My Book Report on The Picture of Dorian Gray,Oscar Fingal OFlahertie Wills Wilde,The Introduction to the Author,The Introduction to the Author,1854 1900 Irish writer, poet One of Londons most popular playwrights in the early 1890s Epigrams, only novel: The Picture of Dorian Gray, plays, imprisonment , early death A spokesman for aestheticism Biting wit, flamboyant dress, glittering conversation, one of the best-known personalities,Versatile A big success in novel, poetry, drama, criticism Wrote excellent work despite of unfair sufferings Words: elegant and trenchant, language: concise, design: artful and novel Only full-length novel A curious reworking of the Faust Can experience Wildes comprehension and understanding of aesthetics,The Reason for Choosing the Book,The Gist of the Story,Lord Henry Wotton pay a visit to the studio of Basil Hallward see the full-length portrait of Dorian Gray The portrait finished Dorian is disturbed the picture will remain eternally young and handsome he will grow old and ugly Dorian says he would give his soul,Lord Henry begin to change Dorian to society and a life of pleasure and self-indulgence Dorian fall in love with Sibyl be engaged to her Sibyl give a stiff, unimaginative performance Dorian jilts her The portrait of Dorian has changed slightly,One night Basil visited Dorian make attempt to talk Dorian out of his evil ways Dorian angrily reveals the picture to the artist Basil is appalled by the loathsome visage of evil pray for his soul Dorian killed Basil Dorian threats to a friend to dispose of the corpse,Sick of the past and grateful for new lease on life Dorian is determined to lead a better, less selfish existence wonder if his noble acts will be recorded on the portrait the face is even worse,Stabbed the picture with the knife that he had stabbed Basil actually killed himself the picture of Dorian Gray looked originallygodlike in its beauty and purity real Dorian Gray old, debauched, and withered,When they entered, they found hanging upon the wall a splendid portrait of their master as they had last seen him, in all the wonder of his exquisite youth and beauty. Lying on the floor was a dead man, in evening dress, with a knife in his heart. He was withered, wrinkled, and loathsome of visage. It was not till they had examined the rings that they recognized who it was. My opinion: At the end of the novel, Dorian stabbed the picture with the knife that he had stabbed Basil. As a result, he killed himself and the picture became its original look. What he had done returned to himself.,The Process of Reading,The Characters,Dorian Gray,Lord Henry Wotton,Basil Hallward,Sibyl,Jim,The Characteristics,Dorian Gray exist as an ideal: the archetype of male youth and beauty adopt the tenets of “the new Hedonism” go down the steep and slippery slope of his own demise unable to distract himself from the dissipation of his soul his guilt tortures him relentlessly until he is forced to do away with his portrait,Lord Henry Wotton possess of “wrong, fascinating, poisonous, delightful theories” a charming talker, a famous wit, a brilliant intellect, a self-proclaimed hedonist lives a rather staid life not indulge in sordid behavior has little notion of the practical effects of his philosophy has the limitations of his understanding of the human soul,a talented, somewhat conventionally minded, painter his emotional investment in Dorian remains constant seek to protect Dorian, voicing his objection to Lord Henrys injurious influence over Dorian Basils commitment to Dorian, which ultimately proves fatal, reveals the genuineness of his love for his favorite subject and his concern for the safety and salvation of Dorians soul.,Basil Hallward,My Comments,After I finished reading the book, I was impressed by the plot, characters, themes and so on. Wilde deserves being called the spokesman for aestheticism.,There are two enlightenment which impressed me most. First, when we choose friends we should be prudent. Actually, Lord Henry and Dorian are not real friends. According to me, in Henrys eyes, Dorian maybe just a person he uses to test his theories or a dream he can never achieve.,Second, we should try our best to resist the temptation. This is the subjective reason that leads Dorian to corrupt. At the beginning, I think it is Lord Henry that makes Dorian destroy himself gradually. Actually I was wrong. In that society, if Dorian cannot resist the all kinds of temptation by himself, he will still corrupt even without Henry.,Besides, I support the idea that the beauty of the life lies in its short duration. Because of this unchangeable features, we will cherish our lives more. If you can live forever one day, you may be happy at first because you cannot die as time goes by. However, when the people around you leaves because of death, you will feel lonely and recluse. The feeling will become more and more intense that you want