The Picture of Dorian Gray

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."

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.

Related Topics:
Creative - April - 1891

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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.

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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.

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• 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.

Related Topics:
Real - Historical

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• "Waldscenen" ("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.

Related Topics:
Sonnet - Real - Historical - Paul Verlaine - July - 1890

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