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) wild joys and wilder sins'. Basil arrives to console Dorian for the loss of Sibyl, but is dismayed to find Dorian calmly dressing for the opera. Although Basil feels unease, he promises to Dorian never to speak again about the matter. After Basil departs, Dorian tells his butler, before going to the opera, to hire two men to move the painting to the attic. He finally looks into a gilt hand mirror. "Scene 1" Eighteen years later, Dorian and Basil meet at Dorian's home. Whilst Basil has aged considerably, Dorian looks unchanged. Before leaving for Paris, Basil wants to speak