The Picture of Dorian Gray (Wilde)

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The Picture of Dorian Gray
1891
Summary of the Novel
Microsummary: A magical portrait aged while its subject stayed young and beautiful. The young man lived an evil life, causing deaths and misery. When he finally destroyed the portrait, he died old and ugly.

Short Summary

London, late 19th century. In his studio, a talented painter completed a portrait of an extraordinarily beautiful young man.

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Basil Hallward — talented painter in his 30s, sensitive and moral, becomes obsessed with Dorian's beauty, creates the magical portrait that changes Dorian's life.

The subject of the portrait was introduced to a cynical aristocrat who began influencing him with hedonistic philosophy.

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Lord Henry Wotton — cynical aristocrat in his 30s, witty and eloquent, married but detached, influences Dorian with his hedonistic philosophy and paradoxical views on life.

Upon seeing his finished portrait, the young man made a fateful wish.

How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young... If it were only the other way! If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old!

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Dorian Gray — extraordinarily beautiful young man of 20, wealthy, grandson of Lord Kelso, initially innocent and pure but gradually becomes corrupt while maintaining his youthful appearance.

The wish came true - while Dorian remained eternally young and beautiful, the portrait aged and grew hideous with each of his sins. He began a life of debauchery, causing a young actress to commit suicide, and eventually murdered Basil when the painter discovered his secret. The portrait grew more grotesque with each misdeed, while Dorian maintained his innocent appearance. After years of depravity, guilt-ridden and desperate to be free of his conscience, he stabbed the portrait - but in doing so, killed himself. His servants found him, aged and disfigured, lying dead beneath his now-pristine portrait.

Detailed Chapter-by-Chapter Summary

Chapter titles are editorial additions.

The Artist's Studio

In a beautifully decorated London studio, artist Basil Hallward was completing a full-length portrait of an extraordinarily handsome young man. Lord Henry Wotton, a visitor to the studio, declared it to be Hallward's finest work and insisted on knowing the identity of the subject. Initially reluctant, Hallward eventually revealed that the young man was Dorian Gray, whose beauty and personality had become a source of artistic inspiration to him.

When Dorian Gray arrived at the studio, Lord Henry immediately began influencing the young man with his hedonistic philosophy, suggesting that youth and beauty were the only things worth having. As Hallward worked on the portrait, Lord Henry's words had a profound effect on Dorian, who became increasingly aware of his own beauty and its transient nature.

The portrait has taught me that. Lord Henry Wotton is perfectly right. Youth is the only thing worth having. When I find that I am growing old, I shall kill myself.

Upon seeing his finished portrait, Dorian made a passionate wish that the picture would age while he remained forever young. This fateful wish would have extraordinary and terrible consequences. Basil, disturbed by Lord Henry's influence over Dorian, attempted to destroy the painting, but Dorian stopped him, claiming it as his own.

Love and Tragedy

Under Lord Henry's continued influence, Dorian began exploring London's theaters, where he fell in love with a young actress named Sibyl Vane. She performed Shakespeare's heroines brilliantly, and Dorian became enchanted with her talent, visiting the theater nightly to watch her perform.

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Sibyl Vane — young actress of 17, beautiful and talented, performs Shakespeare roles in a low-class theater, falls in love with Dorian and commits suicide after his rejection.

Dorian quickly proposed marriage to Sibyl, but when he brought Lord Henry and Basil to see her perform, she acted terribly. Sibyl explained that her love for Dorian had made her realize the artificiality of the stage - she could no longer pretend to be in love when she knew what real love was. Dorian, valuing her art more than her love, cruelly rejected her, telling her she had killed his love.

Each of us has Heaven and Hell in him. The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself.

The next day, Lord Henry informed Dorian that Sibyl had committed suicide by swallowing poison. Initially shocked and guilt-ridden, Dorian was persuaded by Lord Henry to see the event as a dramatic artistic tragedy rather than a real-life catastrophe. When Dorian looked at his portrait again, he noticed that the expression had changed - the face now bore a touch of cruelty around the mouth.

The Portrait's Transformation

Realizing that his wish had come true and the portrait would bear the burden of his sins while he remained young and beautiful, Dorian had the painting moved to a locked room in his house. Over the years, he lived a life of increasing debauchery and corruption, while maintaining his youthful appearance. Meanwhile, the portrait grew steadily more hideous, reflecting every sin and cruel act.

Hour by hour, and week by week, the thing upon the canvas was growing old. It might escape the hideousness of sin, but the hideousness of age was in store for it.

Sibyl's brother, James Vane, swore revenge against Dorian but had no way to find him. Years passed, and Dorian's reputation became increasingly scandalous, though his perpetual youth and beauty prevented society from fully turning against him. He collected art, studied perfumes and music, and lived a life dedicated to seeking new sensations and experiences.

James Vane — sibyl's protective brother, rough sailor about 18 years old, seeks revenge against Dorian for his sister's death.

Murder and Consequences

Eighteen years after Sibyl's death, Basil Hallward visited Dorian before leaving for Paris. He confronted Dorian about the terrible rumors surrounding his name and begged him to reform. In response, Dorian showed Basil the now-hideous portrait. Horrified by what he saw, Basil urged Dorian to repent. In a fit of rage, Dorian stabbed and killed the artist.

To dispose of the body, Dorian blackmailed an old friend, Alan Campbell, a chemist, into using his scientific knowledge to destroy the evidence. Campbell later committed suicide out of guilt.

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Alan Campbell — young scientist, former friend of Dorian's, helps dispose of Basil's body through chemical means, later commits suicide.

Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic. Worlds had to be in travail, that the meanest flower might blow... And how charming he had been at dinner the night before!

Final Confrontations

While staying at his country estate, Dorian was confronted by James Vane, who had finally tracked him down. Vane initially hesitated to kill Dorian because he appeared too young to be the man who had driven his sister to suicide eighteen years ago. However, after learning the truth from a woman at a nearby tavern, Vane resumed his pursuit. Shortly afterward, Vane was accidentally shot during a hunting party at Dorian's estate.

The death of James Vane, combined with the weight of his sins, began to affect Dorian deeply. He started to long for redemption and decided to change his ways. His first good deed was sparing a young country girl named Hetty Merton from corruption by abandoning her rather than pursuing a relationship with her.

The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame. All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril.

The Final Chapter

However, when Dorian looked at his portrait again, he saw that it had grown even more hideous, now showing the hypocrisy of his attempted goodness. He realized that even his act of mercy toward Hetty had been driven by vanity and curiosity rather than true goodness. In a rage, he seized the knife he had used to kill Basil and stabbed the painting, intending to destroy the record of his conscience.

A crash was heard throughout the house. When servants finally entered the locked room, they found the portrait restored to its original beauty, showing Dorian Gray as a young man in all his handsome perfection. On the floor lay the body of their master - now transformed into a hideous, aged figure, recognizable only by his rings. Next to the body was a knife plunged into his heart. The wish had been reversed, and Dorian's sins had finally claimed their true home.