The Picture of Dorian Gray

=== Modern response ===

=== Modern response ===

The novel was mostly ignored and considered "unworthy" of critical attention until about the 1980s; with [[Richard Ellmann]] writing that "parts of the novel are wooden, padded, self-indulgent". Afterwards, critics began to reassess it as a masterpiece of Wilde's oeuvre.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Liebman |first1=Sheldon W. |title=Character Design in "the Picture of Dorian Gray" |journal=Studies in the Novel |date=1999 |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=296–316 |jstor=29533343 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29533343 |access-date=29 February 2024 |issn=0039-3827}}</ref> [[Joyce Carol Oates]] wrote of the book "it is exceptionally good – in fact, one of the strongest and most haunting of English novels", while noting that the reputation of the novel was still questionable.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Oates |first1=Joyce Carol |title="The Picture of Dorian Gray": Wilde's Parable of the Fall |journal=Critical Inquiry |date=1980 |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=419–428 |doi=10.1086/448106 |jstor=1343135 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1343135 |access-date=29 February 2024 |issn=0093-1896|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Allie Townsend of''[[Time]]'' placed it 8th on her October 6th 2010 "must read classic horror novels" list, remarking "Oscar Wilde’s only novel, The Picture Of Dorian Gray is a beautifully brooding account of a man whose vanity leads him to wish for everlasting youth, and the spiraling menace of immortality." <ref>{{Cite news|last=Townsend|first=Allie|date=6 October 2010|title=Must-Read Horror Classics|work=[[Time]]|url=https://techland.time.com/2010/10/18/must-read-horror-classics/slide/the-picture-of-dorian-gray-by-oscar-wilde-1890/|url-status=live|access-date=4 July 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130505110914/https://techland.time.com/2010/10/18/must-read-horror-classics/slide/the-picture-of-dorian-gray-by-oscar-wilde-1890/|archive-date=5 May 2024}}</ref>''''[[TheMarySue]]'' put it on it's list of "best gothic horror novels", stating "Oscar Wilde’s most celebrated novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, combines Gothic elements with the author’s trademark wit and social commentary. The novel revolves around Dorian Gray, a charming and erudite man whose portrait ages and warps as a result of his debauchery while he remains unblemished and youthful. Wilde explores the nature of beauty, the dangers of indulgence, and the rot that lurks under a seemingly perfect facade … I can relate." <ref>{{Cite news|last=Fimm|first=Sarah|date=16 November 2024|title=These are the best gothic horror novels

The novel was mostly ignored and considered "unworthy" of critical attention until about the 1980s; with [[Richard Ellmann]] writing that "parts of the novel are wooden, padded, self-indulgent". Afterwards, critics began to reassess it as a masterpiece of Wilde's oeuvre.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Liebman |first1=Sheldon W. |title=Character Design in "the Picture of Dorian Gray" |journal=Studies in the Novel |date=1999 |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=296–316 |jstor=29533343 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29533343 |access-date=29 February 2024 |issn=0039-3827}}</ref> [[Joyce Carol Oates]] wrote of the book "it is exceptionally good – in fact, one of the strongest and most haunting of English novels", while noting that the reputation of the novel was still questionable.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Oates |first1=Joyce Carol |title="The Picture of Dorian Gray": Wilde's Parable of the Fall |journal=Critical Inquiry |date=1980 |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=419–428 |doi=10.1086/448106 |jstor=1343135 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1343135 |access-date=29 February 2024 |issn=0093-1896|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Allie Townsend of ''[[Time]]'' placed it 8th on her October 6th 2010 "must read classic horror novels" list, remarking "Oscar Wilde’s only novel, The Picture Of Dorian Gray is a beautifully brooding account of a man whose vanity leads him to wish for everlasting youth, and the spiraling menace of immortality." <ref>{{Cite news|last=Townsend|first=Allie|date=6 October 2010|title=Must-Read Horror Classics|work=[[Time]]|url=https://techland.time.com/2010/10/18/must-read-horror-classics/slide/the-picture-of-dorian-gray-by-oscar-wilde-1890/|url-status=live|access-date=4 July 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130505110914/https://techland.time.com/2010/10/18/must-read-horror-classics/slide/the-picture-of-dorian-gray-by-oscar-wilde-1890/|archive-date=5 May 2024}}</ref>''''The Mary Sue'' put it on it's list of "best gothic horror novels", stating "Oscar Wilde’s most celebrated novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, combines Gothic elements with the author’s trademark wit and social commentary. The novel revolves around Dorian Gray, a charming and erudite man whose portrait ages and warps as a result of his debauchery while he remains unblemished and youthful. Wilde explores the nature of beauty, the dangers of indulgence, and the rot that lurks under a seemingly perfect facade … I can relate." <ref>{{Cite news|last=Fimm|first=Sarah|date=16 November 2024|title=These are the best gothic horror novels

|work=[[The Mary Sue]]|url=https://www.themarysue.com/best-gothic-horror-novels/|url-status=live|access-date=11 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240815022123/https://www.themarysue.com/best-gothic-horror-novels/|archive-date=15 August 2024}}</ref>''[[The Guardian]]'' (London).</ref>

|work=The Mary Sue|url=https://www.themarysue.com/best-gothic-horror-novels/|url-status=live|access-date=11 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240815022123/https://www.themarysue.com/best-gothic-horror-novels/|archive-date=15 August 2024}} On March 2014, [[Robert McCrum]] of ''[[The Guardian]]'' listed it among the 100 best novels ever written in English, calling it "an arresting, and slightly camp, exercise in late-Victorian [[Gothic fiction|gothic]]". <ref>{{Cite news|last=McCrum|first=Robert|date=24 March 2014|title=The 100 best novels: No 27 – The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1891)|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/24/100-best-novels-picture-dorian-gray-oscar-wilde|url-status=live|access-date=11 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812053713/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/24/100-best-novels-picture-dorian-gray-oscar-wilde|archive-date=12 August 2018}}</ref>

On March 2014, [[Robert McCrum]] of ''[[The Guardian]]'' listed it among the 100 best novels ever written in English, calling it "an arresting, and slightly camp, exercise in late-Victorian [[Gothic fiction|gothic]]".<ref name="guardian2">{{Cite news|last=McCrum|first=Robert|date=24 March 2014|title=The 100 best novels: No 27 – The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1891)|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/24/100-best-novels-picture-dorian-gray-oscar-wilde|url-status=live|access-date=11 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812053713/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/24/100-best-novels-picture-dorian-gray-oscar-wilde|archive-date=12 August 2018}}</ref>

==Legacy and adaptations==

==Legacy and adaptations==