The Picture of Dorian Gray

1. it's Oscar wilde's sole novel pubblished in 1890, in the late 19th century

1.1. he was a dandy himself (=well-groomed, elegant and pleasant man , extremely wit , famous for his aphorisms and puns. Brilliant dramatist, he fell from success to misfortune and faced pubblic

1.1.1. the preface to the book(" There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.") stands for the keys to the movemt

1.2. it's the story of an handsome man who seeks beauty, eternal youth and pleasure in his life

1.2.1. Aestheticism. Founder was Walter Pater. ART FOR ART'S SAKE

2. "How sad it is! I shall grow old and horrible and dreadful but this portrait will remain always young". Actaully he will remain young and the portrait will grow old, rotten and appalling instead.

2.1. it turns into a mirror that reflects his own sins, fault and evils

3. he sells his soul in exchange for eternal youth. Reference to Marlowe's Faust

4. Historical context: Victorian England was an age of Compromise between great social reforms and expansion and progress and social unrest and poverty and slums. Social context: An age of Prudery, moral codes set of proper behaviours (hardworking man, the angel of the house, povert as an evil) and art had to teach a moral message

4.1. he mocks all Victorian values of Puritain moral and middle class hypocracy