The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray, the only novel by Oscar Wilde, was first published in 1890 and tells of how a portrait taken of the eponymous Dorian Gray is marred because of his many sins, becoming old and disfigured, while he himself remains young and perfect. The novel contains many of the famous epigrams from Wilde’s earlier plays and many themes and images drawing heavily on Wilde’s extensive knowledge of the classical world.

Full Text

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Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

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. This speech affects Dorian greatly, and he seemingly loses his sense of innocence, it appears, all at once. Once the portrait is finished, Dorian looks at it and wishes that he could remain as young and beautiful as it, and that it would age instead.

Under the influence of Lord Henry, Dorian begins an exploration of his senses. He starts by discovering a brilliant actress, Sibyl Vane, who performs Shakespeare in a dingy theatre, but although the theatre is rancid, her acting outshines it all. Dorian approaches her, and very soon, proposes marriage. Sibyl, who knows only his Christian name and refers to him to others only as “Prince Charming”, rushes home to tell her skeptical mother and brother. Her protective brother tells her that if Prince Charming harms her, he shall find and kill him. Dorian then invites Basil and Lord Henry to see Sibyl perform in Romeo and Juliet. Sibyl, whose only previous knowledge of love was through the love of theatre, suddenly loses her acting abilities through the experience of true love with Dorian, and performs very badly. Dorian rejects her, cruelly saying that her beauty was in her art, and if she could no longer act, he was no longer interested in her. Once he returns to his apartment, Dorian notices that Basil’s portrait of him has changed. The smile on his mouth has become crueler and less friendly. Dorian realises that his wish has come true, and the portrait is bearing his sins while his outward appearance remains youthful. 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—Wilde never reveals the title but it was likely 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 monstrously ugly under Dorian’s sins. Dorian in a sudden rage of anger 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 coincidently is in the parlour and had been searching for someone named “Prince Charming” for 18 years, recognizes the name, and follows him and attempts to kill him; but he is deceived when Dorian tells him that he would have been too young to have been involved with his sister 18 years ago, his appearance has not changed since. 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 small-game shooting party at a country house, Dorian sees Sibyl Vane’s brother stalking the grounds and Dorian fears for his life. However, the brother is accidentally shot and killed by another hunter. After returning to London, Dorian informs Lord Henry that he will be good from now on, and has started by not breaking the heart of his latest innocent conquest, a vicar’s daughter in a country town. At his apartment, he wonders if the portrait would have begun to change back, losing its sinful appearance, now that he has changed his ways. He unveils the portrait to only find that it has become worse: in his eyes were a look of cunning, and his face took on the subtle air of a hypocrite. Seeing this he begins to question the motives behind his act, whether it was merely vanity, curiosity, or seeking new emotional excess. Another sign appears in the portrait, the stain of blood that appeared with Hallward’s murder grows brighter and spreads. He considers momentarily what this could mean, what act would be required to redeem him of this mark. Deciding that only a full confession would absolve him, but lacking any guilt and fearing the consequences, he decides to destroy the last vestige of his conscience. In a fit of rage, he picks up the knife that killed Basil Hallward, and plunges it into the painting. Hearing his cry from inside the locked room, 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.

Themes

Aestheticism and The Morality of Art: Wilde sets this as a major theme in the preface saying “We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely. All art is quite useless.” This may have been said in defence of his novel against reports of its immorality. For instance, the Daily Chronicle characterized it as “…a poisonous book, the atmosphere of which is heavy with the mephitic odours of moral and spiritual putrefaction.” Wilde also remarked in the preface “There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.”

Physiognomy: One of the central ideas in the novel is that beauty is marred by vice. Dorian remains beautiful despite his many sins because they take effect on Basil’s portrait rather than him.

Pederasty and Homosexuality: The text contains many obscure references and terms, which are often considered to be euphemistic. Indeed, the novel was used as evidence in Wilde’s infamous trial for “gross indecency” as evidence of his homosexuality. For example, it is suggested that the name Dorian is chosen as it is a reference to Greek love.

Publication history

The Picture of Dorian Gray
Corresponding chapters in different editions

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

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 November 7; they were now specified as taking place around Dorian Gray’s 38th birthday, on November 9. 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 later 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 to avoid potential offense.

Individuals referred to in the novel

The 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.

