The Picture of Dorian Gray, including the themes namely morality of sensuality and hedonism in Victorianism, decadence of the English upper-class and aestheticism, is the only novel and main prose work by Oscar Wilde. The handling along with the art implications may be read not only as a proclamation of aestheticism, but also a criticism of it. Being one of the most popular and most read novels of English literature, it tells the story of a character with an eerie personality, who sells his soul in order to rescue his beauty. Oscar Wilde with this spectacular novel, a classic of its time, gives a new dimension to the fantasy with its picture of immortality and combines wit and morality with a background of beautiful phrasing and truly delightful descriptions.[Verlagstext]

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Personen: Wilde, Oscar