“THIS NOVEL AS THE AESTHETIC NOVEL”
The Picture of Dorian Gray, published in 1890, is the only novel written by Oscar Wilde. Aestheticism, connected with double life, is central to the plot of Dorian Gray. The Preface, which Wilde wrote as a response to the critics of his novel for its “immorality and unhealthiness”, preached his aesthetic credo, a version of the principle of “art for art’s sake”. However, among the completely aesthetic meanings in the novel, there are several non-aesthetic points.