Critical receptions:

Marxist:
(A Marxist critique/reading could suggest…) * “Literature is a reflection of the society and values from which it originates” * “Told at the expense of exploited groups” e.g. The Vane’s
- Sybil is W/C and “powerless”. She is described similarly to Dorian but because of her class she is ‘powerless’ * “Upper classes don’t produce anything except themselves” – Don’t add anything to society. * “They are a disposable group” James Vane’s death was “inconsequential”
Psychoanalytical Theory:
(A psychoanalytical reading could suggest that…) * Lacan – “Mirror stage of development” – 6 month old baby entranced by their mirror image but becomes angry when mirror is turned away by parent. Throughout our lives we are haunted by this hopeless desire of the mirror stage: Dorian’s relationship with his portrait; he is trapped in the “mirror stage”. * “Symbolic order” – Mother and Father initiate baby as a speak of languages but Father has the true responsibility for this. Dorian is an orphan; he cannot go beyond the mirror stage and enter adulthood – He never fully enters language – merely parrots Henry and so retains selfish amorality of a baby.
Queer Theory:
(A ‘Queer theory’ reading of The Picture of Dorian Gray may suggest…) * “Identities are not fixed” – Gender is a changing thing. * Dorian does perform different roles but only traditional genders ones such as ‘secretive adulterer’ at the party and ‘male heir’. * “He keeps other sexual activities concealed”.

Critics: * Duggan: Conflict between aestheticism and morality; * “Behaves with no regard for the ramifications of his actions” * “Dangers of the aesthetic philosophy when not practiced with prudence” * “Dorian abandons her unceremoniously” * “Dorian Gray personifies the aesthetic lifestyle” * Dorian Gray is a… “cautionary tale” * Ross: The New Yorker * “Wilde the homosexual martyr”

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[ 1 ]. Selfish amorality = No morals