• Henry Wotton (1-4, 6-12, 14-20)
• Basil Hallward (1-3, 6-14, 16, 19-20)
• Dorian Gray (1-4, 6-17, 19-20)
• Lady Brandon (1)
• Southwark (named after the location Southwark) (1)
• Lord Goodbody (1)
• Lady Agatha (1-3)
• Parker (1, 2)
• George Fermor (3)
• Lord Kelso (named after the location Kelso) (3, 10)
• Margaret Devereux (3)
• Carlington (3)
• Duchess of Harley (3)
• Thomas Burdon (3)
• Mr Erskine (also appears in the earlier short story The Portrait of Mr WH (1889) (3)
• Mrs Vandeleur (3)
• Lord Faudel (3)
• Victoria Wotton (4, 19)
• Sibyl Vane (4-10, 16, 18-19)
• Mrs Vane (5)
• Mr Isaacs (5)
• James Vane (5, 16, 17, 18, 20)
• Tom Hardy (5)
• Ned Langton (5)
• Duke of Berwick (5, 12)
• Lord Radley (named after the location Radley) (6)
• Victor (8, 10)
• Lady Hampshire (named after the location Hampshire) (8)
• Lady Gwendolen (9, 12)
• Mrs Leaf (10, 20)
• Mr Hubbard (10)
• Lady Radley (named after the location Radley) (10, 12)
• Mr Danby (10)
• Dr Birrell (10)
• Anthony Sherard (possibly named after the real/historical individual Robert Harborough Sherard) (11)
• Elizabeth Devereux (11)
• George Willoughby (11)
• Lord Ferrars (named after the real/historical individual Lord Ferrars of Groby) (11)
• Lord Beckenham (named after the real/historical location Beckenham) (11)
• Lord Staveley (named after the location Staveley) (12)
• Henry Ashton (12, 20)
• Adrian Singleton (12, 14, 16)
• Lord Kent (named after the location Kent) (12)
• Duke of Perth (named after the location Perth) (12)
• Lord Gloucester (named after the location Gloucester) (12)
• Francis (13-14, 20)
• Alan Campbell (13-14, 19-20)
• Lady Berkshire (named after the location Berkshire) (14)
• Harden (14)
• Lady Narborough (named after the location Narborough, also appears in the later play Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892)) (15, 17)
• Ernest Harrowden (15)
• Lady Roxton (15)
• Mrs Erlynne (15)
• Alice Chapman (15)
• Adolphe (15)
• Madame de Ferrol (15)
• Sir Andrew (15)
• Duke of Monmouth (named after the location Monmouth) (15, 17)
• Lord Rugby (named after the location Rugby) (15)
• Geoffrey Clouston (15, 18)
• Lord Grotrian (15)
• Mr Chapman (15)
• Gladys, Duchess of Monmouth (named after the location Monmouth) (15, 17, 18, 19)
• Lord Darlington (named after the location Darlington, also appears in Lady Windermere’s Fan) (16)
• George (16)
• Lady Hilstone (17)
• Thornton (18)
• Hetty Merton (19, 20)
• Lord Poole (named after the location Poole) (19)
• Bournemouth (named after the location Bournemouth) (19)
• Lady Branksome (19)

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.

• Adonis (figure in Greek mythology) (1, 9)
• Narcissus (figure in Greek mythology) (1, 8 )
• Hermes (figure in Greek mythology) (2)
• Romeo (from the play Romeo and Juliet) (~1595), by William Shakespeare) (4, 7)
• Mercutio (from Romeo and Juliet) (4, 7)
• Juliet (from Romeo and Juliet) (4, 6-9)
• Rosalind (from the play As You Like It) (~1599-1600), by William Shakespeare) (4, 6-7)
• Imogen (from the play Cymbeline) (year?), by William Shakespeare) (4, 8 )
• Prince Charming (stock character in fiction) (4-5, 7, 9, 16-17)
• Lady Capulet (from Romeo and Juliet) (4)
• Achilles (figure in Greek mythology) (5)
• Orlando (from As You Like It) (6)
• Miranda (from the play The Tempest) (1611), by William Shakespeare) (7)
• Caliban (from The Tempest) (Preface, 7)
• Capulet (from Romeo and Juliet) (7)
• Portia (from the play The Merchant of Venice) (~1594-1597), by William Shakespeare) (7)
• Beatrice (from the play Much Ado About Nothing) (~1598-1599), by William Shakespeare) (7)
• Cordelia (from the play King Lear) (~1605), by William Shakespeare) (7-8)
• Desdemona (from the play Othello (~1603), by William Shakespeare) (8)
• Ophelia (from the play Hamlet) (~1598-1602), by William Shakespeare) (8, 19)
• Brabantio (from Othello) (8)
• Paris (figure in Greek mythology) (9)
• Athena (figure in Greek mythology) (11)
• Apollo (figure in Greek and Roman mythology) (11, 19)
• Ganymede (figure in Greek mythology) (11)
• Hylas (figure in Greek mythology) (11)
• Tartuffe (from the play Le Tartuffe, ou L’Imposteur) (1664), by Molière) (17)
• Perdita (from the play The Winter’s Tale) (~1610-1611), by William Shakespeare) (19)
• Florizel (from The Winter’s Tale) (19)
• Marsyas (figure in Greek mythology) (19)
• Cupid (figure in Roman mythology) (20)

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.

