A glimpse into The Picture of Dorian Gray 1

This teachers pack includes factual information as well as tasks and topics to be dealt with in the
classroom. Cut and paste as you please, and please consult the official programme for additional
information.
Contents:

1. Synopsis of The Picture of Dorian Gray

2. So, who was Oscar Wilde?
- Spot Wilde
- Fast facts
- Extended Biography
3. Characters
4. Themes and Symbols
5. The Concepts Behind The Picture of Dorian Gray
6. Victorian Britain
7. Did you Know?
8. A Trip to the Movies
- Date the production
- Film clips
9. Let’s Get Theatrical, Darling
10. Important Questions
11. Wilde Restyled
12. Word Search
13. Classroom tasks based on the novel
14. Further Reading and Resources
15. Advanced Section
- Oscar Wilde and Shakespeare
- Dorian Gray and Faust
- The Gothic

Synopsis of The Picture of Dorian Gray:

Basil Hallward is deeply fascinated with the aesthetically 2and symmetrically

beautiful, Dorian Gray. The more he sees him the more he is inspired to paint more
exquisitely. Basil paints Dorian Gray a portrait. One day, Dorian meets Lord Henry in
Basil’s garden, they engage3 in conversation. Lord Henry insists that sensual
satisfaction and beauty is all there is to life. Dorian worried about his inevitably
1
Look out for footnotes that explain any challenging English words.
2
Connected to Aesthetics – a set of ideas concerned with beauty.
3
Take part in, become involved with.

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decaying beauty, hopes his symmetry will remain untouched like that of Basil’s
painting of him. Dorian’s wish is granted and remains as young while the painting
shifts with the passing of time. Dorian’s obsession with worldly pleasures is the
hedonist’s4 nightmare; he succumbs to perversion and blind enjoyment. The debts
of the body, the soul pays; every sin to be forever imprinted in his disfigured
portrait. His life becomes a game of dark delight that blinds him of life’s true joy —
happiness. Cursed, drunk and numbed, he loses the love of his life and every hope
of finding self— fulfilment. A soulless but beautiful walking corpse trapped in an
endless life voided of true joy.

This novel lingers5 between the real and the imaginary, a fiction to be compared
with Wilde’s “ The Nightingale and the Rose” or “ The Happy Prince”. Portraying
19th century Victorian Britain, vanity, madness and annihilation6 become the
disruptive leitmotifs of this renowned literary piece. Wilde’s acute portrayal of a
decadent aestheticism was a scandal in his time. The Narcissism portrayed in
Wilde’s novel has been expounded7 in various literary pieces in the past, from
ancient Greek mythology to philosophical manuscripts of the 19th century.
Philosopher, Gaston Bachelard pondered extensively about the polyphonies of this
concept and its importance as a social reality. Wilde’s novel can be regarded as a
social critique of Victorian Britain, as it conveys the banal life of unstinting pleasures
that diverted the wealthier and left them deaf to the “other’s” loud pleas.

So, Who Was Oscar Wilde?

*TASK : Look at the 4 pictures below and discuss

with a partner, which one is Wilde

4
A person who wants to get as much pleasure out of life as possible.
5
To stay in a place longer than necessary, or to leave slowly. Stays, delays, remains, wait around.
6
To destroy. Kill, extinct, eradicate, exterminate, ruin, wipe out.
7
To present a story; in this case the same idea in Wilde’s same is presented in other stories of the
past. Illustrate, develop, expand, explain.

2
Answers:

(From left to right, starting top left to bottom right)

1. Stephen Fry (British actor) in the 1997 film Wilde
2. Oscar Wilde
3. Edgar Allen Poe (American writer) Whose work is often compared with Wilde’s The
Picture of Dorian Gray for their Gothic style. Poe’s story ‘The Oval Portrait’ inspired The
Picture of Dorian Gray.
4. Charles Darwin (Naturalist/ Geologist) Most famous for his book on evolution on the
Origin of Species.

Fast Facts:
• Born: 16th October 1854, Dublin.
• Died: 30th November 1900, Paris.
• Died at age: 46.
• Famous for: Plays, his only novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, and poetry.
• Education: Portora Royal School for Boys.
Trinity College in Dublin.
Magdalen College in Oxford.
• Father: Sir William Wade.
• Mother: Jane Francesca Elgee Wilde.

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 • Spouse8: Constance Lloyd.
• Children: Vyvyan Holland, Cyril Holland.
• Wilde’s sister died, aged nine, from Meningitis.
• From 1887-1889 he edited Woman's World, a popular magazine.
• The Picture of Dorian Gray was serialized on 1st January 1890 in Lippincott’s Magazine.
This was a censored version.
• In 1891 Wilde revised and published The Picture of Dorian Gray as a novel.
• The farcical9 comedy and Wilde’s best-known play, The Importance of Being Earnest10,
was first performed in 1895.
• In 1898 he published his best-known poem, The Ballad of Reading Gaol.
• Wilde was arrested for “gross indecency”11 after a trial between him and the Marquess
of Queensbury – father to Lord Alfred Douglas, with whom Wilde supposedly12 had an
affair with. He was sentenced 2 years’ hard labour.
• Wilde is released and moves to Paris, France, where he lives the rest of his life in
exile13.

