Oscar Wilde's : The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde was first published as a serial in Lippicott's Magazine in 1890 and published in book form with additional chapters, some editing, and a preface the following year. Wilde has said that he considers the book form a "corrected" version not because of what he edited out. Oscar Wilde's social commentary in "The Picture of Dorian Gray" is offered as social and moral commentary. This is borne up by the fact of the controversy it ignited. Just what the intended commentary addresses has been the subject of diverse debate even to this day.

Throughout the book Wilde explains the uselessness of marriage. He states that people get married to boost up socioeconomically. People get married just to have some kind of "status" in the world and not for love. This is expressed when Lord Henry talks about his marriage and how his wife and him have nothing in common and never really see each other. The white dress at a wedding is supposed to symbolize "purity", that didn't really happen back in the Victorian era and it is very rare now a days. But he could also be criticizing marriage because he was a homosexual and he wasn't allowed to marry.

Wilde makes fun of the rich, even though he himself was in this social class of people. He talks about how rich people wear ridiculous clothing for no apparent reason. They feel like the law doesn't apply to them just because they're rich. How they feel entitled to certain things, such as service or not having manners. Rich people are superficial they cherish their possessions more than the people around them. And Oscar Wilde states that rich people can afford to be stupid, they don't need an education because they got the money.

Oscar Wilde states in his book that in society women are worthless. The only thing that women have is their beauty. Women are dependent on their husbands, because many of them couldn't work or didn't have any skills because women were and still kind of are just decorations. Even today women "HAVE TO" have beauty to get by because no one likes a smart woman, people get intimidated by a smart woman.

In the Victorian era people would do anything to keep looking young even though they are aging and should just accept that. People would think that we would learn, but even today people are doing things to make themselves look and feel young. People get Botox, plastic surgery, facial re-construction, etc. Old people are starting to wear clothing that young people wear and are trying to go out clubbing and partying like the younger folks. After hundreds of years you would think people would learn but here we are in 2013 and this is still going on. Oscar Wilde has nailed everything in his social commentary, but us as society don't learn from our own mistakes.