• Sylvanus (figure in Roman mythology)
  • The reference to Sylvanus was replaced with the reference to Hermes listed above
• Venus (figure in Roman mythology)

Real/historical

104 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.

• Antinous (1)
• Robert Schumann (2)
• Isabella II (3)
• Juan Prim (3)
• Plato (3)
• Michelangelo Buonarroti (3, 10)
• Omar Khayyám (3)
• Claude Michel Clodion (4)
• Margaret of Valois (4, 15)
• Clovis Eve (4)
• Richard Wagner (4)
• William Shakespeare (4, 6, 8, 10)
• Giordano Bruno (4)
• Messalina (6)
• Adelina Patti (8, 9)
• John Webster (8)
• John Ford (8)
• Cyril Tourneur (8)
• Théophile Gautier (9, 11, 14)
• Georges Petit (9)
• Hadrian (referred to as ‘Adrian’) (9)
• Michel de Montaigne (10)
• Johann Winckelmann (10)
• Dante Alighieri (11)
• Jesus (11)
• Franz Schubert (11)
• Frédéric Chopin (11, 19)
• Ludwig van Beethoven (11)
• Alfonso de Ovalle (11)
• Bernal Díaz del Castillo (11)
• Hernán Cortés (11)
• Anne de Joyeuse (11)
• Alexander the Great (11)
• Philostratus (11)
• Pierre de Boniface (11)
• Leonardus Camillus (11)
• Democritus (11)
• Prester John (11)
• Thomas Lodge (11)
• Marco Polo (11)
• King Perozes (11)
• Procopius (11)
• Anastasius I (11)
• Cesare Borgia (11)
• Alexander VI (11)
• Pierre de Bourdeille (11)
• Charles II (11)
• Richard II (11)
• Henry VIII (11)
• James I (11)
• Edward II (11)
• Piers Gaveston (11)
• Henry II (11)
• Charles, Duke of Burgundy (11)
• Nero (11)
• King Chilperic (11)
• Bishop of Pontus (11)
• Charles, duc d’Orléans (11)
• Jeanne de Bourgogne (11)
• Catherine de’ Medici (11)
• Louis XIV (11)
• John III Sobieski (11)
• Muhammad (11)
• Sebastian (11)
• Philip Herbert (11)
• Francis Osborne (11)
• Joan II (11)
• George IV (11)
• Maria Anne Fitzherbert (11)
• Emma Hamilton (11)
• Tiberius (11)
• Elephantis (11)
• Caligula (11)
• Domitian (11)
• Elagabalus (11)
• Filippo Maria Visconti (11)
• Paul II (11)
• Formosus (11)
• Gian Maria Visconti (11)
• Perotto (11)
• Pietro Riario (11)
• Sixtus IV (11)
• Leonora of Aragon (11)
• Ezzelin (11)
• Innocent VIII (11)
• Sigismondo Malatesta (11)
• Isotta degli Atti (11)
• Polyssena (11)
• Ginevra d’Este (11)
• Charles VI (11)
• Grifonetto Baglioni (11)
• Astorre Baglioni (11)
• Simonetto Baglioni (11)
• Atlanta Baglioni (11)
• William Ewart Gladstone (12)
• Georges Charpentier (14)
• Pierre François Lacenaire (14)
• Tintoretto (14)
• Anton Rubinstein (14)
• Elizabeth I (15)
• John Debrett (15)
• Diego Velázquez (19)
• Robert Browning (19)

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.

• Geoffrey Chaucer
• Alfred Tennyson
• Julius Caesar
• Servilia Caepionis
• Marcus Junius Brutus
• Caesonia
• Gustave Moreau
• Manfred of Sicily

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.

• Peter Schouvaloff

Creative works referred to in the novel

The 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.

Fictitious

Two 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.

• The Idiot Boy, or Dumb but Innocent (play) (4)
• Le Secret de Raoul (book by the fictitious individual Catulle Sarrazin) (10, 11)
  • The title and author of this fictitious book are only given in Oscar Wilde’s manuscripts of The Picture of Dorian Gray. The book and its author are still referred to in the published editions of the novel, but are unnamed.

Real/historical

16 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.

