Oscar Wilde's attitude in this book is very dark and in this book basically says that the only thing that matters in life is youth and beauty. In my opinion, this is not living life to the fullest. Oscar Wilde showed to me that being skeptical about life and hiding away in life is not going to help you. For example, when Henry tells Dorian at the beginning of the novel that love is giving your soul up and not having any freedom. (Wilde 20-21) I totally disagree with this. Henry's views on life are the views of someone who has not tried to live and gave up. Also, Henry told Dorian that the only thing that matters in life is youth and beauty. Dorian Gray was innocent and young, but his mind was too easily influenced by an older, skeptical man, so when he wished that the portrait would grow older and show his sins, he did not know what he was asking! (Wilde 28)
Life is worth something. I did not really enjoy this book because of the views on life. It seems as if everyone back in the 1800s viewed this. The gentlemen that Dorian knew were all jealous of his innocent boyhood and beauty. I don't think that anyone really valued too much what was inside of the person.
Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. New York: Barnes and Noble Classics. 2003. Print.
Do you think everyone valued the exterior more than the interior at that time? What about now? Perhaps this is why Wilde wrote the novel?
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