The Picture of Dorian Gray was scandalous from its very beginning. The magazine that published it had issues with many of the topics and themes of the novel. There was open insinuation of homosexuality, and other amoral acts. Characters’ lives were fictitiously ruined, many committed suicide, and one of the main characters – Basil Hallward (the painter) – was even murdered. Morality in the Victorian era was something that Wilde almost appears to mock – he comes revisits topics of morality and beauty throughout the novel.