The Picture of Dorian Gray edition of the novel; nonetheless, by June 1891, Wilde was defending "The Picture of Dorian Gray" against accusations that it was a bad book. In the essay "The Artist as Critic", Oscar Wilde said that: In the 19th century, the critical reception of the novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1890) was poor. The book critic of "The Irish Times" said, "The Picture of Dorian Gray" was "first published to some scandal." Such book reviews achieved for the novel a "certain notoriety for being 'mawkish and nauseous', 'unclean', 'effeminate' and 'contaminating'." Such moralistic scandal arose from the novel's homoeroticism, which
The Picture of Dorian Gray (opera) he shuns her and she mocks him. When he leaves, she calls out the nickname 'Romeo'. Upon hearing that, a sailor follows Dorian outside. "Scene 4" Outside the tavern, the sailor identifies himself as James Vane, pulls out a gun, and vows to kill Dorian for causing her death. Dorian pretends that he did not know Sibyl and asks how long ago she died. After James answers 18 years, Dorian tells him to look at him under a street light. On so doing, James retrenches, as such a young man could not possibly have known his sister at the time,