CPB Reflection
3/25/2020
Paige Hussey
After reading the Commonplace Books from a few classmates I did see a pattern. Many of my classmates found a lot of information about the author, Oscar Wilde, and the connection that many thought he had with the fictional character of Dorian Gray. I myself did read that many thoughts that the character Dorian Gray was a homosexual and this to some meant that Oscar Wilde was a homosexual. Even going as far as to use the book against Oscar to prove that he was a homosexual. People making connections like this to me seems odd. Odd in the fact that this is a book of fiction and to use a book of fiction against a writer seems like a stretch. It may have been true that Oscar used this book as a sort of outlet for his sexuality but to make that assumption is interesting. We all know at the time of this book’s creation, homosexuality was not normal, or okay. Maybe that is why this book was received so awful due to the stigmas around sexuality. When a book is published that has a very real and controversial message or even a part in the book that may not be entirely clear, I can defiantly see why people ripped it apart. Of course, reading it now I see no issue with its content and see no need to break apart ever word to try and find a hidden meaning as to what the writer was thinking. It makes me wonder if people used to read books like this and just try to find something wrong with it or something to pick a fight about. Could it be the times in which things were so controversial that people felt the need to protect the world from controversial topics?
