With Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde captures our obsession with youth

Ben Barnes as Dorian, examining his ageing portrait in Ealing Studios’ 2009 movie adaptation of Oscar Wildes The Picture Of Dorian Gray. Photo: Movie still

“Youth is the one thing worth having,” says Lord Henry Wotton to the titular character of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture Of Dorian Gray.

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about youth.