Study Guide

Preface
Summary:
A series of statements or epigrams about the nature of art and
artists ending with “All art is quite useless.”

Discussion Questions:

1. Consider why the author would choose to start the novel in

this way.

2. Do you agree with the final sentence of the preface? Explain

your answer by referring to specific works of art.
 Chapter 1
Summary:
We meet Lord Henry Wotton and Basil Hallward (an artist). They are
sitting in Basil’s studio discussing his latest portrait. This moves on to a
discussion about his latest subject, Dorian Gray. Basil, after much
prompting from Lord Henry, reveals his obsession with Dorian and why he
cannot exhibit the painting. Lord Henry becomes very intrigued with this
beautiful young man. The chapter ends on a rather ominous note. Basil
pleads with Lord Henry to not ‘influence’ Dorian.

Discussion Questions:
1. Discuss how the imagery and language in this chapter emphasises
the beauty of nature.

2. We have not yet met Dorian but he is a central subject in the first
chapter. What expectation does this set for the reader?

3. What is our initial opinion of each of the male characters in this

chapter? How are they different?

Useful Quotes:

“As long as I live, the personality of Dorian Gray will dominate me.”

“Dorian Gray is my dearest friend," he said. "He has a simple and a

beautiful nature. … Don't spoil him. Don't try to influence him. Your
influence would be bad.”

“Whenever I have gone there, there have been either so many people that
I have not been able to see the pictures, which was dreadful, or so many
pictures that I have not been able to see the people, which was worse.”
 Chapter 2
Summary:
Dorian Gray meets Lord Henry and they talk while Basil finishes the
portrait. Lord Henry revels in shattering Dorian’s naivety and expounds on
the benefits of hedonism and giving into one’s urges. Dorian is rapt. Later,
as they gaze on the finished portrait, Dorian realises how beautiful he is.
This is almost immediately followed by his distress as he realises that he
will never be as beautiful as that ever again. Dorian utters his fatal wish –
that he stay as young and beautiful as he is in that moment while his
painting ages. The chapter ends with Dorian abandoning Basil to join
Lord Henry for a night at the theatre. Basil’s fears seem to have come true.

Discussion Questions:
1. Lord Henry says that “youth is the only thing worth having”. Do you
agree with his point of view?

2. Why do you think Dorian was so susceptible to Lord Henry’s ideas?

3. Why is Basil so pained by the afternoon’s events?

Useful Quotes:
“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. No
wonder Basil Hallward worshipped him.”

“And beauty is a form of genius -- is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs

no explanation… To me, beauty is the wonder of wonders. It is only shallow
people who do not judge by appearances.”

"I know, now, that when one loses one's good looks, … one loses everything.
Your picture has taught me that. Lord Henry Wotton is perfectly right.
Youth is the only thing worth having. When I find that I am growing old, I
shall kill myself."

“If the picture could change, and I could be always what I am now! Why
did you paint it? It will mock me some day -- mock me horribly!"
 Chapter 3
Summary:

*Note – this chapter was not part of the original text and was added, along with five
other chapters, in a later edition.
Lord Henry visits his uncle to see if he can get information about Dorian’s
family background. He learns of Dorian’s rather tragic past. He is an
orphan and was left in the guardianship of an awful grandfather. Lord
Henry attends a luncheon at his aunt’s house, where he amuses the crowd
with his witticisms. Dorian Gray is there and they leave together. Dorian
seems just as intrigued by Lord Henry as Lord Henry is with him. He
abandons his promise to visit Basil.

Discussion Questions:

1. How does learning about Dorian’s family history help the reader
understand his personality and his reaction to Lord Henry?

2. What does this chapter reveal about the Victorian take on

morality?

Useful Quotes:

… as the nineteenth century has gone bankrupt through an over-

expenditure of sympathy, I would suggest that we should appeal to science
to put us straight. The advantage of the emotions is that they lead us astray,
and the advantage of science is that it is not emotional."