Extended Biography:
Wilde’s Life

The flamboyant14 and witty15 Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin 16th October 1854. He was
studious16 as a child, and his love for books showed during his time as a young adult, during
which he attended Trinity College in Dublin and then Magdalen College in Oxford. Later in life,
Wilde had two sons called Cyril and Vyvyan, with an Englishwoman named Constance Lloyd. His
greatest period of productivity17 was 1888 – 1895. During this seven-year period nearly all of his
greatest works were written, including The Picture of Dorian Gray. Wilde lived a sort of double life
in these years. He enjoyed the highest literary success of his life, while in his personal life he was
not so fortunate. He had an affair with Lord Alfred Douglas, and the repercussions18 of this act
lead to his downfall. Douglas’s father left a visiting card for Wilde, calling him a “somdomite” (a
misspelling of sodomite; a term Douglas used to suggest Wilde was homosexual). Wilde was so
offended by this that he sued him for libel19. The trial didn’t go in Wilde’s favour20 and he was
sentenced two years in prison.

8
A person’s partner; husband or wife.
9
Linked to farce, which is a comic dramatic work where characters are part of unlikely situation, often
absurd or ridiculous. Funny, mockery, silly, laughable.
10
Being serious or heartfelt.
11
A legal term. It was used to make sexual activity between men (and sometimes women) a criminal
offense.
12
What is generally believed. Evidently, apparently, so they say.
13
Banned from living in a country. It is usually for legal / political reasons.
14
Loud, flashy, colourful, confident, lively, extravagant.
15
Being funny and clever. Humorous, comic, sharp.
16
The feature of studying a lot. Enjoying books, reading and learning.
17
Being productive; producing a lot of something. In this case it means Wilde produced literature often
and a lot.
18
The result of an action, often a bad result. Effect, result, consequence, outcome, aftermath.
19
A legal term. A false statement that damages someone’s reputation.
20
‘Didn’t go in Wilde’s favour’: relates to “in favour” which means in agreement, supportive, having
approval. If something doesn’t go in your favour, it means the opposite. Not liked or supported.

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When he was let out, Wilde was physically run-down21 and broke22. He moved to Paris and died
November 30th, 1900 at the age of 46.
Below is a YouTube clip from Wilde – a film about Oscar Wilde. This scene shows Wilde receiving
the letter from Douglas’s father:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VjHwL8dXXM

Family
Oscar Wilde was the second of three children of William Robert Wills Wilde (1815 – 1876) and
Jane Francesca Anges Wilde (1821 – 1896). His father was an acclaimed23 surgeon who was
knighted for his work as the medical advisor for the Irish population. His mother a poet,
nationalist and a linguist, translating European works like Wilhelm Meinhold’s gothic novel
“Sidonia the Sorceress”. A translation Wilde would later draw upon for the darker elements of his
works. Having Irish parents and holidays to Galway as a child meant Wilde was exposed to Gaelic
story-telling. One prominent theme in these stories is the wish of human vanity which, when
granted, brings ultimate damnation24, something that influenced the idea behind The Picture of
Dorian Gray. In 1867, Wilde’s little sister Isola Francesca died at the age of 10. Her death had a
great effect on Wilde, so much so that he carried a lock of her hair with him until his death. The
image of girls unknowing of their womanhood25 haunted his works after the incident, including in
Dorian Gray.

Literature
Wilde’s Writing:
A playwright, author, and poet, Oscar Wilde is celebrated today for his witty, irreverent26 and
saucy27 writing style and general outlook28 on life. As one of the Victorian aesthetes29, he believed
in writing work that was beautiful – art for arts sake (the motto for the British aesthetic
movement). For this reason, it can be said that Wilde valued style over sincerity or substance in
his works and in his life. The most important thing to him was the form of the work and the
nuances of word choices. He was so determined to have perfection in his works, that when he
was asked to write a story of a hundred thousand beautiful words, he complained that “there
are not one hundred thousand beautiful words in the English language.”

21
Tired, weak, wasted, worn, ragged, beat-up.
22
Out of money.
23
Publicly praised, celebrated, famous.
24
Punishment in hell.
25
‘Unknowing of their womanhood’: Not yet matured / grown up from a girl into a woman.
26
Lack of respect. Mocking, rude, cheeky, bold, disrespectful.
27
Cheeky, sassy, sometimes sexually suggestive in a light hearted way.
28
Your viewpoint/ point of view / attitude / perspective.
29
An aesthete is someone who is part of the aestheticism movement. See the ‘Aestheticism’ section
for an explanation on this.

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 *TASK: Circle the words you feel best capture the characteristics and / or style of Wilde’s
writing in The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Humorous Silly Thoughtful

Ornate Plain Simplistic

Romantic Bejeweled Playful

Satiric Critical Emotional
Sensory Trashy
Unadorned Fancy
Light hearted Serious
Fragmented

Horror Melodramatic
Snappy Long
Descriptive
Futuristic
Morbid

Further: See if you can find any passages, sentences, or words from the text to support your
choices.

*TASK: Pick a section from The Picture of Dorian Gray that you find interesting and do an analysis
of that passage. Pay close attention to Wilde’s use of language and imagery.

Themes and Symbols:

1. Art / The relationship between art and reality

The distinction between reality and art is blurred in the novel. Actresses live as though they are
constantly on stage, and a painter values his friendship because the relationship improves his
ability to paint and make art. Dorian himself bases his life and actions on a work of art: the book
given to him by Lord Henry. Throughout the novel, Dorian is obsessed with making his life into art,
and it ultimately leads to his downfall as he tries to escape the morality within this decision.
Acting seems to be more true than real life in the novel. Lord Henry says ‘but I love acting’ it’s so
much more than real life’, Dorian loves Sibyl for her acting, and Sibyl calls Dorian her ‘Prince
Charming’ making him into a character of her own. Dorian’s story and the mixing of reality and art
it creates makes a division between ethics and aesthetics in the novel. Wilde wanted to explore
the link between an artist, his or her subject, and the resulting image on the canvas.
*TASK: Read this extract. How does art and reality blur here?

