Literary Critique of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde

Corruption caused by art, scandalous homoerotic bonds, and even the Anti-Christ himself have been said to be figured in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. Critics have ranted and raved about the novel's supposed advocacy of seeking out the sensual and often taboo pleasures of life and denying the senses of nothing. They've praised and condemned Wilde's ambiguous representation of the homosexual triad formed by the three central characters, Dorian Gray, Basil Hallward, and Lord Henry Wotton. Dorian's abuse of experience and his preference of illusion to reality have been explored in depth. One critic even claimed the novel's antagonist Lord Henry Wotton to be a representation of the Devil (Spivey 501). While many literary critiques discuss the implications of the themes laid out by Wilde, few have sought to determine the implications of the mood and the stylistic approach taken in the creation of the novel.…