The quote I chose from the preface of Dorian Gray provided what I think is a unique context for reading Dorian Gray. A context that didn’t change after learning about Wilde’s history and how Dorian Gray and his other works were used against him. It encourages a modern-day reader to examine how their own biases and expectations influence how they shape the story themselves. I, for example, found the ending of Dorian Gray to be stereotypically moral. The protagonist of the story experiences a brother’s grimm-esqe ending after having refused to learn anything. Which seems at least in terms of this quote and Wilde’s own words to be counter-intuitive to what he is trying to say. However, I am willing to admit that my own biases and ideas about consequences have led me to this conclusion. But to acknowledge that art is “surface and symbol” without daring to look at the depths of the symbolism for fear of “peril” is unfair. To the artist who worked the symbol in and to the audience who cannot know the full depth of what they read because they let the surface sit undisturbed. In that, Wilde’s words in the preface are both correct and a warning. It is easy for any individual to fall into an endless circle discussing what they think a piece of art means without allowing it to just exist as it is.