Description
A Gothic and philosophical novel by Oscar Wilde, was first published complete in the July 1890 issue of Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine. But it offended the moral sensibilities of British book reviewers. In response, Wilde aggressively defended his novel. The longer and revised version of The Picture of Dorian Gray, published in book form in 1891, featured an aphoristic preface—a defence of the artist’s rights and of art for art’s sake. The content, style, and presentation of the preface made it famous in its own right, as a literary and artistic manifesto. The novel, an archetypal tale of a young man who purchases eternal youth at the expense of his soul, was a romantic exposition of Wilde’s own Aestheticism. The novel became a classic of English literature and was adapted into a number of films, most notably a 1945 version that earned multiple Academy Award nominations.
