The Picture of Dorian Gray
|
|
ThePictureofDorianGray.jpg
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a novel by Oscar Wilde first published in 1890. In his preface to this, the only novel that he ever wrote, Wilde remarked "There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all."
| Contents |
Synopsis
The novel begins with Lord Henry Wotton observing the artist Basil Hallward painting the portrait of a handsome, young man named Dorian Gray in his London studio. Dorian arrives to sit for the artist, and Lord Henry tells him that youth is the only thing worth having, and that Dorian will soon age and lose his beauty. Once the portrait is finished, Dorian looks at it and wishes that he would stay like the picture, and it will bear his age for him.
Under the influence of Lord Henry, Dorian begins an exploration of his senses. He begins by discovering a brilliant actress, Sibyl Vane, who performs Shakespeare in a dingy theatre. Dorian approaches her, and very soon, proposes marriage to her. Sibyl, who only knows Dorian as "Prince Charming", rushes home to tell her sceptical mother and brother. Her brother tells her that if Dorian harms her, he shall kill him. Dorian invites Basil and Lord Henry to see Sibyl perform in Romeo and Juliet. Sibyl, whose only knowledge of love was through the theatre, loses all her abilities after experiencing true love with Dorian, and performs very badly. Dorian rejects her, saying that her beauty was in her art. Once he returns to his apartment, Dorian notices that Basil's portrait of him has changed. The smile on his mouth has become crueller and less friendly. Dorian realises that his wish has come true, and the portrait is bearing his sins. The next morning, Dorian decides to reconcile with Sibyl, but Lord Henry arrives to say that Sibyl has killed herself by swallowing prussic acid.
Dorian accepts his fate, and over the next eighteen years indulges in the seven deadly sins, under the influence of a "poisonous" French novel given to him by Lord Henry, probably Joris-Karl Huysmans's À rebours (Against the Grain). One day, Basil arrives to question Dorian about rumours of his indulgences. Dorian does not deny the debauchery, and endeavours to show Basil his soul. He takes Basil to the portrait, which is revealed to have become montrously ugly under Dorian's sins. Dorian blames the artist for his fate, and stabs him to death. He then blackmails an old friend into destroying the body.
Dorian seeks escape from the deed he has done in an opium parlour. After being rejected by the proprietor, who calls him by the name "Prince Charming", he leaves. Sibyl Vane's brother, who is in the parlour, recognises the name, and follows him. He attempts to kill Dorian, but is deceived when Dorian tells him that he would have been too young to have been involved with his sister. The sailor goes back to the opium den, where the woman tells him that Dorian has never aged for the past eighteen years.
At a shooting party at a country house, Dorian sees the brother stalking the grounds. However, an accident occurs during the shooting and the brother is shot. After returning to London Dorian informs Lord Henry that he will be good from now on, and has started by not eloping with a vicar's daughter. At his apartment, he wonders if the portrait would have changed, now that he has changed his ways. He unveils the portrait to see that it has got worse: there is blood on his hands. He has been vain in imagining that he could redeem himself. In a fit of rage, he picks up the knife that killed Basil Hallward, and plunges it into the painting. His servants send for the police, who find a bloated, ugly old man with a knife in his heart, and the portrait of Dorian, as beautiful as he was eighteen years ago.
Publication history
1890 edition| 1891 edition
| 1 | 1
| 2 | 2
| - | 3
| 3 | 4
| - | 5
| 4 | 6
| 5 | 7
| 6 | 8
| 7 | 9
| 8 | 10
| 9 | 11
| 10 | 12
| 11 | 13
| 12 | 14
| - | 15
| - | 16
| - | 17
| - | 18
| 13 | 19/20
| </table> In the fall of 1889 J. M. Stoddart was in London to solicit short novels for one of his enterprises, Lippincott's Monthly Magazine. To one dinner he invited Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde. They both agreed to write for him and Doyle submitted his second Sherlock Holmes novel The Sign of Four. There was a delay in getting Wilde's work to press while numerous changes were made to the manuscripts of the novel (some of which survive to this day). Some of these changes were made at Wilde's instigation, and some at Stoddart's. One especially notable change is the removal from the manuscripts of references to the fictitious book Le Secret de Raoul, and to its fictitious author, Catulle Sarrazin. The book and its author are still referred to in the published versions of the novel, but are unnamed. The Picture of Dorian Gray was finally published on June 20 1890 in the July edition of Lippencott's.... It was an immediate sensation. A substantially revised and expanded edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray was published by Ward, Lock and Bowden in April 1891. For this edition, Wilde revised the content of the novel's existing chapters, divided the final chapter into two chapters, and created six entirely new additional chapters. Whereas the original edition of the novel contains 13 chapters, the revised edition of the novel contains 20 chapters. The table on the right shows how the chapters in the two different editions correspond to one another. Between the publication of the original edition of the novel and the publication of the revised edition, Wilde published his "Preface" to the novel, in the 1 March 1891 edition of the literary/scientific journal the Fortnightly Review. This "Preface", which could be considered an aesthetic manifesto, consisted of 24 aphorisms - the first being 'The artist is the creator of beautiful things', and the last being 'All art is quite useless' - expounding some of the key tenets of aesthetic philosophy. Wilde added another aphorism - 'No artist is ever morbid. The artist can express everything.' - to the "Preface", when it was included in the revised edition of the novel published in April 1891. One especially notable change made for the revised edition is that whereas