LORD HENRY Who are you in love with?

DORIAN With an actress.

LORD HENRY That's a rather common-place debut. Who is she?

DORIAN Her name is Sibyl Vane.

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LORD HENRY Never heard of her.

DORIAN No one has. They will someday, though. She is a genius.

LORD HENRY Tell me about your genius. How long have you known her?

DORIAN About three weeks. Night after night I go to see her play. I have seen her die in the gloom of an
Italian tomb, sucking the poison from her lover's lips. I have watched her wandering through the
forest of Arden, disguised as a pretty boy. I have seen her in every age and every costume.
Ordinary women never appeal to one's imagination, they are quite obvious. But an actress! Harry,
why didn't you tell me that the only thing worth loving is an actress?

LORD HENRY Because I have loved so many of them, Dorian.

DORIAN Oh, yes, horrid people with dyed hair and painted faces.

LORD HENRY There is an extraordinary charm in dyed hair and painted faces, sometimes. And now tell me, is
Sibyl Vane your mistress?

DORIAN Harry! Sibyl Vane is sacred!

LORD HENRY It is only the sacred things that are worth touching, Dorian. When one is in love, one always
begins by deceiving oneself, and one always ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls
a romance. What do you know of her?

DORIAN She knows nothing of life and lives with her Mother, a faded tired woman who plays Lady Capulet
in a sort of magenta dressing gown and looks as if she has seen better days.

LORD HENRY I know that look. It depresses me.

DORIAN Sibyl is the only thing I care about. Tonight she is Ophelia and tomorrow she will be Juliet.

LORD HENRY When is she Sibyl Vane?

DORIAN Never.

LORD HENRY I congratulate you.

DORIAN She is all the great heroines of the world in one.

My God, Harry, how I worship her.

LORD HENRY And what do you propose to do?

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DORIAN I want you and Basil to come with me tomorrow night and see her act. I have not the slightest fear
of the result. You are certain to acknowledge her genius.

LORD HENRY All right. Shall we say Cafe Royal at eight o'clock.

DORIAN Not eight, Harry, half-past six. We must be there before the curtain rises.

LORD HENRY Half-past six! What an hour! It will be like having a meat-tea, or reading an English novel. It must
be seven. No gentleman dines before seven.

DORIAN Then I'll meet you at Basil's at six o'clock, no later. .. Now, I must go as Ophelia is waiting for me.
(Starts to go) Oh, Harry ...

LORD HENRY Yes.

DORIAN One more thing: Sibyl Vane and I are engaged to be married. Good bye!

He goes, leaving LORD HENRY looking shocked and amused.

2. Mortality30

Dorian Gray is afraid of getting old. A fear that is generated by Basil’s painting, which reminds
Gray that while the painting will always remain the same, he will age and eventually lose his
looks. The fading of a person’s beauty, then, becomes a sign of their mortality in the novel and so
death and beauty become linked throughout. Dorian loves Sybil because he gets to watch her die
onstage and then, miraculously31, be alive backstage. Her art makes her immortal32 every night.
As well as this, Sybil’s actual death by suicide gives her an eternal beauty because she is never
allowed to age.

3. Good vs. Evil

Dorian is handed a “poisonous” yellow book by Lord Henry as a kind of social experiment, and it
works. Dorian’s world of goodness and purity is changed immediately and its seduction33 blurs
the line between good and evil. The power of greed and selfishness takes over Dorian and
highlights his evil and ugly side, which is represented by the marks on the painting.

4. The Idea of a Double Life

Dorian Gray lives a double life as he outwardly plays a respectable gentleman while inwardly
pursuing a wicked existence, crossing the boundaries of acceptable behaviour. Once Dorian
realises that his portrait will bear the scars of his corrupt behaviour – leaving his actual
appearance perfect – he feels free to ignore the pious principles that were a big part of the
Victorian era. Wilde highlights a hypocritical element of Victorian society in Dorian Gray’s double
30
Death, the idea that people do not live forever and will die at some point.
31
So surprising as to suggest a miracle. Incredible, unexplainable.
32
An immortal is someone that cannot die. Living forever, undying.
33
The act of seducing someone. To seduce is to tempt, persuade, draw them in, charm, often into
having sex.

8
 life - that because he looks respectable that means he is shielded34 from any accusations about
his bad behaviour. He is able to have the best of both worlds – a continued acceptance from his
friends and the chance to fulfil his basest desires. Lord Henry makes the link between a negative
appearance and the criminal when he says;

“Crime belongs exclusively to the lower orders. I don’t blame them in the smallest degree. I
should fancy that crime is to them what art is to us, simply a method of procuring35 extraordinary
sensations.”

*TASK: Match the quotes with the themes.

“It is your best work, Basil, the best thing you have
ever done," said Lord Henry languidly. "You must
certainly send it next year to the Grosvenor. The
Academy is too large and too vulgar. Whenever I
have gone there, there have been either so many
people that I have not been able to see the pictures,
Mortality
which was dreadful, or so many pictures that I have
not been able to see the people, which was worse.
The Grosvenor is really the only place." – Lord
Henry.

