Two brass rings and an ivory die rest on folded emerald velvet against dusty pink.

Original artwork, not a still

The Picture of Dorian Gray · 1890

Oscar Wilde

When a woman marries again it is because she detested her first husband. When a man marries again it is because he adored his first wife. Women try their luck; men risk theirs.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

An epigram that flips expectations about remarriage. It claims a woman remarries because she disliked her first husband, while a man does so because he adored his first wife, then ends on a wordplay contrast: trying luck versus risking it.

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