Oh, say it isn’t so! I was so excited to get this and devour it in one sitting but it wasn’t to be. I have seen all over social media how The Picture of Dorian Gray is a staple in dark academia literature and so I eagerly added it to my tbr list. So many boxes were ticked – a classic read, a historical setting written in the language of the times, themes of morality, corruption and desire. What I got was a story about a spoilt young man without a backbone or thought of his own surrounded by people who felt they had the right to control him based off their own wants and gains of having him associated with their names.

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for a tale where one gently scratches the surface of sin and they descend into a pit of vices they cannot crawl out of, forever changed by the actions and decisions they have made. A story of how even those with virtue and strength can crumble under the pressure and, in turn, become the ones pressuring others to do immoral things. It would certainly be an interesting assessment of the human psyche and the way in which influences can change someone’s perception and boundaries. Perhaps it is this kind of book, it’s just that I didn’t get to those bits and DNFed early (from memory it was roughly at the 80 page mark? Maybe further?)

I fear I was thinking that The Picture of Dorian Gray was going to be much more nuanced and insightful than it was and that’s entirely my fault. Having studied 19th century literature in university, I should have known better. I got halfway through the novel and I didn’t get nearly as much enjoyment out of it as the ideas above. Instead, I was annoyed with the characters by the start of the second chapter, I didn’t like any of them one bit and Dorian’s daddy issues were suffocating. He’s frivolous and bratty and has no common sense, he’s entirely open to being influenced into thinking and behaving however those with power in his life want him to. He has no understanding of reality nor real grounding to make him focus on what is actually relevant and what would get him to stand seperate to his grandfather no matter their relationship. Basil and Harry are both infuriating and far too self-centred to be anything other than leeches, using Dorian for their personal gain and fame and feeling entitled to his choice on daily actions and speech.

Unfortunately, I do believe that I could go on for several more paragraphs unleashing my fury and disappointment of this novel. There are some positives to take away from this experience though, and lessons too which will help me avoid getting into such emotive situations in the future. Oscar Wilde has a lovely way of writing and I’m definitely going to look at his other works (maybe I’ll take another shot at this and read from a critique of 19th century literature lens instead of a I like reading dark academia lens) shortly and hopefully they’re not centred around weak men as The Picture of Dorian Grey is. I can also take the ideas and details that I imagined this book could be and incorporate that into a project in the future. This is also a great reminder that I do not like the 19th century mentality where men have written strictly from the male perspective with no strong female representation that isn’t consumed by young love, marriage, or being unable to support themselves. It’s just not my thing and I quite frankly will get mad. 20th century writers, on the other hand, have a lot to give and teach and I am certainly looking forward to seeing what the Neo-Romanticism writers can share with me.