change. 

Frightened, he decides to hide the picture, and its terrible secret. The years pass and Dorian is always very beautiful, but more and more mysterious , enigmatic and  able every cruelty.

In fact when the painter sees that the image of the portrait is changed, Dorian have an outburst of anger and kills him with the aim to keep the secret.

The painting, day after day, is more and more horrible and transfigured so the protagonist decides to free himself from this spiritual corruption, but when he tries to stabs it he mysteriously kills himself. In the moment of death the picture returns to its original perfection while all the signs appeared on Dorian's face.

Inside the novel Dorian Gray , represented the aristocratic society at the time of Oscar Wilde, and he is an exaltation of the hypocrisy at the base of the good society, where the manners and the appearance are more important than the moral and the nature: in fact Dorian believes that youth is synonymous with beauty and happiness. 

With this idea Oscar Wilde wanted to shock the public opinion and he succeeded so well in his purpose that this novel was banned as immoral.

In reality this story is full of morality, in fact the message contained by this book is that the excesses must be punished and the reality cannot be escaped;in fact when Dorian destroys the picture, he cannot avoid the punishment for all his sins, that is, death.