“The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame.” 

If you’ve ever taken an interest in reading books that have been subject to book bans, this is a good place to start. “The Picture of Dorian Gray” tells the story of the artist Basil Hallward as he becomes entranced and obsessed with his portraits of Dorian Gray. He views Dorian as his muse and paints him several times, often depicting him in a heroic role of some sort. 

The first portrait, which opens the novel, is the most accurate image of Dorian. Basil explains to Lord Henry Wotton that he believes the piece holds too many of his feelings about Dorian. Lord Henry holds a different opinion, referring to the portrait as Basil’s masterpiece. However, in his expression of this thought to Dorian, he p0reaches to him the beauty of youth. This causes Dorian to resent the picture, thinking he will one day mourn the features he has now. 

In his panic, Dorian offers up his soul as a trade if the portrait will be burdened by aging rather than himself. Over the following weeks, Lord Henry continues to influence Dorian, pushing him to seek out as much pleasure as possible while he can. This deeply upsets Basil, who is worried about the impact of these actions on his dear friend. His objections grow when Dorian becomes engaged to an actress, Sibyl Vane. It is clear that Basil is envious of this relationship. 

The love Sibyl feels for Dorian overwhelms her to the point of not being able to act as she doesn’t know how to f*ake love now that she has the real thing. Unfortunately,  Sybil’s acting is what Dorian loved about her, and he ends up calling off the engagement. Afterwards, he notices the portrait’s expression has morphed into a sneer, and he realizes that the image is representing the effects of his behavior along with his aging. 

Dorian hides the portrait to stop anyone from seeing it morph as he continues to spiral down a path of sinful behavior. 18 years pass before Dorian is forced to confront the damage he has done to his soul for the sake of staying young. He wrestles with his regret of his actions and where to go from there. For the sake of inspiring interest, I will not reveal the outcome. 

“The Picture of Dorian Gray” has an interesting history behind it. The book was first published in a shorter form for a magazine before being adapted into a novel. However, when it was adapted, Wilde was working with an editor to edit out the homosexual themes expressed in the book, mainly by Basil. At the time, homosexuality was still a punishable crime, and the original writing was not considered appropriate. 

The magazine version can still be found and it is clear that Wilde pushed to preserve as much of the theme as he could. For example, early on Lord Henry asks Basil how often he sees Dorian and Basil replies, “Every day. I couldn’t be happy if I didn’t see him every day. He is absolutely necessary to me.” Wilde was imprisoned for homosexuality later in his life, and his passion for expressing such feelings is evident in his work. 

Banned books cover still-prevalent issues that people have tried to push away and hide in numerous ways; literature is an interesting way to interact with such topics. 

“The Picture of Dorian Gray” also acts as a good starting point to dive into classics. The language is a little outdated and can be challenging to follow at times, but the plot and characters are engaging, regardless of the novel’s age. It is a relatively quick read and shows that it is possible to enjoy classic literature, despite the reputation it sometimes gains in English classes.