“There was something terribly enthralling in the exercise of influence… To

project one's soul into some gracious form, … to hear one's own intellectual
views echoed back to one with all the added music of passion and youth; to
convey one's temperament into another as though it were a subtle fluid or a
strange perfume: there was a real joy in that…”
 Chapter 4
Summary:

This chapter takes place a month later. We meet Lord Henry’s wife,
Victoria. She comes in to speak to Dorian as he waits for Lord Henry and
she seems to be as disinterested in her husband and he claims to be in her.
When Lord Henry arrives Dorian tells him of his love for a young actress,
Sibyl Vane. Dorian has been watching her perform every night and wants
Lord Henry to come and watch her the following night. Later that evening
Lord Henry receives a telegram from Dorian saying he is engaged to Sibyl.
Discussion Questions:

1. Considering what we know about Lord Henry’s tastes and habits,

why is his wife a surprise to the reader?

2. Why is it not surprising that Dorian falls in love with an actress?

3. What does this chapter reveal about Lord Henry’s views on women?

Useful Quotes:

“My dear boy, no woman is a genius. Women are a decorative sex. They
never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly. Women represent
the triumph of matter over mind, just as men represent the triumph of mind
over morals.”

"I am not laughing, Dorian; at least I am not laughing at you. But you
should not say the greatest romance of your life. You should say the first
romance of your life. You will always be loved, and you will always be in
love with love. A grande passion is the privilege of people who have
nothing to do. That is the one use of the idle classes of a country. Don't be
afraid. There are exquisite things in store for you. This is merely the
beginning."
 Chapter 5
Summary:

This scene takes place in Sibyl’s house. We meet her mother and her
brother and find out that they live in poverty. The theatre manager, Mr
Isaacs, has given Sibyl’s family an advance of money. Sibyl is smitten with
Dorian, whom she calls “Prince Charming”. Her brother warn her against
falling in love too quickly and is sceptical of Dorian’s motives. Her mother
is more concerned with their precarious financial situation. James, who is a
sailor, is about to leave for Australia.
Discussion Questions:

1. What is significant about James’s threat of revenge on Dorian should

he hurt Sibyl?

2. Do you think that Sibyl’s financial and social circumstances make

her a suitable match for Dorian?

Useful Quotes:

"’I wish I had, for as sure as there is a God in heaven, if he ever does you any
wrong, I shall kill him.’ She looked at him in horror. He repeated his words.
They cut the air like a dagger.”

“As for Sibyl, I do not know at present whether her attachment is serious or
not. But there is no doubt that the young man in question is a perfect
gentleman. He is always most polite to me. Besides, he has the appearance
of being rich, and the flowers he sends are lovely … He has not yet revealed
his real name. I think it is quite romantic of him. “
 Chapter 6
Summary:
It is the following evening and Lord Henry and Basil have met for dinner
and are discussing Dorian’s engagement. Lord Henry is amused by the
situation but Basil is concerned for his friend. Dorian arrives and explains
again how wonderful Sibyl is. Basil seems convinced. Lord Henry launches
into a philosophical diatribe about women, morality and goodness. They
leave for the theatre; Lord Henry and Dorian in Henry’s brougham (which
only seats two) and Basil following in his own carraige. Basil feels a sense
of dejection.

Discussion Questions:
1. Discuss how this chapter shows the decline of Dorian and Basil’s
relationship.

Useful Quotes:
"I hope the girl is good, Harry. I don't want to see Dorian tied to some vile
creature, who might degrade his nature and ruin his intellect."

"Oh, she is better than good – she is beautiful," murmured Lord Henry, …
"Dorian says she is beautiful, and he is not often wrong about things of that
kind. Your portrait of him has quickened his appreciation of the personal
appearance of other people. "

"I love Sibyl Vane. I want to place her on a pedestal of gold and to see the
world worship the woman who is mine. What is marriage? An irrevocable
vow. You mock at it for that. Ah! don't mock. It is an irrevocable vow that I
want to take. … When I am with her, I regret all that you have taught me. I
become different from what you have known me to be. I am changed, and
the mere touch of Sibyl Vane's hand makes me forget you and all your
wrong, fascinating, poisonous, delightful theories."

