Is The Picture of Dorian Gray a Gay Novel? Wilde and the Censorship
The novel never says so openly, but it is widely read as having a homoerotic subtext, especially in the painter Basil Hallward's devotion to Dorian. That subtext was toned down by the 1890 magazine editor and again by Wilde himself, and the book was later used against him in court.
Critics still disagree about how much weight to give it.
| Event | When |
|---|---|
| Magazine editor cuts about 500 words | 1890 |
| Wilde expands and softens the text | 1891 |
| Book discussed at Wilde's libel trial | April 1895 |
| Uncensored edition published | 2011 |
Where does it show?
Basil describes his feelings for Dorian in intense language, and his admiration is much more than that of a painter for a model. In the original typescript he goes further, telling Dorian that he has worshipped him with more romance of feeling than a man should give a friend. Those lines were softened in print.
Wilde said that Basil is what he thinks he is, Lord Henry what the world thinks him, and Dorian what he would like to be in other ages.
↑ Back to the topWho changed the text?
The magazine's editor, J. M. Stoddart, removed about five hundred words before the 1890 publication, fearing they were indecent. Wilde did not know. For the 1891 book Wilde revised the text himself, adding chapters and a preface, and reviewers have noted that some of the changes further reduced the overt homoerotic elements.
Even so, the 1890 version drew harsh reviews. Some British critics called it unhealthy and said Wilde deserved prosecution.
↑ Back to the topHow was it used against Wilde?
In 1895 Wilde sued the Marquess of Queensberry for libel after Queensberry accused him of posing as a homosexual. At that trial the lawyer Edward Carson questioned Wilde about the novel to show that it was immoral. Wilde lost the case, was then prosecuted for gross indecency and sentenced to two years of hard labor.
Wilde had defended the book earlier, saying that it has a terrible moral.
↑ Back to the topSo is it a gay novel?
Many scholars see it as a coded or partly coded work shaped by the law of its time, which criminalized sex between men. The 2011 uncensored edition made the subtext easier to see.
Others caution against reducing the book to that one reading, since it is also about vanity, art and the cost of a life lived for pleasure. Both readings can be held together.
↑ Back to the topMore about The Picture of Dorian Gray
This guide covers Oscar Wilde's novel in its 1890 and 1891 versions. Page counts vary by edition.