I peccati di Dorian Gray

The novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" explores the fantasy of invincible vice only to discover that, while justice can be dodged, there is no escape from conscience. Written in 1890, the homosexual undertones of the novel were used as evidence in the criminal-libel suit of Wilde vs the Marquess of Queensberry in 1895, who accused the writer of homosexual promiscuity with his son, Lord Alfred Douglas. Wilde was found guilty of gross indecency, and sentenced to two years hard labor - from which he never recovered. He died in poverty and disgrace in 1900. Like his tragic hero, Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde tried to conceal something about himself in art, and in the end was betrayed by art.

References Il ritratto di Dorian Gray (1945)