The Act of Reading The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 1999 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Literature Works course: Third-Cycle Education / Tercer Ciclo language: English abstract: This study analyses the act of reading The Picture of Dorian Gray from the perspective of Reception Theory. In his critical writings Oscar Wilde asserts that the receiver of a work of art must play a dynamic role in the construction of its meaning and the analysis of his only novel shows that Wilde encourages the reader to participate actively in its production in order to be able to find out the lesson which is inherent in it. As a result the research shows that The Picture of Dorian Gray is representative of Wilde's aesthetic principles not only because it promotes the individuality of the reader but also because the moral in it is subordinated to its artistic effects.