In the present text I am going to analyse Shakespeare's sonnet 20 in order to compare it with Oscar Wilde’s “The picture of Dorian Gray”.

As regards the layout, the poem is made of fourteen hendecasyllables with an ABAB rhyme scheme, the typical structure of sonnets.

Lines 1-7 are meant to portray the feminine beauty of the Youth, while the following lines illustrate how he created him: meant to be a woman, Nature herself felt in love with her creature turning her into a man who actually attracts both women and men “Much steals men's eyes and women's souls amazeth."). The last lines convey the poet’s intention to worship the Youth with a spiritual-platonic love, while the sexual connotation of love is saved for women only.

Certainly the core of this poem is represented by the lord’s beauty, and the admiration he provokes in the others. An important part of the sonnet aims to underline his awesomeness, with many references to his physical features, rather than his personality, which does not seem to be as feminine as his appearance. Oscar Wilde dealt with the same theme, according to the aestheticism’s thought: beauty reigns in a society that lives to contemplate whatever is its form (music, art...).   

A key word that associates the sonnet with “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is the word “pleasure”, which occurs at the end (a strong position indeed) of the penultimate line. The intelligent reader knows Oscar Wilde’s novel belongs to the trend of hedonism, where pleasure is the main element: it represents a further point in common between the two literary texts.

One of the main themes of "The Picture of Dorian Gray” regards the process of making someone’s youth eternal, and it is clearly illustrated with the character of Basil Hallward, the artist who painted Dorian Grey capturing his beauty in a canvas. Shakespeare acted similarly, making the fair lord’s beauty eternal through his celebratory sonnet.

Carnal lust is not the principal topic of the Sonnet, but there is a reference to the man’s genitalia, something the poet does not seem to be interested about (“By adding one thing to my purpose nothing”): what he wants to highlight is the spiritual love he feels for him, aware his body belongs to women. Anyway, a second interpretation may identity the poem as the declaration of Shakespeare's hidden homosexuality. Oscar Wilde deals with such theme too, since his novel  reports about Basil Hallward’s adoration of Dorian’s beauty as well as the desire Lord Henry has for him. Certainly, it was not common in the Victorian society to find someone with the same mindset.

In conclusion, despite the centuries between the poet and the novelist, they both showed to “go against the grain”, glorifying beauty and youth rather than traditional moral values.