• “Waldszenen” (“Forest Scenes”) (piano composition by Robert Schumann, opus 82, 1849) (2)
• Les Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles (collection of anonymously authored short stories, 1462) (4)
• Manon Lescaut (novel by Antoine François Prévost, 1731) (4)
• Lohengrin (opera by Richard Wagner, 1850) (4)
• Romeo and Juliet (play by William Shakespeare, ~1595) (4)
• Satyricon (collection of prose and poetry by Petronius, ~60) (11)
• Tannhäuser (opera by Richard Wagner, 1845) (11)
• Petri Alfonsi Disciplina Clericalis (book by Petrus Alphonsus, ~1100) (11)
• A Margarite of America (romance by Thomas Lodge, 1596) (11)
• The Qur’an (central text of Islam) (11)
• Memoires on the Reigns of Queen Elizabeth and King James (history book by Francis Osborne, 1683) (11)
• Émaux et camées (collection of poems by Théophile Gautier, 1852) (14)
  • The second of two poems in this collection which are collectively entitled “Études de Mains” is quoted
• The Bible (central text of Christianity) (17)
• Hamlet (play by William Shakespeare, ~1598-1602) (19)
  • Words spoken by Claudius in Act IV, Scene VII are quoted

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 novel

The 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.

• The Times (3)
• The Standard (8)
• The Globe (9)
• St James’ Gazette (10)
• Debrett’s Peerage and Baronetage (15)
• Morning Post (15)

Film/television

Adaptations of the novel

At 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.

• Dorian Grays Portræt (1910)
  • Directed by Axel Strøm
  • Starring Valdemar Psilander as Dorian Gray
• The Picture of Dorian Gray (1913)
  • Directed by Phillips Smalley
  • Starring Wallace Reid as Dorian Gray
• The Picture of Dorian Gray (1916)
  • Directed by Fred W Durrant; screenplay by Rowland Talbot
  • Starring Henry Victor as Dorian Gray; Sydney Bland as Basil Hallward; Jack Jordan as Henry Wotton; Pat O’Malley as Sybil Vane
• Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray (1917)
  • Directed by Richard Oswald; screenplay by Richard Oswald
  • Starring Bernd Aldor as Dorian Gray; Ernst Ludwig as Basil Hallward; Ernst Pittschau as Henry Wotton; Lea Lara as Sibyl Vane
• Az Élet királya (1918)
  • Directed by Alfréd Deésy; screenplay by József Pakots
  • Starring Norbert Dán as Dorian Gray; Gusztáv Turán as Basil Hallward; Bela Lugosi (credited as Arisztid Olt) as Henry Wotton; Ila Lóth as Sibyl Vane
• The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
  • Directed by Albert Lewin; screenplay by Albert Lewin
  • Starring Hurd Hatfield as Dorian Gray; Lowell Gilmore as Basil Hallward; George Sanders as Henry Wotton; Angela Lansbury as Sibyl Vane
• Dorian Gray, also known as The Evils of Dorian Gray or The Secret of Dorian Gray (1970)
  • Directed by Massimo Dallamano; screenplay by Marcello Coscia; Massimo Dallamano and Günter Ebert
  • Starring Helmut Berger as Dorian Gray; Richard Todd as Basil Hallward; Herbert Lom as Henry Wotton; Marie Liljedahl as Sybil Vane
• The Picture of Dorian Gray (1973)
  • Directed by Glenn Jordan; screenplay by John Tomerlin
  • Starring Shane Briant as Dorian Gray; Charles Aidman as Basil Hallward; Nigel Davenport as Henry Wotton; Vanessa Howard as Sybil Vane
• The Picture of Dorian Gray (1976)
  • Directed by John Gorrie; screenplay by John Osborne
  • Starring Peter Firth as Dorian Gray; Jeremy Brett as Basil Hallward; John Gielgud as Henry Wotton; Judi Bowker as Sibyl Vane
• Le Portrait de Dorian Gray (1977)
  • Directed by Pierre Boutron; screenplay by Pierre Boutron
  • Starring Patrice Alexsandre as Dorian Gray; Denis Manuel as Basil Hallward; Raymond Gérôme as Henry Wotton; Marie-Hélène Breillat as Sybil Vane
• The Sins of Dorian Gray (1983)
  • Directed by Tony Maylam; screenplay by Ken August and Peter Lawrence
  • Starring Belinda Bauer as Dorian Gray; Anthony Perkins as Henry Wotton
• Dorian, also known as Pact with the Devil (2001)
  • Directed by Allan A Goldstein; screenplay by Peter Jobin and Ron Raley
  • Starring Ethan Erickson as Dorian Gray; Malcolm McDowell as Henry Wotton; Amy Sloan as Sybil
• The Picture of Dorian Gray (2002)
  • Directed by David Rosenbaum; screenplay by David Rosenbaum
  • Starring Josh Duhamel as Dorian Gray; Rainer Judd as Basil Ward; Branden Waugh as Harry Wotton (changed from Henry for unknown reasons); Darby Stanchfield as Sybil Vane; Brian Durkin as James Vane
• The Picture of Dorian Gray (2005)
  • Directed by Duncan Roy; screenplay by Duncan Roy
  • Starring David Gallagher as Dorian Gray
• Dorian Gray (2005)
  • Directed by Mick Davis; screenplay by Mick Davis
  • Starring Ryan Phillippe as Dorian Gray