“Dorian felt keenly the terrible pleasure

of a double life” Art

"How sad it is!" murmured Dorian Gray with his

eyes still fixed upon his own portrait. "How sad it
is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful.
Good and Evil
But this picture will remain always young. It will
never be older than this particular day of June. . . .
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! For that -- for that -- I would give
everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole
world I would not give! I would give my soul for
A Double Life
that!" – Dorian Gray.
"You know how a voice can stir one. Your
voice and the voice of Sibyl Vane are two
things that I shall never forget. When I close
my eyes, I hear them, and each of them says
something different. I don't know which to
follow." – Dorian Gray

34
Protected, guarded, sheltered, away from harm / danger.
35
Getting, gaining, acquiring, securing, attaining.

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Questions Based on Themes:

What evidence can you find in the text that suggests the worthlessness of living life in line with
aesthetic values?
Can we divide all the characters into two groups of “good” and “evil”?
What is the role of art in the novel?

The Concepts Behind The Picture of Dorian Gray:

Decadence and Aestheticism are two schools of thought that have come to define much of
Wilde’s work, including The Picture of Dorian Gray.

1. Aestheticism

Aestheticism is an artistic and literary movement in Western Europe. It is about certain attitudes
in the late 19th century. It was a literary and social movement that focused on the idea that art
existed for art’s sake. To Aesthetes, the pursuit of beauty was seen as the highest good and they
sought to overthrow the notion36 that art had to have some higher moral purpose. In
Aestheticism, life is viewed as an art. Oscar Wilde is a writer who is strongly associated with the
aesthetic movement.

2. Decadence

The Decadent movement was the later generation of the Aesthetic movement. Oscar Wilde and
others associated with the movement labelled themselves “decadents”. These artists sought
inspiration, both in their lives and in their writing, in aestheticism (art for art’s sake, free from
moral and social concerns). The difference between the decadent and the aesthete lies in the
moral and social concerns of each movement. For the aesthete, the social world is not important
compared to the pursuit of beauty. Morality is irrelevant. The decadent, however, is very much
against the dominant culture. They expressed their dislike for prevailing37 values in society
through their sense of superiority and amorality38 of art. For example, if society considers sex
between husband and wife a private matter, the Decadent might write a poem that describes his
night with a prostitute in graphic detail.

Dorian Gray is the definition of decadence in his combination of the criminal (in his visits to opium
dens39) and the aesthete (in the high culture that he is part of).

A person who captures the meaning of decadence is Harald Glööckler, a German fashion designer
from Maulbronn.

36
The idea, view, concept, belief, opinion, thought.
37
If a value is “prevailing”, it means a standard or principle that remains, continues, succeeds, is
dominant over others, or is current, custom, existing today.
38
Lacking / doesn’t have a moral – a principle of right or wrong.
39
Opium den: a room where opium (a drug) is smoked.

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*TASK: Look at his website: http://www.haraldgloeoeckler.de and think about how his style might
represent decadence.

Victorian Britain:

Wilde’s dramatic portrayals of the human condition came at an important period of Victorian
Britain. All citizens of Britain were finally able to embrace literature, which was once a luxury only
the wealthy and educated could afford. People often think of the Victorian period as a grey,
colourless time, with strict moral conducts that governed people to act likes prudes. However, the
Victorian era was a time when sensationalism blossomed40 in cheap newspapers, there were
celebrities, and Jack the Ripper was active. These were the conflicting realities that indicate to us
today a society of hypocrisy. There were dark sides and disturbing private desires behind the
public faces of this society, and Wilde explores this side of Victorian life with his character Dorian
Gray.

Victorian Sexuality

Nowadays, nobody would blink41 if you said the word “leg” in public, but, back in the Victorian
era, it was actually found offensive. They preferred the word “limb”. However, under the surface,
it wasn’t all so highbrow42. Men had a lot of access to sex and sexually explicit entertainment, just
like Dorian’s scandalous43 love affairs. But, for women, it was quite the opposite. They were
expected to represent purity and innocence. In this sense, there was a double standard in the view
of sexuality of men and women.

*TASK:
How are these double standards reflected in The Picture of Dorian Gray?
How does Oscar Wilde portray Sibyl’s purity?

Within The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde consciously or unconsciously (a fact that is still
debated to this day) inserted the theme of homoeroticism. The novel is partly about the artist
Basil Hallward’s obsession with his muse, a young and beautiful, Dorian Gray. Gray’s beauty is
admired by both Basil and Lord Henry. Beauty is often seen as a feminine attribute, not often are
40
Developed, grew, multiplied, increased, succeeded.
41
Shut and open the eyes quickly.
42
Refers to an intellectual, a thinker, someone well read. But, in this case, it also means sophisticated,
serious, snobby (characteristics sometimes given to intellectuals)
Shocking, outrageous, disgraceful, wicked, shameful.
43

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men referred to as beautiful. Therefore, when men like Dorian are the objects being seen as
beautiful by other men, like Basil, we can read homoerotic undertones to this story.

Although the word “homosexual” didn’t enter the English language until 1892, in late Victorian
society, same-sex encounters were frowned upon44 and considered “unclean”. Wilde had to edit
out many references of the desire Basil Hallward felt for Dorian. He removed and replaced a total
of 500 words from the serialised version published in the Lipincott’s Magazine prior to the actual
novel in an attempt to tone down Basil’s same-sex desire. However, enough of the theme
remained in the first edition to elicit45 strong criticism of homoeroticism that would be later used
as evidence against Wilde in his criminal trials.

*TASK:
Discuss: What does the treatment of women in the novel suggest about relationships between
men and women?
Does it perhaps suggest that only men are fit and worthy companions for each other?

Did you Know?

• Oscar Wilde’s full name is Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde.
• The Picture of Dorian Gray is Wilde’s only novel.
• The Picture of Dorian Gray was one of the most controversial literary works of the 19th
century. It caused public outcry because it was too “prurient” - meaning paying too much
close attention to sex.
• The book also played a considerable part in his later legal trials that sentenced him 2
years in prison for homosexuality.
• Victorians believed that sin was written on the body. In the study of criminology, scientists
like Cesare Lombroso (a big name in Victorian criminology) thought criminal behaviour
could be detected in the shape of a person’s skull. The notion that criminal behaviour
showed itself visibly in an individual’s features can be read in Dorian Gray.

