The Picture of Dorian Gray

I learned a lot of new information from researching the book called The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. For example, I never knew that The Picture of Dorian Gray was the only novel that Oscar Wilde published until doing research. It was also very interesting for me to know that the book was banned for a long period of time because people saw references to homosexuality in it. Since homosexuality was illegal in England during this time period, it was surprising and shocking to people that somebody would write about homosexuality in a novel. In fact, Oscar Wilde was actually homosexual and had an affair with a man named Lord Alfred Douglas even though he was married to a woman named Constance Mary Lloyd. The Picture of Dorian Gray was originally published in 1890 in a magazine called Lippincott's Monthly Magazine. It was eventually revised and republished in 1891. The revised version of the book ended up having more chapters added, passages being deleted, passages being added, passages being moved, and fewer references to homosexuality. Some main themes of this book include duplicity, influence, responsibility,aestheticism, and the concept of the double life. Today, this book is highly regarded. In Ireland, The Picture of Dorian Gray was chosen as the book of 2010 for Dublin City's "One City, One Book" festival in its fifth year. Cultural events related to The Picture of Dorian Gray and Oscar Wilde were hosted in Dublin, Ireland in April 2010. There are many published editions of this book for people to read.