"But, surely, if one lives merely for one's self, Harry, one pays a terrible
price for doing so?" suggested the painter.”
 Chapter 7
Summary:
The three friends arrive at the theatre and watch Sibyl’s performance as
Juliet. She is terrible. Her acting is wooden and lacklustre. Dorian is
dismayed but stays until the end of the play. Lord Henry and Basil leave at
intermission. Dorian is distraught and goes backstage to talk to Sibyl. She
is elated and tells him that it is her love for him that has caused her to lose
her interest in acting. He does not react how she expects and tells her that
he cannot love her if she is not a brilliant actress. She begs him to
reconsider but he refuses and leaves her, heartbroken. He wanders the
streets for a while and then returns home. Once there he notices that the
portrait has changed. It has slightly cruel expression. He thinks back to the
wish he made in Basil’s studio and wonders if it has come true. He cannot
bear to look at the painting and covers it with a screen. He resolves to
avoid Lord Henry and reconcile with Sibyl.

Discussion Questions:
1. Dorian’s criticism of Sibyl is that she is a “third rate actress with a
pretty face”. How is this ironic?

2. This is the chapter when the portrait first shows sign of change. What
is Dorian’s initial reaction to the thought that his wish has come
true?

Useful Quotes:
“You taught me what reality really is. To-night, for the first time in my life,
I saw through the hollowness, the sham, the silliness of the empty pageant
in which I had always played… You had brought me something higher,
something of which all art is but a reflection. You had made me
understand what love really is. My love! My love! Prince Charming! Prince
of life! I have grown sick of shadows. You are more to me than all art can
ever be.”

“Without your art, you are nothing. I would have made you famous,
splendid, magnificent. The world would have worshipped you, and you
would have borne my name. What are you now? A third-rate actress with
a pretty face."
 Chapter 8
Summary:
Dorian sleeps late and wakes up as resolute as the previous night. He
writes a letter to Sibyl. However, a visit from Lord Henry reveals that Sibyl
has committed suicide. At first Dorian is wracked with guilt and feels both
sad and angry. Somehow Lord Henry manages to convince Dorian that
Sibyl has made a beautiful sacrifice like one of the heroines she so expertly
played. Dorian is placated and they make plans to attend the opera that
evening. He briefly considers trying to go back on his bargain regarding
the painting. Instead he decides to keep it and observe the decay of his
soul. All that really matters to him is his physical beauty.

Discussion Questions:
1. Lord Henry’s main concern is that Dorian not get mixed up in Sibyl’s
death. What does this reveal about his priorities?

2. Is there a significance in the method Sibyl used to kill herself?

3. How do you feel about Dorian’s ability to move on so quickly?

4. In what way does his final decision about the portrait reveal the
change in his nature?

Useful Quotes:
“For a moment, he thought of praying that the horrible sympathy that
existed between him and the picture might cease. … And yet, who, that
knew anything about life, would surrender the chance of remaining
always young”

“For there would be a real pleasure in watching it. He would be able to

follow his mind into its secret places. This portrait would be to him the most
magical of mirrors. As it had revealed to him his own body, so it would
reveal to him his own soul. And when winter came upon it, he would still be
standing where spring trembles on the verge of summer… Not one blossom
of his loveliness would ever fade. Not one pulse of his life would ever
weaken….What did it matter what happened to the coloured image on the
canvas? He would be safe. That was everything.
 Chapter 9
Summary:

