OSCAR WILDE REVISITADO: ESTUDO DE TRÊS ADAPTAÇÕES DE O RETRATO DE DORIAN GRAY

Abstract

This paper analyzes three filmic adaptations of The Picture of Dorian Gray, a novel written in 1890 by Oscar Wilde. It takes into account each work in their peculiarities and specific resources, and it creates a dialogue between them with regard to literary and cultural elements. The study seeks to identify how the controversies generated by text of Wilde were seen and were artistically carried out in three different periods (in 1945, 1973 and in 2009). In all film productions, the plot of the narrative focuses on the transformation lived by the protagonist Dorian Gray, an innocent and pure boy to a young experienced, given to sensory and carnal pleasures. The three films also brings out the picture of Dorian Gray and the pact made to give eternal youth to the protagonist, while the painting acquired all the marks of old age, the vices and the moral corruption. Each adaptation deals differently with ideas ranging from homosexuality, marriage, and the definition of sin to discussions on aesthetics and art criticism which were already evident in Wilde’s novel. His work of art is considered an English masterpiece, and by extension and excellence, universal.