Philosophy of The Picture of Dorian Gray

            
             Various definitions of art and its function were given during the nineteenth century. Perhaps, no other literary era has dealt more with the purpose of art. Accordingly, several movements including Realism, Pre-Raphaelites, Aesthetic movement proclaimed their own ideologies of it. These different ideas of art presented a great impact in the poetical development of Oscar Wilde, who agreed and disagreed with some of them, until his critical artist appears with the creation of his own theory of art. "Some said my life was a lie, but I always knew it to be the truth, for like the truth it was rarely pure and never simple" was a response of Oscar Wilde, before he died, to Jean Dupoirier who questioned him about his life in London [ CITATION Pet97 l 1033 ]. Certainly, comprehending Wilde is not simple, but at the same time this fact adds a reason more to analyze his works, since he occupies a great place in the intellectual stature of the nineteenth century. .
             The Picture of Dorian Gray is ranked among the most prominent examples of aestheticism in the nineteenth century literature, with its protagonist Dorian Gray and Lord Henry's aesthetic lifestyles. This essay's purpose is an interpretation of the philosophy and ideas of Oscar Wilde in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Thus, this essay will briefly introduce the reader with the Aesthetic movement and its reflection in the philosophy of the novel, presenting Wilde's 'New Hedonism' and Homoeroticism. It will also provide information about Oscar Wilde's standpoints of Realism and 'Anti-Victorian morality' and Wilde's attitude and interpretation of art in the novel. .
             II. Aestheticism and its reflection in the novel.
             Since the classical times, the Greek term 'Aesthetics' is given to the study and the nature of the beautiful. "In the second half of the nineteenth century, fuelled by the writings of Walter Pater and Baudelaire and the art of the Pre-Raphaelites, British poets, painters, designers and architects began to turn to aesthetic concerns and to place more emphasis on ornament and on the past (Lambourne, 1996)".