Oscar Wilde was an Irish writer, poet and playwright.

He is regarded as one of the

greatest decadent writers of all times. He wrote many poems, essays and plays:
among these we can mention the poem The Ballad of Reading Gaol and the
letter/essay De Profundis (written during his imprisonment in Reading Gaol
after he was arrested for his homosexual relationship with Alfred Douglas) and the
play The importance of being Earnest. He also wrote a single novel, The
picture of Dorian Gray, which is perhaps his most important and representative
work.
Dorian Gray is a young aristocratic man of stunning beauty. A painter,
Basil Hallward, is so impressed by Dorians beauty that he decides to paint a
portrait of him. Once the portrait is finished Basil shows it to his friend Lord Henry
Wotton. Henry Wotton is impressed by Dorians beauty, and he tells him about his
personal hedonistic ideal of beauty: Henry says that beauty is the highest
aspect of the genius, it is the most important thing in the world, it is extraordinary
but also temporary, therefore he urges him to live his youth intensely. Driven by
Henrys words, Dorian become aware of his beauty, and devoted his life to the
pursuit (prst) of unbridled (anbridold) passions and pleasures. Dorian expresses
a wish: he is willing to give his soul to stay young and handsome forever and let
the portrait get old instead of him.
He suddenly becomes aware that his wish has been fulfilled. Experiences and vices
appear on the portrait, while Dorian keeps his beauty intact [preserves his beauty]
and never gets old. But the picture has become so repulsive and disgusting that
Dorian tries to destroy it, in a moment of repentance, but in doing so he kills
himself. At the very moment of Dorians death, the portrait returns to its original
purity and Dorian turns into an old and ugly man.
A variety of themes can be read in this novel.
First of all, the theme of the double: [whereas Jekylls alter ego is Hyde,]
the double of Dorian is its portrait, which represents Dorians soul, his dark
and immoral side.
Moreover, the story is profoundly allegorical, and can be recognized like a
new version of the myth of Faust, the story of a man who sells his soul to
devil in order to achieve unlimited knowledge.
In this novel we can also read Wildes criticism on Victorian society:
Dorians double existence reflects the contradictions of the Victorian Age.
Dorians beauty represents the importance given to external appearance and
to the idea of respectability, whereas the corrupted Dorians portrait is the
symbol of the immorality and hypocrisy of the Victorian society.
In the famous Preface of the novel, Wilde described his decadent
conception of Art: Wilde is convinced that art must not have an aim, it
isnt moral or immoral, its art for arts sake, and therefore quite
useless.
Wilde's conception of art is also explained when the original beauty of the
picture is finally restored and survives after Dorian's death. Wildes
conception of Art reminds us of Keats art theories: in fact, like Keats, Wilde
believes that art is immortal, and that it is superior to life.