As much as The Importance of Being Earnest was witty and humorous in its sarcasm, The Picture of Dorian Gray was indescribable to the point of madness and chilling to its fullest effects. Oscar Wilde sure brought out the most frightening scenes of a person with such vivid details and its many underlying meanings. The sarcasm was dripping as ever was in most of his works yet this was totally different in its own right. As much as The Importance of Being Earnest mocked society in many ways with its humorous story, this one captured the dark side of a person and the society behind him. The book was addicting to read–to say the least. The way it was written and the beliefs–or the struggles between the two extremes of believing and not believing–had made it a thoughtful read yet still left many ponders after reading.
So who was actually at fault for having driven Dorian Gray to such extremes? Was it liked many characters in here, including Basil Hallward, had said that Lord Henry was responsible for influencing Dorian? Or was it like Dorian Gray had said, it was none other than the painter of the portrait? My thoughts? Dorian Gray was very much capable of his own thoughts and actions so why should he hold others responsible for his life and the outcomes of it? So what if Lord Henry was throwing thoughts around and spoken with such an air that could easily influence others? Some of their other friends merely took it as a joke at dinnertime or took it as a fascination of Lord Henry’s personality for further exploration. (So what about that book that Dorian Gray said had poisoned him? He chose to follow its path and carried out the actions himself.) Dorian Gray was nothing more than someone who wanted to reach a hand out to experience the many dark sides of the society yet did not have the will to take full responsibility for his actions, therefore, he sought to blame others for influencing him.
The last scene was so brilliantly done. Not that the previous events leading to the consequence weren’t. But what made it tie in with the whole thing made it even more clever all the while. I honestly yelled out, “Idiot!” upon reading the last part when Dorian Gray was so convinced in destroying the last piece of evidence. He was so obsessed and engrossed in getting rid of his past that he had failed to see the most obvious sign. If he was stating that he was getting rid of his ‘monstrous soul’ then of course he was destroying himself in the process. It was clever to the dot yet chilling with the effects. What made the ending even more chilling was the whole idea of how the servants found Dorian Gray on the floor, aging while the portrait was restored to its original. It was liked how he had vowed at first, exchanging places with the portrait. Yet he had stabbed his own soul and killing himself, a portrait was a portrait after all hence returning to its original state.
A recommended book if you like really dark ones and/or have loved Oscar Wilde’s other works.
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