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) enters the dressing room. On doing so, she explains her poor performance by saying that because Dorian has shown her real love, she will no longer be able to 'mimic passion' on the stage. Dorian replies that she has killed his love for her: "Without your art, you are nothing!" Sibyl begs him not to leave her, but as she lies sobbing at his feet, he leaves. In a soliloquy, she wishes for his return, recalling fragments of "Romeo and Juliet", and stares at the poison bottle in her hands. "Scene 5" The next morning, Dorian sees that his portrait