Dorian Gray

Dorian Gray is the main character of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Related Topics:
Character - Oscar Wilde - The Picture of Dorian Gray

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Dorian Gray is described as an extremely handsome individual whose innocence and good looks are the definition of his personality. Lord Henry Wotton's thoughts of Dorian as he first lays eyes on him are described on page 19*: "...he was certainly wonderfully handsome, with his finely-curved scarlet lips, his frank blue eyes, his crisp gold hair. There was something in his face that made one trust him at once. All the candour of youth was there, as well as all youth's passionate purity. One felt that he had kept himself unspotted from the world."

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On page 16 Basil Hallward begs Lord Henry not to see Dorian, and (providing a perfect description of the way Dorian Gray is at the beginning of the novel) says: "He has a simple and beautiful nature."

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Until Dorian meets Lord Henry, he does not think much about anything, especially his own life and his good looks. Lord Henry convinces Dorian that his looks are in fact his most important virtue and at the same time Lord Henry reminds Dorian that his looks will disappear as he grows older. Dorian takes this conversation very seriously and becomes aware and extremely worried about the fact that his youth is not eternal.

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One of the most important sentences in the entire novel occurs when Dorian sees the finished portrait Basil had painted of him. "...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!" (pg. 31) By saying that Dorian sells his soul, much like Doctor Faust in Goethe's famous play Faust. His desire for eternal youth soon comes true and the image in the picture ages instead of him.

Related Topics:
Doctor Faust - Goethe - Faust

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Now possessing his desired youth, Dorian's personality begins to change drastically, all due to his relationship with Lord Henry. Dorian's metamorphosis is revealed the night he tells Sybil Vane, an actress with whom he is in love, that his love for her died simply due to her terrible performance as Juliet that evening.

Related Topics:
Sybil Vane - Juliet

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Chapter 11 presents a series of incidents that mark Dorian's corruption: the death of his innocence and his new life as a pleasure seeker like Lord Henry. In this chapter Dorian completely transforms himself into a different person and his personality changes. When Basil sees him again he cannot believe that it is the same Dorian he used to paint and immediately begins to try to help Dorian heal himself. Dorian becomes fully corrupt when he then murders Basil. With that act Dorian discards all hope of being saved and chooses to continue his pleasure-seeking lifestyle.

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Although Dorian does not physically age, and his sins are not apparent on his face (it is Oscar Wilde's intent to show that the face of a person directly reflects his personality), they all nevertheless exist on the face of the portrait. This makes Dorian aware of how terrible his life really is but Dorian does not allow others to know any of his secrets.

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At the very end of the novel, Dorian realizes how wrong he was to have followed the path set for him by Lord Henry. On page 200 he says to Lord Henry: "Harry, I have done too many dreadful things in my life. I am not going to do any more." Indeed, Dorian desperately tries to change his lifestyle but, after all the terrible things he's done, it is too late. His attempts at reform are selfish and superficial and ultimately only make the portait more hideous.

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Finally, Dorian decides to kill his sins and his past by destroying the portrait, but in doing so he kills himself instead. The last sentence in the novel describes the finding of his body near the portrait (page 213): "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."

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(* All page numbers refer to the Penguin Books edition of 2000)

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