*TASK: Below is a picture from Lombroso’s studies. Pick out who you think would be labelled a
criminal by Lombroso and explain why:

44
Frowned upon: made people frown, disliked, disgusted, hated, disapproved.
45
Cause, provoke, produce, bring about, bring out, draw out.

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• Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray was based on John Gray, a handsome blond poet that Wilde
met in 1889. Biographers believe that The Picture of Dorian Gray was “a form of courtship.”
• Oscar Wilde’s mother wanted a girl and often dressed the young Oscar in girls’ clothing.
This wasn’t that unusual in the 19th Century, though, as
many young boys dressed in girls clothing.

John Gray

Oscar Wilde

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A Trip to the Movies:
*Task: Date the production:

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 (From left to right, starting top left to bottom right)
1. 2009
2. 1973
3. 2004
4. 1945
5. 2016 (The English Theatre production)

• Which image do you feel best captures Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray and why?
• What do these images have in common?
• Or have they changed over time?
• Does the period in which these films were made affect these posters?

*TASK: Design your own poster for The Picture of Dorian Gray. Which actor would you cast as
Dorian Gray?

Film clips:

Attic scene with Dorian and Harry (Harry’s death):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkw3yV00qIU

Dorian’s death:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMWuFGc9ML0

*TASK: How else might you chose to present The Picture of Dorian Gray? Can it be presented on
stage? In a painting or poster?

Here is a short clip of Matthew Bourne’s Dorian Gray – a ballet influenced by Oscar Wilde’s novel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oDDeRSmLO4

Here is an interview with Director Matthew Bourne and the dancers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oDDeRSmLO4

How have they attempted to give The Picture of Dorian Gray a modern twist?
Do you think this adaptation works well?
Can you see any similarities between the ballet and the novel?

Let’s get Theatrical, Darling

*TASK: Act out these scenes in groups of 3. When you read this scene, think about:
How much is Lord Henry is to blame for what Dorian becomes? People often read Harry as the
devil who tempts Dorian to sin – how accurate is that here? How would you show an audience
this?
Is there a distinct point when the portrait becomes part of Dorian? How would you show this on
stage?

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Scene 1:

DORIAN Is it really finished?

BASIL Quite finished. Don't you like it?

LORD HENRY Of course he likes it. Who wouldn't? It is one of the greatest things in modern art. I will give you
anything you like to ask for it.

BASIL It's not my property, Harry.

LORD HENRY Not your property? Whose is it?

BASIL It's Dorian's, of course.

LORD HENRY Well, he's a very lucky fellow.

DORIAN (thoughtfully after a short pause) How sad it is! How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and
dreadful. But this picture will remain always young. It will never be older than this particular day
of June. 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! For thatfor that - I would give everything. I would give my soul for that!

LORD HENRY It would be rather hard on your work, Basil. BASIL I should object very strongly, Harry.

DORIAN (peevishly) I do believe you would, Basil. You like your art better than your friends. How long
will you like me? Till I have my first wrinkle, I suppose. When one loses one's good looks one
loses everything. Your picture has taught me that. Lord Henry is perfectly right. Youth is the only
thing worth having. When I find that I am growing old, I shall kill myself.

BASIL Dorian! Don't talk like that.

DORIAN Why did you paint it? It will mock me some day -
mock me horribly!

BASIL This is your doing, Harry.

LORD HENRY It is the real Dorian Gray - that is all.

BASIL You should have gone away when I asked you.

LORD HENRY I stayed when you asked me.

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BASIL Between you both you have made me hate the finest piece of work I have ever done, and I shall
destroy it. What is it but canvas and colour?

BASIL walks over to a table on which is a litter of tubes, brushes, and pots. He picks up a long palette-knife and
goes purposefully towards the painting.

DORIAN (jumping up) Don't, Basil, don't! It would be murder!

DORIAN tears the knife out of BASIL 's hand.

BASIL I am glad you appreciate my work at last, Dorian.

DORIAN Appreciate it? I am in love with it, Basil. It is part of myself.

BASIL Well, as soon as you are dry, you shall be varnished and sent home. Then you can do what you
like with yourself. (A slight pause) Now, you will have tea, won't you Dorian? And you, Harry? Or
do you object to such simple pleasures?

LORD HENRY I adore simple pleasures, they are the last refuge of the complex. But I don't like scenes, except on
the stage. So now that the ownership of the portrait is no longer in question, let us all go and dine
at Willis's.

BASIL It is such a bore putting on one's dress-clothes, and, when one has them on, they are so horrid.

LORD HENRY Yes, the costume of the nineteenth century is detestable. It is so sombre, so depressing. Sin is the
only real colour element left in modern life.

BASIL You really mustn't say things like that in front of Dorian, Harry.
LORD HENRY Before which Dorian?

BASIL Before either.

DORIAN I should like to dine with you, Lord Henry.

LORD HENRY Then you shall; and you'll come too, Basil won't you?

BASIL I would sooner not. I have a lot of work to do.

LORD HENRY Well, then you and I will go alone, Mr. Gray.

DORIAN I should like that awfully.

BASIL And I shall stay with the real Dorian.

DORIAN (going over to the painting) Is this the real Dorian?

17
 Am I really like that?

BASIL Yes; you are just like that.

DORIAN How wonderful, Basil.

