Does The Picture Of Dorian Gray Have Literary Merit

The novel I have chosen for my oral presentation is The Picture of Dorian Gray where I hope to convince you why this novel possesses qualities of literary merit. The Picture of Dorian Gray is a 1891 Victorian gothic horror and philosophical fiction by Irish writer, Oscar Wilde. Initially when the novel was published, it received poor reception as critics condemned it scandalous and immoral and thus was heavily censored. However today, it is widely acknowledge as a classic literature with literary merit, why is that? Well today, I will be talking how the novel has literary merit as it is significant to its time period, educates as well as it entertains, has finely crafted language and has endured overtime with a wide appeal.

To familiarize

Heavily influenced by Lord Wotton, Dorian slowly progresses into a libertine life of self-absorption, deceits and crime while remaining a gentleman in the eyes of polite society. He lives a double-faced life. Day-by-day, his face remains ever beautiful when he commits sins, untouched by the scars of the years and of his guilt. All the while, his portrait ages, becomes more hideous and reveals his true ugly nature. When Basil discovers the horrific truth, Dorian kills him in a fit of rage. In the end, Dorian’s immoralities ruin him and the portrait of himself has recorded every burden of his

Here is an excerpt of one the descriptions as an example.

“From the corner of the divan of Persian saddle-bags on which he was lying, smoking, as was his custom, innumerable cigarettes, Lord Henry Wotton could just catch the gleam of the honey-sweet and honey-coloured blossoms of a laburnum, whose tremulous branches seemed hardly able to bear the burden of a beauty so flamelike as theirs; and now and then the fantastic shadows of birds in flight flitted across the long tussore-silk curtains that were stretched in front of the huge window…”

As you can see there is a lot of detail in this lengthy sentence that has florid, sensuous and descriptive phrases such as “honey-coloured blossoms” and “fantastic shadows of birds”. In keeping with Wilde’s aesthetic sensibilities, one can say that his writing style in the novel is a piece of decorative art itself. I believe that is what makes the read more imaginative and enjoyable.

Finally, the last aspect of literary merit, the novel has endured overtime with a wide appeal. Its appealing tale has inspired many various cinematic, theater and artistic adaptations. The list goes on for the number of film adaptations but some