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The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde

About the author

Oscar Wilde is one of the best-known characters of
British literary history. Wilde grew up in a professional
middle-class family in Dublin. He was a brilliant student
and came to England to study at Oxford University.
He was very ambitious and wanted to join English
high society. He soon became famous for his witty
conversation, especially his ironic epigrams or amusing
sayings. Oscar Wilde was flamboyant and eccentric
from an early age. At a time when men only wore black
or grey he put on colourful clothes, grew his hair long
and wore a green flower in his buttonhole. He was a
founder member of the influential aesthetic movement
which believed in art for arts sake and rejected the strict
morality of Victorian society which regarded all sexual
matters as dirty and immoral. In Victorian England
all men were expected to get married and have a family.
Wilde married and had two children, but he secretly loved
men, something which was considered disgusting and was
a serious crime. Wilde kept his love affairs with men a
secret and between 1892 and 1895 his plays made him the
most successful and popular writer in Britain. He loved
mixing with the aristocracy yet his works made fun of the
English upper classes and, in a subtle way, criticised the
cruel morality of his time. When Wilde was found guilty
of having a sexual relationship with a man, nearly all his
friends dropped him, his plays and books were withdrawn
and his possessions were sold to pay his creditors. He came
out of prison a broken man and spent the final years of his
life in poverty, unable to write and forced to live in exile.

Summary
Published in 1891, The Picture of Dorian Gray is Oscar
Wildes only novel. An immediate and popular success,
it has never been out of print. The story is set in London

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towards the end of the 19th century. Basil Hallward has

painted a portrait of a handsome young man, Dorian
Gray. Thrilled by the beauty of the painting, Dorian
Gray wishes that he could always stay as young as his
image in the picture. He gives up his soul to achieve this
wish. Dorian sets out on a life of self-indulgence and
evil. His behaviour seems to be reflected in the portrait
and he realises that his wish has come true the portrait
is beginning to show a corrupted man while he remains
unchanged physically. Frightened of what is happening,
Dorian hides the picture in a locked room. The years
pass and Dorian leads an increasingly depraved life, but
the years have no effect on him; he looks as young and
beautiful as ever. Then one evening he meets the artist
once more and, after he has shown him the evil-looking
portrait, Dorian kills him in a fit of hatred. Dorian tries
to carry on with his immoral life but he is tormented by
feelings of guilt and decides that the only way he can make
up for what he has done is to destroy the painting. In
the climax of the story Dorian tries to kill the man in the
portrait, but kills himself in the process.
Chapters 12: Dorian Gray, a young and beautiful man
has his portrait painted by his artist friend, Basil Hallward.
The picture is so beautiful that the artist loves it as he also
loves Dorian. Dorian also admires the way the portrait
reflects his beauty but becomes frightened when his
new-found friend, Lord Henry, tells him that his beauty
will fade with age. Dorian makes a passionate wish that he
would remain young and beautiful forever; he would give
up his soul for this.
Chapters 36: Dorian falls in love with the actress Sibyl
Vane because of her beauty and acting ability. When he
takes his friends to a performance she acts very badly,
which disturbs him so much that he breaks up with her,
hurting her cruelly. After the break-up, Dorian notices
that the picture has changed; it shows cruelty in the face,
while his own face remains pure and innocent looking.
He realises that he can live a corrupt life without his face
showing the effects, while the picture will show ageing
and the ugliness of his soul. Dorian decides to go back to
Sibyl and ask her to marry him but Sibyl has already killed
herself as a result of Dorians cruelty.
Chapters 78: Basil is shocked by Dorians apparent
indifference to Sibyls death. He wants to see the picture
but Dorian refuses and tells him the picture has changed
and has a life of its own. Dorian also refuses to sit for Basil
for another painting. They argue and Dorian says that
Basil has taught him to love only his own beauty. Dorian
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The Picture of Dorian Gray

