I never heard or read this book until I left highschool...they never teach us about great literature it's always Harry Potter or Charlotte's web etc this book would have had kids intrigued
Oscar Wilde's double life was that he had been married and had two children but embarked on a series of homosexual liaisons. Wilde met Lord Alfred Douglas after he'd written the novel, so he was not the model for Dorian Gray. It was also said that John Gray was the model for Dorian, though this was denied. John Gray and Oscar Wilde had a relationship between 1891-93 so again met Wilde after he'd written the novel and took some pains to distance himself from the novel. He not only was far more beautiful than the weirdly small- headed Lord Alfred but more intelligent and kinder. John Gray was the eldest of 9 children born to a working class family and left school at 13. He then took evening classes including French, German and Latin and managed to pass the civil service exams which were notoriously tough and later the University of London Matriculation exams. He was a talented poet and unlike Lord Alfred was also admired for his translations of French symbolist poets . He converted to Catholicism and entered the priesthood ending up as the reverend Canon John Gray of St Peter's, Morningside Edinburgh.
This is really helpful. I’ve been busy with my Preliminary exams (South Africa🙃) I’m so happy I found this video because I’ll be writing my final preliminary English Literature Paper 2 on Wednesday so this will definitely help a lot❤️🦋 It would be really great if you did a summary on “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare because I’ll be writing about that book too😹💔
You're welcome! Glad this video helped - don't forget to subscribe :-) Also we DO have a Hamlet summary video - here it is: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-sq3kxzfR8EI.html
The moral commentary on art, society, and self is incredibly interesting in the novel. There are aspects of Wilde in all 3 of the main characters. He both corrupts and tries to save himself as he becomes obsessed with art and removes himself from reality in the process.
You're welcome! We try our best to ensure our video is really informative and useful in understanding this book, which is amazing but also complex. Glad you found it helpful. :-)