Basil hears of Sibyl’s death and is genuinely saddened and concerned for
his friend. Dorian, however, is thoroughly untroubled and his reaction
shocks Basil. We discover that Dorian is safe as no one in Sibyl’s family
knows his real name. Basil promises to never mention her again. Their
conversation moves on to the portrait, which makes Dorian nervous. Basil
asks if Dorian has noted “something curious” but is only concerned that
Dorian has realised how much Basil adores him. Dorian thinks he may
know about the changed portrait. He refuses to show Basil the painting
and will not allow it to be exhibited. He makes arrangements for it to be
moved.
Useful Questions:

1. Ironically, Basil states that Dorian looks changed. Why can he see
Dorian more clearly than others?

2. What does this chapter reveal about Dorian’s nature? (compare his
reaction to Sibyl’s death to Basil’s reaction)

Useful Quotes:

"Dorian, this is horrible! Something has changed you completely. You look
exactly the same wonderful boy who, day after day, used to come down to
my studio to sit for his picture. But you were simple, natural, and
affectionate then. You were the most unspoiled creature in the whole
world. Now, I don't know what has come over you. You talk as if you had no
heart, no pity in you. It is all Harry's influence. I see that."

… "I owe a great deal to Harry, Basil," he said at last, "more than I owe to you.
You only taught me to be vain."

"Well, I am punished for that, Dorian -- or shall be some day."

 Chapter 10
Summary:

Dorian calls on Mr Hubbard and his workmen to help move the portrait up
to the abandoned schoolroom on the top floor. He sends his servant away
and keeps the painting covered at all times. He asks Lord Henry for a book
and with the book, Henry sends a newspaper with the results of the inquiry
into Sibyl’s death. He is in no way linked. He becomes absorbed in the
novel to distract himself from the news.

Discussion Questions:

1. What does Dorian’s secrecy around the portrait reveal about his
state of mind?

2. Why is it ironic that Dorian would store the evidence of his soul’s
corruption is his schoolroom?

Useful Quotes:
“He shuddered, and for a moment he regretted that he had not told Basil
the true reason why he had wished to hide the picture away. Basil would
have helped him to resist Lord Henry's influence, and the still more
poisonous influences that came from his own temperament….Yes, Basil
could have saved him. But it was too late now. The past could always be
annihilated. Regret, denial, or forgetfulness could do that. But the future
was inevitable. There were passions in him that would find their terrible
outlet, dreams that would make the shadow of their evil real.”

“It was a poisonous book. The heavy odour of incense seemed to cling
about its pages and to trouble the brain.”

“He had the key, and no one else could enter it. Beneath its purple pall, the
face painted on the canvas could grow bestial, sodden, and unclean. What
did it matter? No one could see it. He himself would not see it. Why should
he watch the hideous corruption of his soul? He kept his youth -- that was
enough.”
 Chapter 11
Summary:
We are given information about Dorian’s life in the years after Sibyl’s
death. Dorian has retained his outward beauty, but the rumours of his
moral decay are chilling. His main occupations involve exploring the
senses - he studies perfumes, music, jewels and embroideries. He has also
become obsessed with the yellow book which tells a tale of a young
Parisian man who suddenly loses his beauty. Dorian becomes increasing
obsessed with observing the moral decay of his soul as is shown in the
changing portrait.
Discussion Questions:
1. Discuss how this chapter shows us how Dorian lives a life of excess
and indulgence.

2. Consider the different reasons that Dorian cannot be away from his
portrait for too long.

Useful Quotes:
“Dorian Gray had been poisoned by a book. There were moments when he
looked on evil simply as a mode through which he could realize his
conception of the beautiful.”

“Of such insolences and attempted slights he, of course, took no notice, and
in the opinion of most people his frank debonair manner, his charming
boyish smile, and the infinite grace of that wonderful youth that seemed
never to leave him, were in themselves a sufficient answer to the calumnies,
for so they termed them, that were circulated about him.”