decides to hide the picture away in the old schoolroom so
that nobody would ever see it again and discover his secret.
Chapters 911: Many years pass with terrible changes
to his soul because of his corrupt ways. He meets Basil in
the street one night and invites him home. They argue
about rumours Basil has heard of Dorians terrible life.
Finally, Dorian shows Basil the picture, which Basil finds
shocking. Suddenly, Dorian feels hatred for Basil and kills
him. Later, Dorian forces Campbell, a scientist he knows,
to destroy all traces of the body using chemicals.
Chapters 1213: Dorian decides to become a good
person. He discusses this with Lord Henry, who convinces
him that people cannot change. Later Dorian becomes
angry about the wish he once made and begins to fear for
his soul. He decides he must start a new life and to do
this he must destroy the picture. He stabs the picture and
a terrible crash and scream are heard. The police arrive to
find the dead body of an old and ugly man lying next to a
portrait of the young and beautiful Dorian Gray.

Background and themes

The Picture of Dorian Gray is often described as a
melodrama a work in which everything is larger than
life. It is more like a myth or a morality tale than the
realistic novels which readers are accustomed to nowadays.
It contains so much dialogue that it is almost as if it is a
written version of a stage play. This is not surprising as
Wilde went on to write a series of very successful plays
in the three years following its publication, including his
masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest.
Faust: The theme of The Picture of Dorian Gray is
a recurring one in European culture, most famously
expounded in Faust. In the story of Faust, the devil tempts
a man to sell his soul in exchange for all the things he
desires. The result is disaster and the lesson is that a mans
soul is more valuable than anything he could possibly
gain in the material world. In Oscar Wildes version,
Lord Henry represents the devil figure and Dorian Gray
is Faust.
Morality: The portrait symbolises Dorians soul or
morality. Lord Henry tempts Dorian to indulge in an
immoral lifestyle, carelessly disregarding the feelings of
the people he seduces and then rejects. Dorian thinks that
he can escape from the consequences of his immoral life
because the portrait takes the blame for him. But he goes
too far by killing his old friend Basil Hallward and then
suffers from guilt. Wilde is showing us that nobody can
escape the moral consequences of their actions.
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Undercurrent of sexuality: To this familiar moral

fable, Wilde adds the extra ingredient of sexual scandal.
Although the novel never actually describes it, the reader
is aware that there is an undercurrent of sexuality in
many of the relationships. Apart from the story of Sibyl
Vane, we do not know exactly what Dorian does that is so
immoral, as in Victorian England it was impossible for a
writer to be honest about sexual matters. In the end, good
triumphs over evil when Dorian kills himself. This is the
type of moral ending that was expected in 19th century
literature.
Wit and humour: The Picture of Dorian Gray is not
simply a moral fable. It is full of Oscar Wildes unique
wit and humour. The dialogue sparkles with numerous
examples of Wildes epigrams, those short witty sayings
which have now become part of the English language.
These epigrams are often based on irony or a reversal of
logic, a typical example of which is when Lord Henry says
I choose my friends for their beauty and my enemies for
their intelligence. A man cannot be too careful in choosing
his enemies. Wildes own conversation was full of this
wit, and it gives the novel an extra dimension which most
Victorian stories lack.

Discussion activities
Chapters 12
Before reading
1 Discuss: Ask the students to look at the picture on
the cover of the book. Have you ever had your portrait
done? Have you ever painted someone elses portrait?
What can you tell about a person by looking at their
face? What kind of person do you think this man is?
Do you think you would like him? Say why or why not.
2 Pair work: Put the students into pairs and ask them
to read the title of Chapter 1 An Extraordinarily
Beautiful Young Man. Have them list specific qualities
that make someone appear beautiful. When they have
finished, have some of the pairs read their lists to the
class. See if other students agree, or have different
qualities on their lists.

