"[𝕳]𝖊 𝖜𝖔𝖚𝖑𝖉 𝖓𝖔𝖙 𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖐 𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓 𝖔𝖓𝖈𝖊 𝖚𝖕𝖔𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖉𝖊𝖆𝖉 𝖒𝖆𝖓[. 𝕿]𝖆𝖐𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖚𝖕 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖌𝖔𝖑𝖉 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖕𝖚𝖗𝖕𝖑𝖊 𝖍𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖌, 𝖍𝖊 𝖋𝖑𝖚𝖓𝖌 𝖎𝖙 𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙 𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖕𝖎𝖈𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖊." - Oscar Wilde 🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️ On publication in 1890, Oscar Wilde's (Irish author, 1854-1900) short story 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' was deemed suitable "for none but outlawed noblemen and perverted telegraph boys" by the Scots Observer. Reviewers were unanimous - Wilde's fiction was decadent, a disgraceful thing to be by conservative Victorian standards. The story, which many of you will be familiar with, is about a vain & hedonistic man named Dorian who makes a Faustian pact to ensure eternal outward youthfulness whilst a portrait in his likeness grows aged and ghastly instead. Along with a disapproval of the perceived effiminancy and 'Frenchness' of the narrative (exposing the casual homophobia, xenophobia, & gender prejudices of the Victorian era), critics were shocked by the decadent deceit which it promoted. This is because Victorians, early in their understanding of human science, believed that 'badness' of character (eg. immoral behaviour, ungodly sins) exposed itself in an individual's appearance(!). 🤔: Perhaps this ludicrous stereotyping is in part to blame for our continued portrayal of 'baddies' as monstrous & monsters as evil in contemporary fiction (literature, films, TV) and society... What do you think? Can you summon more 'normal-looking' or grotesque villains to mind? 🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️ 📖The Readalong📖 It's week of 2 the 'Little Sister Death' #generallygothicbookworm readalong hosted by @gothicbookworm & myself. 👆: Info & templates in the highlight. How are you getting on? 🎞️: I'll update my progress in stories later today; til then my thoughts are on the blog. 🔗: Link in bio! . #decadenceanddecay #oscarwilde #victorianliterature #thepictureofdoriangray #doriangray #victoriangothic #englishliterature #gothic #generallygothic #gothicliterature #books #bookstagram #literarycriticism #spookynerd #readalong #williamgay #littlesisterdeath #southerngothic #littlesisterdeath #decadent #williamgay https://www.instagram.com/p/B52ZEQ6gbie/?igshid=1k6ienm8p17ey