BASIL But it will never alter. (He sighs) That is something. (He pauses) Don't go to Willis's tonight,
Dorian. Stop here and dine with me.

DORIAN I can't, Basil.

BASIL Why not?

DORIAN Because I have promised Lord Henry to go with him.

BASIL He won't like you any the better for keeping your promises. He always breaks his own. I beg you
not to go.

DORIAN laughs, shakes his head and looks at LORD HENRY, who in turn has been watching them with an amused
smile.

DORIAN I must go, Basil.

BASIL Very well. Good-bye, Dorian. Come and see me tomorrow. You won't forget?

DORIAN No, of course not.

BASIL And ... Harry ...

LORD HENRY Yes, Basil?

BASIL Remember what I told you, earlier.

LORD HENRY I have forgotten it already.

BASIL I trust you.

LORD HENRY I wish I could trust myself. Come, Mr. Gray, my hansom is outside, and I can drop you at your
own place. Good-bye, Basil. It has been a most interesting afternoon.

18
Important Questions:
• Do you think Wilde intended his book as a celebration of decadence46 or as a fable about
the perils47 of its excesses?
• Wilde states in the preface to the novel ‘There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral
book. Books are well written or badly written. That is all’. - Can you read a moral
dimension to this story?
• What can we take about ideas of conscience from this novel?
• Is today’s society free from the hypocrisy of Dorian’s?

Wilde Restyled:
Oscar Wilde’s English is quite different to the kind of English we speak today. We’ve explained
some of the trickiest words from The Picture of Dorian Gray to help you understand what exactly
he’s talking about.

1. Laburnum: A small tree that has yellow flowers.

2. tremulous :shaking as from weakness or fear
3. sullen: being bad tempered or sulky
4. conjecture: to believe, especially on uncertain / unsure grounds
5. comely: suitable behavior
6. languidly: a tired / weary manner
7. wreath: a circular band of flowers for decoration
8. whorl: a pattern of circles or spirals
9. faltering: the act of pausing uncertainly
10. gape: look with amazement
11. cynicism: a l feeling of distrust
12. ensconce: fix firmly
13. chirrup: make high-pitched sounds
14. savage: without civilizing influences
15. dowager: a widow holding property from her dead husband
16. lionize: to attach a lot of social importance
17. listless: limp or lacking energy
18. unjust: not fair; marked by injustice or partiality or deception
19. scrupulous: characterized by extreme care and great effort
20. tedious: so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
21. petulant: easily irritated or annoyed
22. whim: a sudden idea or change of mind; odd or fanciful idea
23. brood: hang over, as of something threatening, dark, or menacing. Also to think about
something a lot
24. languorous: lacking liveliness
25. gilded: made from or covered with gold
26. chiseled: having a clean and distinct outline as if precisely cut along the edges
27. quiver: shake with fast, tremulous movements
28. opium: den a place, generally located in a slum, where opium is brought and smoked.
Usually, other banned / criminal activities, such as prostitution and gambling happen
here.

46
See the ‘Decadence’ section to understand this better. Decadence often means corruption, excess,
self-indulgence, sin, wickedness.
47
Threat, danger, hazard, risk.

19
Word Search:

MAPMOHSLEPIBHNQ
DOZQEPOEYHFIPAL
WZRNZTIAGTOKBIK
WKRTOQBUIATRMRL
XYBEAUTYMETMUOH
LISABLRRFDOSPDF
DAXLHEIZGRAYATN
HNNTDBBTTSUXILJ
YNURJROAYIGBNEH
HOUGEULONBLZTOY
YMVTFTGLKYYSIHL
VXZCCNEWKLNLNRG
FXDPEJCZOVXIGIE
CFERUTLUCUBFXRP
CORRUPTIONBFOUZ

1. BASIL
2. BEAUTY
3. BOOK
4. CORRUPTION
5. CULTURE
6. DEATH
7. DORIAN
8. ETERNAL
9. GRAY
10. HENRY
11. IMMORTAL
12. MORTALITY
13. MURDER
14. OPIUM
15. PAINTING
16. SIBYL
17. STAGE
18. UGLY
19. YOUTH

20
Advanced Section:
Oscar Wilde and Shakespeare

Wilde’s novel has many allusions48 to William Shakespeare. The most obvious link is between
Sibyl and the character of Ophelia from Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

In Hamlet, Ophelia is a young noblewoman who is driven mad after her lover Hamlet murders her
father. She later drowns in a river. Ophelia’s death was represented a lot in the Victorian period,
especially in art.

Like Ophelia, Sibyl is an innocent beauty that is selflessly in love with Dorian (Hamlet). Out of a
misunderstanding regarding love both women commit dramatic suicides. After Sybil’s suicide,
Lord Henry even advises Dorian: ‘Mourn for Ophelia, if you like’. Sibyl plays a lot of Shakespeare
characters, including Ophelia.

Other character links between Hamlet and The Picture of Dorian Gray:
Hamlet / Dorian Gray
Dorian’s Portrait / The Ghost (Hamlet’s father)

Dorian Gray and Faust

Oscar Wilde himself comments that this novel is based on the Faustian themes which would have
been very well known to all of the educated men of his time, and it is very easy to see parallels
between the legend and this story.

Dorian himself would represent the character of Faust, who gives up his soul in order to have
beauty forever, as he cries 'Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give! I would give
my soul for that!' The difference between Dorian and Faust is that Dorian is a truly innocent
character, shown through his beauty which is described as 'pure' and has religious connotations.
The actions that Dorian carries out are also reminiscent of Faust's, for example he travels the
world, although as Wilde must have wanted to make the work his own, the travels are not
physical travels around the world, but instead collections of small parts of the world in order that
Dorian can experience them, ' he would now study perfumes.... he devoted himself entirely to
48
Mention, hint, suggestion, reference.