After reading
3 Pair work: In pairs, have the students take turns
saying: How Basil feels about Dorian; How Lord
Henry feels about Dorian; How Dorian feels about
Lord Henry; and How Dorian feels about Basil.
4 Discuss: Write this famous epigram (clever, witty or
funny saying) from the book on the board: I choose
my friends for their beauty and my enemies for their
intelligence. A man cannot be too careful in choosing
his enemies. Ask students to work in pairs. Do they
agree with this saying or not? Each student finds one
more epigram from these chapters.
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The Picture of Dorian Gray

Chapters 35
Before reading
5 Predict: Have the students read the heading for
Chapter 3 Dorian in Love . Then have them write
about these questions: What kind of person do you
think Dorian would fall in love with? Why do you think
this? How do you think he would treat someone he was
in love with?

After reading
6 Discuss: Have the students compare their predictions
from activity 5.
7 Debate: Divide the class into two groups and hold a
debate on one of these sayings from Lord Henry:
a No woman is an artist. Women never have
anything to say, but they say it charmingly.
b The reason we like to think so well of others is
because we are afraid for ourselves.
c When we are happy we are always good, but
when we are good we are not always happy.

Chapters 67
Before reading
8 Predict: Ask the students to read the title of
Chapter 6 Love Becomes Tragedy and have them
write down what they think will happen to Dorian
and Sibyl.

After reading
9 Check: Have the students read their predictions
about what would happen in Chapter 6. Were they
correct?
10 Put students into small groups to answer these
questions: (a) Why does Dorian change his mind about
Sibyl? (b) He felt the time had come to choose. Or had
he already chosen? (p. 32). What is this choice? What
would you choose if you were in the same situation?
11 Pair work: In pairs, ask the students to list adjectives
that describe Basil Hallward and Lord Henry. After
ten minutes, ask each pair to compare their lists with
the class. Write the adjectives, that they all agree with,
on the board.
12 Artwork: Put students into pairs and have them
draw each others portrait. The student who is posing
should put on a cruel face so the other can draw a
picture showing cruelty, like the picture of Dorians
face in the portrait. Then have the students show their
pictures to the class. The class votes on whose drawing
looks the cruellest.

Chapters 810
Before reading
13 Role play: Put the students into pairs to role play the
conversation on pages 3233. One student will be
Dorian and the other will be Basil. Then have some
of the pairs role play their conversations in front of
the class.

c Pearson Education Limited 2008

14 Discuss: Put this sentence on the board: Corruption

is a thing that writes itself across a mans face. It
cannot be hidden. (p. 45). Put students into small
groups. They discuss this statement and whether they
agree with it or not.

After reading
15 Write: Put students into small groups and get them
to write two sentences to describe what happens in
Chapter 8, two sentences to describe what happens
in Chapter 9 and two sentences to describe what
happens in Chapter 10. When they are finished, have
some of the groups read their sentences to the rest of
the class.

Chapters 1112
Before reading
16 Predict: Have the class read the heading for
Chapter 11 The Problem of the Body. Then have
the students form small groups and predict what
Dorian might do with the body.

After reading
17 Discuss: Dorian says I have done too many terrible
things in my life. I am not going to do any more.
(p. 56). In small groups, students answer these
questions: (a) Do you believe what Dorian says above?
(b) Can you think of ways people can get forgiveness for
earlier bad behaviour?

Chapter 13
Before reading
18 Predict: Have the students think about why
Chapter 13 is called To Kill the Past. Then put them
into small groups to discuss who they think would
like to kill the past, why he would want to, and how
he might go about doing it.

After reading
19 Check: Review students predictions in activity 18.
20 Role play: Put the students into groups of three and
have them pretend to be the people on the street
when the terrible crash and scream were heard from
Dorians house. Have them guess what is happening.
Have them discuss Dorian Gray and the kinds of
rumours they have heard about him. Then have
them make a list of all the different things they have
heard about Dorian Gray, including the following:
The different bad things he has done. / The kind of
person he is. / The ways he has been a bad influence on
his friends. / How they feel about Dorian. / Why they
think Dorian is able to stay so young and pure looking.
21 Students discuss this question in small groups: What
is the lesson of The Picture of Dorian Gray? Is there a
lesson in it for people today?

Vocabulary activities
For the Word List and vocabulary activities, go to
www.penguinreaders.com.
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