The Picture of Dorian Gray: Short synopsis and author biography followed by an analysis on the use of aestheticism in the novel.

The Picture of Dorian Gray was Oscar Wilde's first and only novel. It was written in 1890, when Wilde was thirty-five. He died in Paris on November 30, 1900. Though he wrote only one novel, he composed other literary works and became a dramatist soon after The Picture of Dorian Gray was published. His plays include Lady Windemere's Fan, The Importance of Being Earnest, and A Woman of No Importance. He was born "Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde". …

…is a very moral book. The moral is that an absence of spirituality and regard for human life seperates an individual from humanity and makes a monster of them. Works Cited: Geddes, Dan. The Picture of Dorian Gray. (review) http://www.thesatirist.com/books/dorian_gray.html. April 28, 1999. Themes. http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmPictureDorian41.asp. visited 12-15-02. Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. 1890. Harper & Row Publishers. New York, New York.