It's Oscar Wilde's Birthday. Let's Take a Look at His Masterpiece.

"Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter. The sitter is merely the accident, the occasion. It is not he who is revealed by the painter; it is rather the painter who, on the coloured canvas, reveals himself. The reason I will not exhibit this picture is that I am afraid that I have shown in it the secret of my own soul."

- Basil Hallward

Was Oscar Wilde a seer? "The Picture of Dorian Gray", the author's only novel, was deemed immoral upon its release on 1891. But the Irishman was making a stance on the role of art in Victorian society. Furthermore, the story depicted a society obsessed with youth and superficiality. It sounds like Facebook and the rest of social media, right?

The premise is based from Faust's tale and Ovid's "Metamorphoses", but there's more to it.

Pleasure is nature's test

When we are happy, we are always good, but when we are good, we are not always happy.

Basil Howard's portrait of Dorian Gray revealed the painter's feelings towards his subject. Basil wasn't not proud of it, but Lord Henry "Harry" Wotton, his good friend, thought otherwise. Dorian didn't care much about that image, until Lord Harry's remark on beauty. (It's only temporary and the only thing worth pursuing.) It prompted the young man to look at his own engraving. He liked what he saw, which was beautiful and youthful. How he wished that face aged instead.

Dorian fell for Sybil Vane, an actress who quit the stage after wanting nothing more than a life with him. But it was her talent in acting that drawn him to her. Disheartened, Dorian broke up with Sybil. Moments later, he was staring at his portrait, startled at the cruel lines in the face. Did his wish came true? Dorian became guilt stricken and thought of asking for Sybil's forgiveness. But she took her own life. Lord Harry, ever the imperious dandy, didn't find it tragic. (He compares the young woman to Shakespeare's Ophelia.)

Lord Harry gave Dorian a yellow book. Whatever the content was, it was never revealed to the readers. Dorian lived a life of debauchery during the next two decades. His reputation could have been tarnished if not for his face, which remained youthful. But Basil's painting became more and more hideous. This caught the painter's attention. Dorian was also pursued by James Vane, Sibyl's brother. Vengeance was the only thing he had in mind all these years.

Call me irresponsible

Victorian custom dictates that art and responsibility must go together. The works of Charles Dickens exemplify this. Wilde, who was born on October 16, 1854, believed that art must be free. This was the case with "The Picture of Dorian Gray". The Daily Chronicle of London called the tale “unclean,” “poisonous,” and “heavy with the mephitic odours of moral and spiritual putrefaction.” The St. James Gazette deemed it “nasty” and “nauseous,” suggesting that the Treasury or the Vigilance Society might wish to prosecute the author. Even the Cleveland Street scandal was brought up.

But Wilde was being truthful. He paid a price.