The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde

Attention: this blog contains spoilers of the book. (I know it's a very famous one, but yk... better be safe than sorry)

I’ve been saying that I relate to the main character from "The Picture of Dorian Gray" for years now: who wouldn’t want to keep the beauty of youth and never get older? Having someone to get older for you, so that you won’t have to worry about decay? I wished to be him.

After more than a year, I finally finished to the read it, and here's what I think...

The courtly language describes perfectly the atmosphere and setting for the story: it was a bit difficult to follow, considering the fact it had a few obsolete words and such (first thing that comes to me are “bye the bye” or “to dog someone”)

Many times, this language combined with the long speeches Lord Henry gave, put me in difficulty not gonna lie: I will probably have to read it again in Italian sooner or later.

Speaking of Lord Henry, he pissed me off so much, but it’s the best character in the book (in my opinion). Many times I got lost reading the things he said: some were bullshits, while other times I couldn’t help but think he was a genius. I met many people like him, and watching Dorian’s morality decaying saddened me: he was unspoiled, but emotionally weak. Lord Henry was the manipulative friend that you despise, but end up keeping on frequenting because you feel like you need him. He’s poisonous, but you find out it’s too late.

I appreciated Basil Hallward's character: he always saw the good in the others, even if he ended up getting killed for it, and I kinda relate to him.

I just have a critic to do: the end seemed a bit rushed to me. Tell me if you disagree, but I think Wilde could’ve spent more words talking about how Dorian decides to destroy the painting, especially when he spent so many pages talking about Dorian and Lord Henry… Everything happened so quickly c’mon! I was already aware of the ending (I studied it in highschool) but I was a bit disappointed.

On further notice, I wouldn’t want to be Dorian Gray… I would still love to not lose my youth, but if my soul is gonna be spoiled, I must decline the offer. Luckily, I never pray, so I should be out of danger!