A Summer Reading Essay on the Picture of Dorian Gray

People often times look scornfully upon others who are different. Why do they do this? It is the conclusion of some that jealousy is the root. Yet, at times there are legitimate repercussions for being different. Oscar Wilde, for example, was jailed for being a homosexual when he "came out of the closet." The irony in this is that the Europeans are often noted for their acceptance of different ideas, something normally not tolerated in America. The author of many acclaimed novels, including The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde was made an outcast of society. …