Summary
Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray focuses on an innocent and naïve boy’s wicked transformation. This boy is named Dorian Gray. He spent most of his childhood locked up in a schoolroom and is a very impressionable young man. His grandfather Lord Kelso never really cared for him. When Dorian grows up, he meets Basil Hallward, a distinguished painter. Basil immediately falls desperately in love with Dorian. Dorian is his inspiration and reason for living. They become intimate friends. However, one fateful day Basil is painting Dorian and a man by the name of Lord Henry calls on Basil. Dorian leaves Lord Henry and Basil alone. Henry manages to get Basil to admit his feelings for Dorian. Lord Henry is immensely amused by Basil’s revelation. Dorian is left in an enchanted haze by Henry’s strange ideas and paradoxes. Basil shakes his head worriedly, for he fears that Lord Henry will lead him down a path of corruption. Basil’s fears are well founded for before Henry’s visit has come to an end, he has awakened Dorian’s narcissistic side. Dorian takes one look at Basil’s completed portrait and curses it because it will retain the beauty that one day he will lose. He says he wishes that the painting would age instead of him.
Over the next few weeks, Lord Henry’s influence wraps around Dorian like a Boa constrictor. Dorian pledges his life to the pursuit of pleasure and is the start of his moral downfall. He begins to attend an old run down theater because he has fallen in love with an actress named Sibyl Vane. She in turn returns his love and does not pay any attention to the warnings from her dear brother, James. She laughs off his concerns and tells him that “Prince Charming” would ever hurt her. However, Dorian only loves Sibyl because of her great acting talent. So when Dorian confesses to Sibyl his great love for her, her acting skills suffer greatly because she believes that there is no point to act in love when one has already known love. After her terrible performance, Dorian’s fickle infatuation for Sibyl disappears in a heartbeat. He marches to her dressing room and stoically announces to her that he no longer loves her as she let all her talents go to waste. She cries and throws herself at his feet. She begs him not to leave. However, Dorian is unmoved and walks out of the room. He reaches his home and happens to look at his portrait. His face has a look of cruelty and Dorian draws back in surprise. He comes to realize that the portrait changed because it is reflecting his soul stained with sin. He resolves to go to Sibyl in the morning to beg for her forgiveness and marry her. However, what he does not know is that Sibyl has committed suicide. Lord Henry brings him the tragic news in the morning. Lord Henry advises him to regard Sibyl’s death as a beautiful tragedy or as a play. Dorian follows his advice.
He hides the portrait in the old schoolroom where he spent most of his youth. Dorian does not want anyone to discover his hideous secret. Lord Henry gives Dorian a yellow book that will be responsible for Dorian’s complete moral degradation. It basically becomes his bible. Years pass and Dorian’s reputation is beyond the point of repair. Dorian is known to have corrupted half of London’s society. Basil hears the rumors and becomes genuinely concerned for his friend. So he decides to pay him a visit before he leaves for Paris. He tells Dorian about the rumors he has been hearing and tells him how concerned he is for him. Dorian takes Basil upstairs to the old schoolroom in order to show him his soul. Basil believes that Dorian has gone mad, but he follows him upstairs. Dorian unveils the portrait and his hideous soul stares at Basil. Basil is in complete disbelief and exclaims to Dorian that he must repent for his sins. Dorian, angered, kills him in a fit of rage.
Dorian then blackmails his old friend Alan Campbell into disposing the body. In order to forget Basil’s dreadful murder, he decides to go to an opium den where he encounters James Vane, Sibyl’s brother. James is angry and is seeking revenge. He is about to murder Dorian, but Dorian convinces him he has the wrong man. However, Dorian encounters James through a window at a dinner party. Later on, James is accidentally killed by a hunting party and Dorian feels safe again. He decides he is going to try to right his many wrongs. However, his portrait shows him the real reason he desires to make amends- hypocrisy. Furious, Dorian stabs the portrait and kills himself. The portrait is restored to its former glory and Dorian reverts to the hideous man of the painting.
Over the next few weeks, Lord Henry’s influence wraps around Dorian like a Boa constrictor. Dorian pledges his life to the pursuit of pleasure and is the start of his moral downfall. He begins to attend an old run down theater because he has fallen in love with an actress named Sibyl Vane. She in turn returns his love and does not pay any attention to the warnings from her dear brother, James. She laughs off his concerns and tells him that “Prince Charming” would ever hurt her. However, Dorian only loves Sibyl because of her great acting talent. So when Dorian confesses to Sibyl his great love for her, her acting skills suffer greatly because she believes that there is no point to act in love when one has already known love. After her terrible performance, Dorian’s fickle infatuation for Sibyl disappears in a heartbeat. He marches to her dressing room and stoically announces to her that he no longer loves her as she let all her talents go to waste. She cries and throws herself at his feet. She begs him not to leave. However, Dorian is unmoved and walks out of the room. He reaches his home and happens to look at his portrait. His face has a look of cruelty and Dorian draws back in surprise. He comes to realize that the portrait changed because it is reflecting his soul stained with sin. He resolves to go to Sibyl in the morning to beg for her forgiveness and marry her. However, what he does not know is that Sibyl has committed suicide. Lord Henry brings him the tragic news in the morning. Lord Henry advises him to regard Sibyl’s death as a beautiful tragedy or as a play. Dorian follows his advice.
He hides the portrait in the old schoolroom where he spent most of his youth. Dorian does not want anyone to discover his hideous secret. Lord Henry gives Dorian a yellow book that will be responsible for Dorian’s complete moral degradation. It basically becomes his bible. Years pass and Dorian’s reputation is beyond the point of repair. Dorian is known to have corrupted half of London’s society. Basil hears the rumors and becomes genuinely concerned for his friend. So he decides to pay him a visit before he leaves for Paris. He tells Dorian about the rumors he has been hearing and tells him how concerned he is for him. Dorian takes Basil upstairs to the old schoolroom in order to show him his soul. Basil believes that Dorian has gone mad, but he follows him upstairs. Dorian unveils the portrait and his hideous soul stares at Basil. Basil is in complete disbelief and exclaims to Dorian that he must repent for his sins. Dorian, angered, kills him in a fit of rage.
Dorian then blackmails his old friend Alan Campbell into disposing the body. In order to forget Basil’s dreadful murder, he decides to go to an opium den where he encounters James Vane, Sibyl’s brother. James is angry and is seeking revenge. He is about to murder Dorian, but Dorian convinces him he has the wrong man. However, Dorian encounters James through a window at a dinner party. Later on, James is accidentally killed by a hunting party and Dorian feels safe again. He decides he is going to try to right his many wrongs. However, his portrait shows him the real reason he desires to make amends- hypocrisy. Furious, Dorian stabs the portrait and kills himself. The portrait is restored to its former glory and Dorian reverts to the hideous man of the painting.