The Picture Of Dorian Gray, By Oscar Wilde

Perhaps one of the best descriptions of Oscar Wilde’s life was written by James Joyce. He stated that Wilde discovered, “the truth inherent in the soul of Catholicism: that man cannot reach the divine heart except through that sense of separation and loss called sin." Wilde emphasized this throughout his life in his lavish attire, conversation, and especially in his works. His theatricality was something that everyone who writes about him touches upon. Even when bogus qualities were most prevalent, the reader could never be sure whether he was touching on deep concepts in new ways (Johnson 150-152).

One theatrical style that Wilde often used was aestheticism. He did this by creating a character who was lazy and unmotivated. This directly contradicted

This style was most notable in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Due to the immorality involved with the plot, criticism arose. In response, Wilde stated, “My story is an essay on decorative art. It reacts to the brutality of plain realism.” This certainly explains why Wilde added on seven chapters just to make it a novel (Ransome 492).

Wilde also emphasized decadence as a style. He expressed the decadent movement at the turn of the century well in Salomé. In a strict Victorian world, Salomé was presented as a female born from a demonic virgin who died for the message she was trying to spread. Salomé’s message was love and sexual freedom for all people. This was supposed to offer an alternate view of Christ. This view of considering only what goes on in this life and not in the next was contradictory to the Victorian view (Nassaar).

Wilde’s dramatic style was one that was much different than most other writers at the time. Wilde often said that drama was where art and life came together, however he always intentionally separated the two in all of his dramas. This was a fundamental style of his work. Admirably, he walked this line of dull realism and creative reality (Henderson 496). He always advertised that art was superior to life. For example in “The Decay of Lying,” Wilde suggested that art influenced all of life with itself. He continued by saying that art was the perfect imitation of life (Ellmann, Article