Monday, October 04, 2021

BookMarks #88: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Title: The Picture of Dorian Gray 
Author: Oscar Wilde 
Genre: Fiction 
Published: 1891 

BookMarks 
Going back to the Classics era – The Picture of Dorian Gray is a comment on the debauched lifestyle of the elite classes. A man commits all possible sins and nothing leaves a mark on him, while a portrait of his bears all the signs, getting progressively older and uglier with each sin. The central characters all live, not so ideal lifestyles and finally do end up paying for it, but not till quite some time has passed. Overall, quite a lesson in morals, although must not have been taken in good humor by the “classes” of the time. 

There are a few lines which stood out. 
  • "All art is quite useless" – Yet look at the monetary value which people are willing to pay for “art” 
  • "Experience is the name men have to their mistakes" – A nice euphemism 
  • "To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable" – Also true for everyone who wishes to start going to the gym from tomorrow. 
Previously on BookMarks: A Bear, A Dog and A Kangaroo 

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