Following a young man’s journey through seduction, moral corruption, and eventual demise, Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray is considered to be one of the best known homoerotic novels ever written. Although the novel does not contain any explicit homosexuality, leaving the novel to be a suggestive work of such a theme, Wilde, being queer-coded himself, is able to use his work as an outlet to validate the identity of homosexual individuals. By including homosexual subtext, Wilde promotes the notion that people should not abdicate their individuality and integrity under external influence.
Dorian Gray’s corruption results from the influence that Lord Henry Wotton and Basil Hallward possess over him, because as this influence increases, Dorian’s morals deteriorate, even while his appearance maintains its youthful appearance. Dorian primarily succumbs to Lord Henry’s influence. Critic Arundhati Sanyal explains that each time that Dorian …show more content…
Using a personal anecdote, Basil contends that masking emotions and passion results in corruption, in hopes of preventing Dorian from diminishing his individuality. Wilde utilizes Basil’s homosexuality as a device to maintain that individuality should not be diminished under other’s influence, becoming clear as Basil discloses his internal conflict.
While this still contains multiple homosexual connotations, the uncensored version of The Picture of Dorian Gray reveals that the editors omitted Basil professing that he had “worshipped [Dorian] with far more romance of feeling than a man usually gives to a friend […] never [having had] loved a woman.” Basil's idolatry of Dorian has the quality of unrequited love, as his praises and jealousy connect to feelings that are more than platonic, but are still
Dorian Gray’s corruption results from the influence that Lord Henry Wotton and Basil Hallward possess over him, because as this influence increases, Dorian’s morals deteriorate, even while his appearance maintains its youthful appearance. Dorian primarily succumbs to Lord Henry’s influence. Critic Arundhati Sanyal explains that each time that Dorian …show more content…
Using a personal anecdote, Basil contends that masking emotions and passion results in corruption, in hopes of preventing Dorian from diminishing his individuality. Wilde utilizes Basil’s homosexuality as a device to maintain that individuality should not be diminished under other’s influence, becoming clear as Basil discloses his internal conflict.
While this still contains multiple homosexual connotations, the uncensored version of The Picture of Dorian Gray reveals that the editors omitted Basil professing that he had “worshipped [Dorian] with far more romance of feeling than a man usually gives to a friend […] never [having had] loved a woman.” Basil's idolatry of Dorian has the quality of unrequited love, as his praises and jealousy connect to feelings that are more than platonic, but are still