The Norton Library edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray features the complete text of the revised and expanded version of the novel, published in 1891. In his insightful introduction, Sean O'Toole sheds new light on the novel's philosophical and stylistic achievements and on the cultural milieu that shaped Wilde's groundbreaking exploration of beauty, desire, and the dangers of influence.
The Norton Library is a growing collection of high-quality texts and translations-influential works of literature and philosophy-introduced and edited by leading scholars. Norton Library editions prepare readers for their first encounter with the works that they'll re-read over a lifetime.
Inviting introductions highlight the work's significance and influence, providing the historical and literary context students need to dive in with confidence.
Endnotes and an easy-to-read design deliver an uninterrupted reading experience, encouraging students to read the text first and refer to endnotes for more information as needed.
An affordable price (most editions are $10 or less) encourages students to buy the book and to come to class with the assigned edition.
Oscar Wilde was an 19th century Irish writer whose works include the play The Importance of Being Earnest and the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. He is also one of the Victorian era's most famous dandies, a wit whose good-humored disdain for convention became less favored after he was jailed for homosexuality. Wilde grew up in a prosperous family and distinguished himself at Dublin's Trinity College and London's Oxford. He published his first volume of poems in 1881 and found work in England as a critic and lecturer, but it was his socializing (and self-promotion) that made him famous, even before the 1890 publication of The Picture of Dorian Gray. In 1895, at the height of his popularity, his relationship with the young poet Lord Alfred Douglas was declared inappropriately intimate by Douglas's father, the Marquess of Queensberry. Wilde sued for libel, but the tables were turned when it became clear there was enough evidence to charge Wilde with "gross indecency" for his homosexual relationships. He was convicted and spent two years in jail, after which he went into self-imposed exile in France, bankrupt and in ill health.
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