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."

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.

Related Topics:
Number - Individual - Parentheses - Name - April - 1891

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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.

Related Topics:
Fictional character - List - Text

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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.

Related Topics:
Abbreviated - Form - Anonymously - Pseudonym - Title

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• 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.

Related Topics:
July - 1890 - Conversation - April - 1891

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Mr Ashton in the original edition of the novel was renamed Mr Hubbard for the revised edition of the novel.

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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.

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• 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) (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.

Related Topics:
July - 1890

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• 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.

Related Topics:
Real - Historical

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• 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.

Related Topics:
July - 1890

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• 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.

Related Topics:
July - 1890 - April - 1891

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• Peter Schouvaloff