Actors - The Picture of Dorian Gray

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	Actors - 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.

Plot summary

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 range 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.

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