21
music... he took up the study of jewels...he turned his attention to embroideries...he had a special
passion, also, for ecclesiastical vestments..'. Furthermore, Dorian's knowledge of the world and
indeed desire to gain knowledge, doesn't begin until after his soul has been sacrificed as he tells
Lord Henry 'you filled me with a wild desire to know everything about life'. Of course, this quote
itself leads directly to Lord Henry as the perpetrator behind this evil bargain, very much like the
Faustian Mephistopheles.

The themes and ideas that The Picture of Dorian Gray present emulate the ideas that the Faust
myth present. For example, there is a key idea that it is not only Dorian whose soul can be so
easily tainted but every man alive, 'here was an ever-present sign of the ruin men brought upon
their souls and yet every man has the choice to save himself, 'each of us has heaven and hell in
him' (Dorian), and by the end of the novel when the idea of a soul is challenged by Lord Henry, it
is made clear that knowledge of the human soul and the human condition are truly the only
lessons that Dorian has gained, 'The soul is a terrible reality. It can be bought and sold and
bartered away... There is a soul in each one of us. I know it' (Dorian )

Other potential relevant comparative quotes

'It is the face of my soul' Dorian

'There goes the devil's bargain!' Old Woman

22
The Gothic:

What do these book covers / film advertisements have in common?

How many of these texts do you recognize?

Gothic is the name of a literary genre. The books in this genre often have similar characteristics,
styles, motifs49, themes, etc. Common traits of a Gothic novel are psychological and physical
terror, the supernatural, ghosts, haunted houses and Gothic architecture, castles, darkness, death,
decay, doubles, the devil, angels, madness, secrets, and hereditary curses.
What examples of these can you find in The Picture of Dorian Gray?

Gothic novels were often placed in dark and shadowy realms which echoes the malevolence50
they hide. Dorian’s attic where he hides his secret is suggestive of his own evil. With its ‘damp
odour of mildew... covered in dust’ the empty space normally void of life in the sudden necessity
of its use confirms the shame of the sins he must hide. The atmosphere of menacing evil is
49
An image / idea that is repeated in a text
50
Evil, wickedness, nastiness, bad, meanness.

23
heightened as Dorian ‘creeps’ up the stair, in need of ‘unlocking the door’ to enter the room
where his portrait, the mirror of his own evil that held the ‘curious secret of his life’ would be
hidden ‘from the eyes of men.’

*The following exercises are based on the novel:

The Picture of Dorian Gray Reading Comprehension

PART I

Dorian Gray has just finished sitting for a portrait by his friend Basil Hallward, who was proud of
having captured his beauty on canvas. He is walking in the garden with Lord Henry Wotton.

"You have the most marvellous youth, Mr. Gray, and youth is the one thing worth having."
"I don't feel that, Lord Henry," he replied, snapping off a blossom by the stem.
"No, you don't feel it now. Some day, when you are old and wrinkled and ugly, when thought

has seared your forehead with its lines, and passion branded your lips with its hideous fires,
you will feel it, you will feel it terribly. Now, wherever you go, you charm the world. Will it
always be so?"

"... You have a wonderfully beautiful face, Mr. Gray. Don't frown. You have. And beauty is a
form of genius – is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation. It is one of the great
facts of the world, like sunlight, or spring-time, or the reflection in dark waters of that silver
shell we call the moon... Yes, Mr. Gray, the gods have been good to you. But what the gods
give they quickly take away. You have only a few years in which to really live, perfectly, and
fully. When your youth goes, your beauty will go with it, and then you will suddenly discover
that there are no triumphs left for you... Ah! Realize your youth while you have it! Don't
squander the gold of your days! [...] Live the wonderful life that is in you! Let nothing be lost
upon you! Be always searching for new sensations [...] afraid of nothing! [...] With your
personality there is nothing you could not do. The world belongs to you for a season. [...]
Youth! Youth! There is absolutely nothing in the world but youth!" [...]

"How sad it is!" murmured Dorian Gray with his eyes still fixed upon his own portrait. "How
sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will remain always
young. It will never be older than this particular day of June... 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! For that – for that
– I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give! I would
give my soul for that!"

PART II

Dorian’s wish came true. While he kept his youth and beauty, his portrait became progressively
older, uglier and more wrinkled. Many years later, lonely and depressed after a life of corruption
and debauchery during which he had brought misery and disgrace upon all his companions, Dorian
regrets the loss of his soul.

24
Ah! In what a monstrous moment of pride and passion he had prayed that the portrait should
bear the burden of his days, and he keep the unsullied splendour of eternal youth! All his
failure had been due to that. [...] It was his beauty that had ruined him, his beauty and the
youth that he had prayed for. But for those two things, his life might have been free from stain.
His beauty had been to him but a mask, his youth but a mockery. What was youth at best? A
green, an unripe time, a time of shallow moods, and sickly thoughts. Why had he worn its
livery? Youth had spoiled him.

PART III

Finally, in desperation, Dorian stabs the picture. Awakened by a cry and a crash, his servants
discover a strange scene...

When they entered, they found hanging upon the wall a splendid portrait of their master as
they had last seen him, in all the wonder of his exquisite youth and beauty. Lying on the floor
was a dead man, in evening dress, with a knife in his heart. He was withered, wrinkled, and
loathsome of visage. It was not till they had examined the rings that they recognized who it
was.

