The Picture of Dorian Gray

By Oscar Wilde

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Basil Hallward: Artist who paints the portrait of Dorian, man with a sensitive and sad soul.

Dorian Gray: Rich young men, he is twenty years old and beautiful.

Main Characters

Sibyl Vane: A young and lovely actress. She is seventeen and falls in love with Dorian.

Lord Henry Wotton: Young, rich and intellectual lord, but his influence is not always positive.

Main Characters

Sibyl and James Vane's mother: An ex actress who lives and loves a lot with her children.

James Vane: Sibyl’s brother, he is a sailor who wants to make his fortune in Australia.

Main Characters

Filled: It means 'full of something'

Two friends are sitting, chatting together, in the painting studio of one of them. They are discussing the portrait of a beautiful young man, Dorian Gray. Two friends are Basil Hallward, the painter, and Lord Henry. The studio is filled* with flower’s perfume. They go into the garden, and as they chat, Dorian Gray comes to visit Basil.

The Wish

Chapter I:

Two friends reach Dorian who is sitting for the portrait. After fifteen minutes, Basil finishes the painting; Dorian watches it and finds it beautiful, but he is sad because the portrait will be forever beautiful but he will get old. He expresses the desire to be young for life and pretends to have the painting. Dorian prefers going to the theatre with Lord Henry instead of dining with Basil, so they leave Basil alone.

The Wish

The next day Lord Henry calls his uncle to receive more information about his new friend, Dorian. Then he goes to his aunt’s house, Lady Agatha and here he meets Dorian again. There are a lot of people invited by Lady Agatha, they all have a great conversation. After lunch, Dorian and Lord Henry go for a walk in a park and spend some time together. One month later, the two men become friends and Dorian is sitting on the sofa of the living room of Lord Henry. He meets his wife, Victoria and they chat for a while.

Lunch and Love

Chapter II:

To refuse: when ypu say no to someone.Telegram: little letter. Engaged: when you are going to marry someone.

Lord Henry reaches them and his wife leaves them alone. Dorian confesses his love for Sibyl Vane, a young actress that he meets two weeks earlier in a little theater in the East End. Dorian invites Lord Henry to the theater with him to see the girl he loves in the evening but Lord refuses* and promises that the day after he will come with him. Lord Henry receives a telegram* from Dorian, in which he says that he is engaged* to his beloved Sibyl.

Lunch and Love

Sibyl is in love with Dorian too, and so, after her performance, she returns home to give the joyful notice to her mother. Sibyl’s family is poor, so Mrs Vane, who is an ex-actress, introduces her daughter in theater’s world to make some money. Sibyl is the happiest girl in the world because she found the person of her heart, but her mother and her brother, James are worried for her.

Sibyl at Home

Chapter III:

James is older than Sibyl and wants to leave London to find fortune in Australia, so he goes for a last walk with his little sister to talk about this guy. As they walk, Dorian passes, but James can’t see him because of a carriage. James says good-bye to his sister and to his mother and leaves London. The same evening Dorian, Lord Henry and Basil reunite to talk about Dorian’s love, and the two friends give him some advice.

Sibyl at Home

The three men go to the theater to see Sibyl’s performance, but this time her act was pretty bad. Dorian is disturbed. He decides to talk with her after the show and so he does. He tells her that he is not in love anymore, he doesn't want to see her or think of her anymore. She begs him to forgive her but Dorian leaves her alone. What a tragedy! Dorian loves her act, her beauty, not her soul! When he returns home, he passes near the portrait and notices that it has changed. The mouth is cruel now. How is it possible? He remembers the wish he made that day at Basil’s house, but he can’t believe his eyes.

A Visit to the Theater

Chapter IV:

Speechless: it means that you have no words, you don't know what to say

Suddenly he decides to return to Sibyl, to forgive her and to marry her. The day after he wakes up at twelve in the morning. He receives a letter from Lord Henry but he doesn’t want to read it. He writes a letter to Sibyl where he says he is sorry and that he loves her and wants to marry her, but someone knocks at the door. It is Lord Henry. He says to Dorian a terrible thing: Sibyl is dead. Dorian is speechless*. He starts to panic because he believes he is responsible for her death. Lord Henry is able to calm his friend and together the same evening they go to the Opera.

A Visit to the Theater

The next morning Dorian, as He is having breakfast, Basil arrives to see his friend. Basil is worried about Dorian, he thinks that the poor guy is sad about his dead love. Basil is surprised, Dorian seems calm, as nothing has happened. Dorian doesn’t want to hear any words about Sibyl’s death. The poor Basil doesn’t recognise his friend anymore but he decides to respect Dorian’s will, and so he changes the argument.