Other references to the novel

• “Rescue“, episode of Blake’s 7 (1981)
  • Starring Geoffrey Burridge as Dorian
  • Dorian, a fictitious individual inspired by Dorian Gray, is a central figure in this episode of the science fiction series Blake’s 7. As in Oscar Wilde’s novel, Dorian enjoys perpetual youth. The premise of the episode is that in order to sustain his youth, Dorian requires others to absorb his physical and mental defects.
• “Man of the People“, episode #129 of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1992)
  • Guest starring Chip Lucia as Vel Alkar
  • This time the picture is replaced by living women. Ambassador Vel Alkar channels all his negative aspects into them until they burn out and die.
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
  • Directed by Stephen Norrington; screenplay by James Robinson
  • Starring Stuart Townsend as Dorian Gray
  • Dorian Gray appears in this film alongside several other individuals from 19th century fiction. The film is based upon a comic book series – The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill – in which individuals from 19th century fiction also feature prominently. Dorian Gray, however, does not figure in the comic book, and his role in the film is an invention of the filmmakers. In this incarnation, Dorian’s portrait not only takes the ravages of age and sin for him, but also any physical harm he sustains, as well, making him virtually immortal. However, to keep this ability, Dorian is unable to look upon the portrait; to do so will break the spell that created his situation, and all the accumulated sin, aging, and physical punishment would be forced back upon him. Because of this, he becomes in league with the movie’s villain and gives the villain the portrait for safe-keeping, only to be killed by it after League member Mina Harker realizes his treachery.
• “Age Before Duty“, episode of Get Smart (1969) – Story 123
  • Featuring John Fiedler as “Felix”.
  • The premise of this episode is that Felix, a CONTROL scientist who defected to KAOS after being shrugged off by CONTROL, develops a new weapon: A special form of paint that, when applied to a photo of a person, the person ages and dies.

Other references

• Dorian Gray was reputed to be based on Wilde’s friend, John Gray, poet and later Roman Catholic priest. John Gray’s biography by Brocard Sewell: In the Dorian Mode
• Dorian Gray was later reincarnated in “Dorian” by Will Self.
• Dorian Gray was also re-done in a modern setting in a novel by Rick R. Reed titled “A Face Without a Heart” (Design Image Group Inc., 2000). The plot takes place in and amidst the gay club scene and a sophisticated hologram stands in for the painting.
• The book was parodied in The Green Carnation by Robert S Hichens.
• Dorian Gray is referenced in The Libertines song “Narcissist” on The Libertines (album).
• In James Robinson’s Starman comic book series, the Shade knew Oscar Wilde, who based Gray’s story on a “true story” involving a man named Merritt who made a deal with a demon. The demon is present in a person-snatching poster that eventually shows up in Opal City, carried by Merritt. Jack (Starman) Knight is able to defeat the evil being.
• Themes of delaying aging bear similarities to a Japanese fairytale Urashima Taro
• The term Dorian Gray syndrome, referring to a mental disorder featuring intolerance of the effects of aging, is inspired by the novel.
• “Dorian” is the name of a song based, on the novel, by the power metal group Demons and Wizards and appears on their sophomore album Touched by the Crimson King.
• Dorian’s Gray is the name of an industrial electronica group, whose name was inspired by the novel. They can be found on acidplanet.com at http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?songs=441506&T=1120
• In James Blunt’s song “Tears and Rain” a line in the chorus goes “Hides my true shape, like Dorian Gray”
• Many passages of the book are used in the movie Velvet Goldmine.
• In Liz Phair’s song H.W.C. she sings “Without you I’m just another Dorian Gray”

Full Text

• The full text of the book at Faust.com is here: On-Line text at Faust

External links

• On-Line text, broken into chapters
• The Picture of Dorian Gray, available for free via Project Gutenberg
• The Picture of Dorian Gray at The Internet Movie Database
• plot summary at bookrags.com
• full-text at online-literature.com

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