Words

1. Find in the text words or expressions that mean:

a) lined with old age

b) burned the surface
c) marked
d) to support the weight
e) unaffected, not damaged or spoiled f) strikes with a knife

g) dry, small, old-looking

h) horribly ugly.

2. Put the following words into pairs with opposite meanings:

a) alive
b) beautiful c) dead
d) hard
e) old
f) overweight g) rough
h) slim
i) smooth
j) soft
k) ugly
l) young.

Use each pair of words in a sentence about Dorian Gray, Lord Henry or the general process
of ageing.

25
Analysis

1. Are the following statements RIGHT or WRONG? Justify by quoting the text:

a) Lord Henry must be old and he regrets it.

b) Dorian agrees that it is wonderful to be young.
c) Lord Henry advises Dorian to be as moral as he can in his youth.
d) Dorian wishes that both he and his portrait could remain young.
e) If Dorian had grown old normally, his life might not have been a disgrace. f) Dorian destroyed
his portrait with his hands.
g) The servants identified the dead man at once.

2. How does Dorian feel at the beginning of his conversation with Lord Henry? Which
expression shows this? What are the effects of Lord Henry's speech on Dorian? What
marks the turning point?

Words

Ten of the following words from the text are nouns, ten are adjectives.

If the word is a noun, say what adjective(s) can be formed from it and vice versa.
Ex.: beauty: noun → adjective: beautiful.

(a) beauty; (b) corruption; (c) courage; (d) dead; (e) depressed; (f) disgrace; (g) dreadful; (h)
exquisite; (i) horrible; (j) lonely; (k) misery; (l) old; (m) passion; (n) proud; (o) sad; (p) splendour; (q)
thought; (r) ugly; (s) wonder; (t) youth.

*WRITING TASK

Essay (about 200 words): How do some people try to stay young nowadays?
The following words may help you: exercise, diet, cosmetics, creams, wigs, plastic surgery, blood
transfusions, pills...

Discuss the following statements/questions (Write a paragraph for each).

1. Use the following passage to explain what the portrait represents and how Dorian reacts to it.

Often, on returning home from one of those mysterious and prolonged absences that gave rise to
such strange conjecture among those who were his friends, or thought that they were so, he
himself would creep upstairs to the locked room, open the door with the key that never left him
now, and stand, with a mirror, in front of the portrait that Basil Hallward had painted of him,
looking now at the evil and aging face on the canvas, and now at the fair young face that laughed
back at him from the polished glass.

The very sharpness of the contrast used to quicken his sense of pleasure. He grew more and more
enamoured of his own beauty, more and more interested in the corruption of his own soul. He
would examine with minute care, and sometimes with a monstrous and terrible delight, the

26
hideous lines that seared the wrinkling forehead or crawled around the heavy sensual mouth,
wondering sometimes which were the more horrible, the signs of sin or the signs of age.

(Chapter 11 The Picture of Dorian Gray)

2. What is Lord Henry’s role in the novel, consider his influence and relationship with Dorian

3. What does Oscar Wilde have in common with Dorian Gray, and what, instead, makes them
different ?

4. How are the differences between social classes presented in the novel?

5.What was the role of women in the Victorian period? How is this reflected in THE PICTURE OF
DORIAN GRAY?

6. In your opinion, why and how do people today try to stay young and attractive?

Further Reading and Resources:

For more on Oscar Wilde:

The British Library, http://www.bl.uk/people/oscar-wilde - Profile on Oscar Wilde, including a link

to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography which provides a very detailed description of
Wilde’s life.

The Official Site of Oscar Wilde - http://www.cmgww.com/historic/wilde/

The Poetry Foundation, Biography of Oscar Wilde, http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-

poets/poets/detail/oscar-wilde

Martin Chilton, Oscar Wilde: 20 great quotes about America, Nov 30th 2015.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/Oscar-wilde-quotes-about-america/

For more on The Picture of Dorian Gray:

Greg Buzwell, The Picture of Dorian Gray: art, ethics and the artist, The British Library,
http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/the-picture-of-dorian-gray-art-ethics-and-the-
artist

Roger Luckhurst, ‘Perversion and degeneracy in The Picture of Dorian Gray’, The British Library,
http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/perversion-and-degeneracy-in-the-picture-of-
dorian-gray

The British Library, http://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-yellow-book - More about the “Yellow

Book”, a book thought to influence Dorian Gray in the novel.

Gillespie, Michael Patrick. “Picturing Dorian Gray.” The Picture of Dorian Gray. Ed. Michael Patrick
Gillespie. New York: Norton & Co., 2007. 393-409.

27
Sarah Huener, ‘Quite Useless, Truth, Art and Life in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray’, PIT
Journal 2001, http://pitjournal.unc.edu/article/quite-useless-truth-art-and-life-oscar-wilde’s-
picture-dorian-gray

For more on Aestheticism and Decadence:

Carolyn Burdett, Aestheticism and decadence, The British Library, http://www.bl.uk/romantics-

and-victorians/articles/aestheticism-and-decadence

For more on Victorian Britain:

Professor Eric Evans, Overview: Victorian Britain, 1837 – 1901, Last Updated: March 29th 2011.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/overview_victorians_01.shtml

BBC History, Victorian Britain,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/timeline/victorianbritain_timeline_noflash.shtml
Emma Mason, The Victorian’s Surprisingly Liberal Attitude Towards Gay Men, History Extra, 7th
April 2015. http://www.historyextra.com/article/sex-and-love/victorians’-surprisingly-liberal-
attitude-towards-gay-men

http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/videos/the-gothic

For Dorian Gray´s facebook page:

http://thewallmachine.com/fStfM8.html

For the novel in full:

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/174/174-h/174-h.htm

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