Hmm …

… The influence of Oscar Wilde on Edith Wharton | Naomi Wolf. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

In The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) Lord Henry Wotton speaks about the overarching value of individualism and impulse, when he argues that “Pleasure is Nature’s test, her sign of approval . . . . I represent to you all the sins you have never had the courage to commit”. These words appal the painter Basil Hallward: “But surely, if one lives merely for oneself, Harry, one pays a terrible price for doing so?” 

Doesn't the novel prove Hallward right and Lord Henry wrong? Huysman's novel is the  one that Dorian Gray reads that lets him see all the sins of the world promenade before him. It was the start of Huysmans' journey toward faith.