The Portrait

Chapter V:

Basil tells Dorian about his idea: he will expose his painting in Paris. Dorian is terrified, he doesn't want to show the portrait to Basil, because if it happens, Basil will know his secret. Dorian says no to Basil’s request and so, the sad painter leaves the house. After that, Dorian hides his portrait in the attic of his house and keeps with him the key. Then he goes to meet lord Henry for dinner and they discuss a book that Lord Henry gives to him, Dorian loves it.

The Portrait

Novel: litterary genre.

Dorian is influenced by the book that Lord Henry gives to him. He loves the protagonist of the novel* because he thinks he is like him. Dorian is fascinated by this book. Years pass but Dorian doesn’t get old, and everyone wonders why. His face is still young and beautiful and his expression remains pure and innocent. They don’t know about his terrible secret, the portrait is the one that gets old for him.

Dorian through the Years

Chapter VI:

Sometimes he watches it to see if something changes, and it does. Young men admire him, they want to be like him, he is their model. He changes his passion often, he loves The Roman Empire, jewells, he studies music, he learns about perfume, how to make it. He also loves art. Dorian also goes to terrible places in London and meets criminals sometimes, but nobody knows. He invites at lunch or at dinner a lot of guests, he is accurate when he chooses who to invite, and he accepts Lord Henry’s help.

Dorian through the Years

It is the ninth of November, about eleven o’clock in the evening and Dorian is coming home from Lord Henry’s house. On the road he meets Basil. Dorian doesn’t want to speak to Basil, but he has an important thing to say. He is leaving London to go to Paris, but first, he wants to know if what he heard about Dorian is true or false. Basil knows that a lot of Dorian’s friends don’t want to be with him anymore, so Basil wonders who Dorian Gray is now. Dorian doesn’t want to hear what Basil is saying, but he lets him enter his house.

The Crime

Chapter VII:

Basil doesn’t recognise his beloved friend, at all costs, he wants to see his soul. Dorian is annoyed, so he lets Basil see his portrait. Basil is speechless, he remembers Dorian’s wish but he can’t believe his eyes. Dorian is angry and at the same time he is calm, he takes a knife and kills his friend. He leaves the room. In the library of his house he looks for an address of an old friend. Then he goes to bed. The next morning he writes to his friend and waits for him to come. With his friend’s help, Dorian makes his dead friend disappear, nobody can know where this poor man can be. That evening, Dorian goes to a party, as nothing has happened.

The crime

Dorian comes home from the party, but at midnight he goes out again. With a carriage he arrives in a dark and lonely part of London. This place is full of criminals. He decides to go to a club where some people know him. He goes away, because he is uncomfortable, and before he leaves, someone says “Good night Prince Charming”. He runs out of that terrible place but someone follows him. Who is it? It is Sibyl’s brother, James! James returns to London to find the man that eighteen years earlier killed his beloved sister. When he hears the name that his sister gave him, he decides to kill him.

An Unwelcome Encounter*

Chapter VIII:

Encounter: when you meet someone. Conservatory: a palce where flowers and plants grow.

James takes Dorian from behind, he is going to kill him, but seeing the young and beautiful face he stops himself. There is a mistake. That man now is almost forty, but this guy seems to be twenty! Dorian is safe. A week later he is at his country house and he is having a little party with some guests, there is also Lord Henry. In the middle of the party, he goes to his conservatory* to take flowers. Here he sees a man staring at him. It is Sibyl’s brother! Dorian loses consciousness. When Lord Henry arrives, he wakes him up. Dorian doesn’t want to be alone anymore.

An Unwelcome Encounter*

Shooting party: a group of people who meet to kill animals with a gun.Body: dead person.

The next day Dorian doesn’t want to go out. He stays at home for three days, and then he decides to go for a walk with the Duchess. He stays with her for an hour and then he walks with the Duchess' brother, Sir Geoffry. Sir Geoffry is having a shooting party. For a mistake, Sir Geoffry shoots a man and he dies. Dorian goes home, he doesn't feel well. A servant says to him that the poor dead man was probably a sailor, now Dorian wants to see the body. Dorian sees the man and recognises him, he is James Vane. He is safe forever. Months pass, Dorian is at Lord Henry’s house.

The Picture's Revenge

Chapter IX:

Lord Henry’s wife ran away with a man who used to play Chopin. Lord Henry asks Dorian to play it for him. Dorian wants to be a good man, so he begins to do good actions. Chatting with Lord Henry, Dorian becomes sad, because they discuss Basil’s disappearance. He decides to return home. He wants to see if the portrait has changed for better, but it hasn’t. Dorian decides to kill the portrait, he has killed the painter and now he will kill the painting. Sadly, killing the portrait, Dorian kills himself. When police and servants find him, they recognise him thanks to the rings he has, because he looks like the painting, and the painting is beautiful again, like Basil painted it.

The Picture's Revenge

The End