"The Picture of Dorian Gray" is Oscar Wilde's only novel. It was published in 1890 in 13 chapters in the most popular magazine of 19th century "Lippincott's Monthly Magazine", after that, it was published as a novel in 1891. It is a philosophical story that follows life of a young and naive man that will become a beast, before he realize what 'beast' really is. 

Youth and beauty 

Youth and beauty are shown on many pictures and in many novels, but nobody has ever put those two things in the center of the whole world. Oscar Wilde presents youth and beauty as something most valuable and to the reader it seems that only those who own them can be happy. High class in London at the end of 19th century is full of fake things, fake marriages, fake friends, fake stories... and only that can never be fake is beauty. You can not hide it and you can not fake it. You either have it or you do not. 
If you do not have it, you can have all other things, you will never be happy and you will never have enough.
If you are lucky to have it, you will get all other things you need.

Beauty will not least forever...

And if you are lucky to be beautiful, what will happen when you realize beauty does not least forever?
What happens when we grow old and become ugly? Can we still be happy?
Beauty will pass and sadness will last forever...

Dorian Gray

Dorian Gray is young man from high class that moves back to London. He mets artist Basil Hallward and artist is impressed with young blonde man with wonderful curly hair and perfect white skin. Basil decides to make a big portrait of his young friend Dorian. But there is a one small problem, during the process of making this master piece, Dorian met Basil's best friend Lord Henry. Henry is one of those people who think that beauty and youth are everything and that young, beautiful people can do everything. He explains to Dorian that one day he is going to be old and ugly and because of that he should live every moment like it is last one, he should try everything and take everything what life has to offer to him, before it is to late. 

After the portrait is finished, Dorian felt in love with it. He realized how pretty he is and he realized that Henry was right, one day he will grow old and everything will disappear.
At firs he is impressed and in second moment he is scared to death, so he wishes to stay forever young and that picture grow old instead of him.

Be careful what you wish...

Your wishes can come true!
Dorian's wish was fulfilled. And he never grow old. He was doing terrible things and from a nice young man, he become one of those people that you do not want to met. From a good person, he became killer. And everything what he was doing, no matter how bad it was for him, never had any mark on his face. He was still looking like an angel. 
But what was happening inside of him? 

Who can see your soul?

"You think that only God can see your soul? There is a heaven and hell in every single man."

While heaven was on Dorian's face, hell was in his soul. Everything what he was doing was visible on his picture. At first, picture got an evil smile, later, picture got some scars and wrinkles... and as time was passing picture was older and uglier... So, one day he decide to move it to one small room in his house, he locked it and he killed his friend when he tried to see the picture., and Basil is not only person Dorian killed, only woman that truly loved him killed herself because he was very rude with her.

At first Dorian was not feeling guilty, he was not sorry for anything and he enjoyed his life. He was listening to Henry's pieces of advice, but as you already know, student is almost always better than teacher... in this case, worse, much, much worse.  Henry knew where the border is, and Dorian had no idea what border is, so he could not know where it it. 

Everything has the end

As you know, nothing lasts forever, so even if you are sure that you will stay forever young and beautiful, you can no live alone.

At the beginning of the story everyone loved Dorian, he had many friends... but as time was passing, people realized who he really is. All the people who wanted to spend time with him and all women that were in love with him, realized that for them is much better to stay away for him.
You are wondering why?
Because for him was too late.
And all his real friends were dead, he either killed them or they gave up on him.

One day Dorian decided to got o his secret room, to see his portrait and instead of himself, he saw a real beast on the picture. Worms were eating the creature and it was stinking and screaming. Then he realized what he has done to others and to himself. He was sorry, he wanted to change something, to do something good, and only good things that he could done was to kill the best from the picture. Dorian took a knife and killed the monster from the picture. 
Dorian servants heard the scream and when they got into small room on the attic, they saw old, ugly man that was lying on the floor next to the picture of beautiful young man. When they saw rings of the ugly creature, they realized it was their lord Dorian Gray. 

What is the point of this book?

Dorian's picture was showing him how his soul looks like and he could see it whenever he wants to. We do not have a picture, nut we are growing old and on our face we can see our vices and sins. So, be careful, once your soul is rot, you can never clean it. 
It is important to be young and beautiful, but that is not everything you need to be happy and that is not most valuable you can have. If you are good person, you will find other good person to love you, and if someone loves you not because you are pretty but because you are good, that is true love, and true loves leasts forever. Beauty will not last forever.
Beautiful person is good for some time, good person is beautiful forever.
Point of everything is that bad things are all around of you, you are always near to them, do not let them get inside of you. Do not let them eat your soul.

 

 

This is definitely one of my favorite books of all times, I recommend to you to read it, you are going to like it for sure. And, one more good thing, this book is full of very interesting quotations that you are going to like for sure. If you decide to read it, please let me know if you like it.