How Does Oscar Wilde Create A Corrupt Society

In the year of 1980, Oscar Wilde published his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, before he reached his height of fame. The first edition of his book appeared in the summer edition of Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine. Although, many criticized the novel as being scandalous and immoral. Wilde, being disappointed with its outcome, revised the novel in 1891, adding a preface and six new chapters. One of the main themes throughout this book would be the purpose of art, Wilde believed art did not serve any other purpose than being beautiful. He adopted this attitude from old Victorian England, where the most popular belief stated that art was not only a figure of morality but also had the means of enforcing it. In addition, two other contributing
Basil cared for people because of who they are and not for what their looks may be. He felt compassion towards the true meanings in life, not the corrupt ones everyone else want’s you to believe. I feel as if the author achieved his goal of the book, by showing the readers how corrupt society can be, just as Oscar Wilde stated in the preface “those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope” (Wilde, 9). Wilde’s most important points of the book were that one must not influence others to commit tasks of wrongdoing, and to be a person who is materialistic and only cares about their appearance rather than how they treat others. The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde, is one of the best books I have ever read because it gave more of an insightful meaning about things such as the superficial nature of society. By that, I mean it should not matter how someone looks, people should always respect and encourage one another. Also, people must not take advantage of others because that is showing others that it is okay to do those things when in reality it is