“It was remarked, however, that some of those who had been most intimate
with him appeared, after a time, to shun him. Women who had wildly
adored him, and for his sake had braved all social censure and set
convention at defiance, were seen to grow pallid with shame or horror if
Dorian Gray entered the room.”
 Chapter 12
Summary:
Dorian runs into Basil the night before his 38th birthday. Basil is about to
board a train to Paris for six months but is eager to speak to Dorian before
he goes. Once back at Dorian’s house, Basil expresss his concern over the
rumours he has heard about his old friend. He confronts Dorian, who is
defensive and becomes aggressive. Dorian invites Basil up to the
schoolroom to see evidence of his activities but actually intends to show
him the painting.

Discussion Questions:
1. Why do you think that Wilde chose to end this chapter on a cliff-
hanger?

2. Discuss what you predict Basil’s reaction to the painting to be.

3. Are Basil’s actions in this chapter noble or is he meddling?

Useful Quotes:
“Mind you, I don't believe these rumours at all. At least, I can't believe them
when I see you. Sin is a thing that writes itself across a man's face. It cannot
be concealed. People talk sometimes of secret vices. There are no such
things. If a wretched man has a vice, it shows itself in the lines of his mouth,
the droop of his eyelids, the moulding of his hands even.”

“Before I could answer that, I should have to see your soul.’

‘To see my soul!’ muttered Dorian Gray, starting up from the sofa and
turning almost white from fear. ‘Yes,’ answered Hallward, … But only God
can do that.’
… ‘You shall see it yourself, to-night!’ he cried, seizing a lamp from the table.
‘Come: it is your own handiwork. Why shouldn't you look at it? You can
tell the world all about it afterwards, if you choose. Nobody would believe
you. If they did believe you, they would like me all the better for it. I know
the age better than you do, though you will prate about it so tediously.
Come, I tell you. You have chattered enough about corruption. Now you
shall look on it face to face.”
 Chapter 13
Summary:
Once in the schoolroom, Dorian reveals the picture and Basil is horrified.
He has to find his signature on the portrait in order to believe it is his
painting of Dorian. Emotions are running high. Basil suggests that they
pray for Dorian’s forgiveness but Dorian is overcome with anger and stabs
Basil, killing him. Dorian is initially flustered but regains his calm and
creates an alibi for himself by leaving the house and knocking on the door
for his manservant to let him in.

Discussion Questions:
1. Why do you think Dorian chose to show Basil the painting, after
guarding it so closely for so long?

2. What does Dorian’s reaction to the murder tell us about the

alteration of his character?

Useful Quotes:
"’Each of us has heaven and hell in him, Basil," cried Dorian with a wild
gesture of despair.”

“An exclamation of horror broke from the painter's lips as he saw in the dim
light the hideous face on the canvas grinning at him. There was something
in its expression that filled him with disgust and loathing. Good heavens! it
was Dorian Gray's own face that he was looking at! “

“It was some foul parody, some infamous ignoble satire. He had never done
that. Still, it was his own picture. He knew it, and he felt as if his blood had
changed in a moment from fire to sluggish ice.”

“How quickly it had all been done! He felt strangely calm, and, walking
over to the window, opened it, and stepped out onto the balcony.”

“He did not even glance at the murdered man… The friend who had
painted the fatal portrait to which all his misery had been due had gone
out of his life.”
 Chapter 14
Summary:
Dorian wakes up and, as he remembers the murder, he feels sorry for
himself. He organises for a letter to be sent to Alan Campbell who he plans
to ask to get rid of the body. Alan initially refuses as there is obviously bad
blood between the two men. However, Dorian resorts to blackmail and
Alan agrees. Alan is a scientist and ostensibly uses some sort of acid to
make the corpse disappear.

Discussion Questions:
1. We are not told what took place between Alan and Dorian. Make a
few suggestions as to what could have transpired between to cause
such enmity.

Useful Quotes:
“Gradually the events of the preceding night crept with silent blood-
stained feet into his brain, and reconstructed themselves there with
terrible distinctness. He winced at the memory of all that he had suffered,
and for a moment the same curious feeling of loathing for Basil Hallward,
that had made him kill him as he sat in the chair, came back to him, and he
grew cold with passion. The dead man was still sitting there, too, and in the
sunlight now. How horrible that was! Such hideous things were for the
darkness, not for the day.”

