The Picture of Dorian Gray

Back cover: Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, Dorian Gray exchanges his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Influenced by his friend Lord Henry Wotton, he is drawn into a corrupt double life; indulging his desires in secret while remaining a gentleman in the eyes of polite society. Only his portrait bears the traces of his decadence.

"The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn."

Have you ever heard or read that the classics are classics because they have universal themes? Well, The Picture of Dorian Gray takes that one step further: this is a classic because it has universal themes condensed into pithy sentences that could be the title and core of a many thousand words thesis. Seriously, I was taking notes not based on whether the writing was gorgeous, or a good example of how to increase the tension etc.; I took notes based on ideas. Check it out:

"The aim of life is self-development. To realize one’s nature perfectly-that is what each of us is here for." Starting off small: what's the meaning of life?

"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it."

“[T]he people who love only once in their lives are really the shallow people. What they call their loyalty, and their fidelity, I call either the lethargy of custom or their lack of imagination. Faithfulness is to the emotional life what consistency is to the life of the intellect-simply a confession of failure."

"When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one’s self, and one always ends by deceiving others."

Now who doesn't want to write an essay targeted at one or all of these statements? This book definitely makes you think, beyond the obvious 'what would you do?' when it comes to the issue of selling your soul to remain young and beautiful. There's a lot of cynicism and some romanticism (I'm thinking of poor Basil, who loved Dorian), but no-one could deny that the book is full of ideas and intelligent conversation. Agree with the sentiment or not, the reader is drawn into Lord Henry Wotton's sphere of influence just as much as Dorian Gray.