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) never should have mentioned the girl to Lord Henry, who retorts that Dorian will always tell him everything. Dorian then asks how Lord Henry would react at the idea that he murdered Basil Hallward. Lord Henry is dismissive and changes the topic to the mystery of Dorian's continual youth, comparing Dorian's life to his own lost youth. He asks Dorian to join him on a riding excursion the next day as he leaves. Dorian picks up a hand mirror, looks into it, then throws it down in disgust and smashes it under his feet. "Scene 7" Alone in the attic,