events in the latter half of the novel were previously specified as taking place around Dorian Gray's 32nd birthday, on 7 November; they were now specified as taking place around Dorian Gray's 38th birthday, on 9 November. This has the effect of extending the period of time over which the story occurs. The revised edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray, incorporating the 25 aphorisms of the "Preface", has come to be considered the standard edition, and is widely held to be superior to its published predecessor. Nonetheless, it is instructive to compare the manuscripts and the two different editions of Wilde's novel. Critics have been especially interested in the purging of homoerotic themes and allusions during the course of the novel's development, so that while such themes and allusions abound in the final revised edition, they are less explicit than in previous versions of the novel - although no less effective for that. These changes to the novel are not merely of academic interest, but were relevant to the three prosecutions involving Oscar Wilde that took place in the spring of 1895, resulting in his eventual arrest and imprisonment. John Sholto Douglas' defence attorney in the first prosecution, Edward Carson, attempted to use The Picture of Dorian Gray as evidence of Wilde's corrupting influence upon Alfred Douglas. Carson referred to the fact that Wilde had revised the novel, and cast aspersions upon his motivation for so doing. Some latter-day editions of The Picture of Dorian Gray silently change the word 'Jew', which is used disparagingly in chapters 4 and 7 of the novel, to the word 'man', presumably an instance of political correctness. Individuals referred to in the novelThe number of each chapter of The Picture of Dorian Gray in which an individual is referred to is given in parentheses alongside their name. These chapter numbers are specific to the revised edition of the novel first published in April 1891. Fictitious (created by Oscar Wilde)71 Fictional characters, referred to by name in the novel, are creations of Oscar Wilde. These individuals are listed in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. Chapter numbers are listed for chapters in which an individual's name is referred to either in full or in abbreviated form, but not for chapters in which an individual appears anonymously or pseudonymously. Titles/salutations are only given here in lieu of a full name, when a full name is not given in the novel. Where an individual also appears elsewhere in Wilde's oeuvre, this is indicated.
Textual variants (original edition)The role of Mrs Leaf in the original edition of the novel published in July 1890, and her conversation with Dorian Gray, were significantly reduced for the revised edition of the novel that was first published in April 1891. Mr Ashton in the original edition of the novel was renamed Mr Hubbard for the revised edition of the novel. Fictitious (other)31 fictional characters, referred to by name in the novel, are not creations of Oscar Wilde. These individuals are listed in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text, alongside details of their provenance.
Textual variants (original manuscripts)2 references to fictitious individuals not created by Oscar Wilde, in the original manuscripts of the novel, were excised for the original edition of the novel published in July 1890.
Real/historical104 real/historical individuals are referred to explicitly in the novel. These individuals are listed in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text, under the name by which they are most commonly known.
Textual variants (original manuscripts)8 references to real/historical individuals, in the original manuscripts of the novel, were excised for the original edition of the novel published in July 1890.
Textual variants (original edition)One reference to a real/historical individual, in the original edition of the novel published in July 1890, was excised for the revised edition of the novel that was first published in April 1891.
Creative works referred to in the novelThe number of each chapter of The Picture of Dorian Gray in which a creative work is referred to is given in parentheses alongside that work's title. These chapter numbers are specific to the revised edition of the novel first published in April 1891. Chapter numbers are listed only for chapters in which a creative work is referred to explicitly. For chapters in which individuals from particular creative works are referred to, see 'Individuals referred to in the novel', above. FictitiousTwo fictitious creative works are referred to in the novel. These creative works are listed in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text.
Real/historical16 real/historical creative works are referred to in the novel. These works are listed in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. Where the work is explicitly quoted in the text, in addition to being referred to, this is indicated.
Textual variants (original manuscripts)The original manuscripts of the novel contained a reference to an unnamed volume of sonnets by the real/historical individual Paul Verlaine. This was replaced with a reference Émaux et camées, by Théophile Gautier, for the original edition of the novel published in July 1890. News publications/periodicals referred to in the novelThe number of each chapter of The Picture of Dorian Gray in which a news publication/periodical is referred to is given in parentheses. 6 news publications/periodicals are referred to in the novel.
Film/televisionAdaptations of the novelAt least 15 film/television adaptations of The Picture of Dorian Gray have either been released or are currently in production. These vary widely in their faithfulness to the original novel, with some versions updating the period in which the story is set, and some even altering the gender of the story's protagonists. These are listed in chronological order of release.
Other references to the novel
Other references
External links
bg:Портретът на Дориан Грей de:Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray fr:Le Portrait de Dorian Gray it:Il ritratto di Dorian Gray tr:Dorian Gray'in Portresi nl:Het portret van Dorian Gray sv:Dorian Grays porträtt |