Step inside The Picture of Dorian Gray

The film without the cuts. And the book itself.

A painter finishes the portrait of a beautiful young man he adores, and fears he has put too much of his own soul into it.

9:41

The Cast

Dorian Gray

Main · London society

A beautiful young man remains outwardly untouched while his portrait keeps the visible record of his life.

Locations

London

city

A polished city where drawing rooms, locked doors, dinner tables, and opium dens are all the same place.

Passage

Can art be judged by virtue, or only by the force of its craft?

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The Author’s Pen

Well Written or Badly Written

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.

The nineteenth century dislike of realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass.

The nineteenth century dislike of romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass. The moral life of man forms part of the subject-matter of the artist, but the morality of art consists in the perfect use of an imperfect medium. No artist desires to prove anything.

Reading

Wilde is picking a fight before his novel even begins. This comes from the preface he added to answer critics who called the book corrupt, and his move is to refuse the whole question: a book can be done well or done badly, and that is the only judgment he will allow. When he drags in Caliban, the brutish creature from Shakespeare's Tempest, he turns the offended reader into the ugly one, furious at a mirror whether it shows his face or hides it. His last claim guards the door: an artist who wanted to prove a point would already have stopped being an artist.

World Index

The Plot

The Studio and the PortraitThe Fatal WishSibyl VaneThe Portrait ChangesThe Years of CorruptionThe Murder of BasilThe Return of James VaneThe Knife and the Portrait

The Cast

Dorian GrayBasil HallwardLord Henry WottonSibyl VaneJames VaneAlan CampbellMrs. VaneAdrian SingletonHetty MertonDuchess of MonmouthLady AgathaLady NarboroughLord FermorLady BrandonMr. HubbardVictor / FrancisUnnamed opium-den womanGeoffrey CloustonMr. IsaacsLady Henry / Victoria WottonMr. Erskine of TreadleyDuchess of HarleySir Thomas BurdonMrs. VandeleurLord FaudelLord KelsoLady Margaret DevereuxDorian’s father

Locations

Basil Hallward’s studioBristol restaurantDorian Gray’s house in Grosvenor SquareGarden outside Basil’s studioLady Agatha’s houseLady Brandon’s gatheringLady Narborough’s houseLocked upstairs room / old schoolroomLondonLord Fermor’s roomsLord Henry’s house in Curzon StreetOpium den and the quaySelby RoyalShabby theatre / Royal Theatre, HolbornVane household

Objects of Note

Alan Campbell’s chemical chestBasil’s painting materials and easelBasil’s portrait of Dorian GrayJames Vane’s pistolJames Vane’s sailor clothingKnife / palette-knifeLord Henry’s cigarettes and cigarette-caseLord Henry’s mirrorNewspaper report of Sibyl Vane’s deathPurple-and-gold hangingSibyl’s stage costumesThe yellow book

Core Concepts

A divided house reveals a divided selfArt and life cannot be safely separatedConsequences return through names, witnesses, and remembered injuriesInfluence works through seduction rather than commandPerformance collapses when reality asks to be seenPublic beauty can conceal hidden corruptionSelf-improvement can become another form of vanityYouth becomes terrifying when beauty is treated as a possession

The Author's Pen

Lord Henry in the StudioThe Portrait and the PainterBasil Will Not Send ItToo Much of MyselfThe First Sight of Dorian GrayDorian Gray as ArtThe Secret of My SoulDon't Spoil HimTired of SittingThe Immorality of InfluenceA New HedonismTired of SittingThe Bargain For YouthThe Two DoriansProper Hands For The BoyDorian's Flush of PleasureDorian in Lord Henry’s LibraryMore Than An IndividualDesire Comes to Meet ItSibyl Loves Prince CharmingJames's Deadly VowA Brilliant MarriageDorian's Sudden EngagementBeauty Over GoodnessUnderstand WhatSick of ShadowsYou Have Killed My LoveAwakening Past NoonThe Wish FulfilledDorian's Plan for GoodnessSibyl Vane Is DeadSibyl's Finest TragedyYou Must Not AskThe Load UpstairsDreams Made RealA Malady of DreamingA New HedonismThe Psychology of PerfumesEcclesiastical VestmentsCharm Protected by WealthThe Alibi of BeautyWhat Has Come Over YouUpstairs for an AnswerHis Own Name In VermilionThe Prayer of RepentanceMorning After the MurderYou Have No ChoiceThe Terrible Pleasure of a Double LifePrince Charming Called OutThe Bloom of BoyhoodHunted By TerrorThe Dead Body RevealedLeaving Hetty UntouchedBeauty as RuinHe Would Destroy ItRecognized By His Rings

Plot point 01

The Studio and the Portrait

A painter finishes the portrait of a beautiful young man he adores, and fears he has put too much of his own soul into it.

Objects of Note

Basil’s portrait of Dorian Gray

It ages and rots in a locked room so that Dorian never has to.

The Cast

Basil Hallward

Main · artist

The painter who creates Dorian’s portrait fears that the canvas has exposed his own soul.

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The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde

The cast, locations, objects of note, core concepts, and selected passages in the Author’s Pen - at your own pace.

One of 127 classics in the Literah library

The Picture of Dorian Gray World, as it plays on your phone

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