Picture of Dorian Gray Term Paper

Oscar Wilde's novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, provides a series of profound social criticism of his time in the form of witty epigrams. These epigrams made pointed social observations about life at the time of Wilde's novel. Nonetheless, they can sill be applied to societies' customs and attitudes today.

Perhaps one of the most famous epigrams in The Picture of Dorian Gray comes from Lord Henry Wotton, who notes "I choose my friends for their beauty and my enemies for their intelligence. A man cannot be too careful in choosing his enemies." Here, this is a reversal of common logic at the time that held that friends should be chosen for their intelligence and companionship, while it would seem logical that one would not want intelligence in enemies.Today, the epigram is equally valid, as we still consider intelligence and companionship important qualities in a friend.

Another Lord Wotton epigram is, "When we are happy we are always good, but when we are good we are not always happy." Within the context of the novel, Lord Wotton's comment is told in the context of Dorian's finding that the sensual pleasures of life are as apparent after his murder of a young woman. Today, such a comment….....