“’You have saved me from ruin, Alan. I cannot forget that,’ said Dorian,
simply.”
 Chapter 15
Summary:
Dorian attends a party that evening and sees Lord Henry there. He does
not confide in Lord Henry and reacts strangely when Henry asks where he
was the previous evening. He apologises for his overreaction and makes a
hasty exit. When he gets home he burns Basil’s coat and bag. He takes a
substance, probably opium, and then prepares to leave the house again -
dressed as a commoner.
Discussion Questions:
1. Account for Dorian’s choice of dress as he sets out for his destination.

2. Discuss the signs that Dorian’s state of mind is deteriorating.

Useful Quotes:
"Ah, my dear," cried Lady Narborough, putting on her gloves, "don't tell me
that you have exhausted life. When a man says that one knows that life
has exhausted him. Lord Henry is very wicked, and I sometimes wish that I
had been; but you are made to be good -- you look so good."

“Certainly no one looking at Dorian Gray that night could have believed
that he had passed through a tragedy as horrible as any tragedy of our age.
Those finely shaped fingers could never have clutched a knife for sin, nor
those smiling lips have cried out on God and goodness. He himself could
not help wondering at the calm of his demeanour, and for a moment felt
keenly the terrible pleasure of a double life.”

“As he drove back to his own house he was conscious that the sense of
terror he thought he had strangled had come back to him. Lord Henry's
casual questioning had made him lose his nerves for the moment, and he
wanted his nerve still.”
 Chapter 16
Summary:
Dorian arrives at a seedy opium den and encounters an old friend. As he
leaves the establishment, a beggar woman calls him ‘Prince Charming’.
This catches the attention of James Vane, back from Australia and seeking
revenge for his sister’s death. He confronts Dorian and almost shoots him.
Dorian reasons with him, pointing out that he is too young to be the man
James is seeking. When James returns to the opium den, the beggar reveals
that Dorian has not changed for the last 18 years.

Discussion Questions:
1. Suggest how Dorian is linked to Adrian and the beggar woman. How
could he have contributed to their current circumstances?

2. Discuss how certain plot points from this chapter align with chapter
five.

Useful Quotes:
“He was prisoned in thought. Memory, like a horrible malady, was eating
his soul away. From time to time he seemed to see the eyes of Basil
Hallward looking at him. Yet he felt he could not stay. The presence of
Adrian Singleton troubled him. He wanted to be where no one would
know who he was. He wanted to escape from himself.”

“Dorian walked to the door with a look of pain in his face. As he drew the
curtain aside, a hideous laugh broke from the painted lips of the woman
who had taken his money. "There goes the devil's bargain!" …"Curse you!" he
answered, "don't call me that."
She snapped her fingers. "Prince Charming is what you like to be called,
ain't it?" she yelled after him.”

‘They say he has sold himself to the devil for a pretty face.”
 Chapter 17
Summary:
Dorian is entertaining guests at his country house. He is chatting with Lord
Henry and the Duchess of Monmouth. He leaves the room to fetch an
orchid. The guests hear a groan and a thump and find Dorian collapsed in a
faint. We learn that he has seen the face of James Vane staring in from the
window.

Discussion Questions:
1. What is the effect of this chapter ending in the middle of the action?
When was this done previously in the novel?

Useful Quotes:
“There was a wild recklessness of gaiety in his manner as he sat at table, but
now and then a thrill of terror ran through him when he remembered that,
pressed against the window of the conservatory, like a white handkerchief,
he had seen the face of James Vane watching him.”
 Chapter 18
Summary:
The day after his collapse, Dorian is too disturbed to leave the house. A few
days later, on a hunting excursion, a man is shot by accident. It is assumed
that he is a beater. Dorian is horrified by the incident. Lord Henry feels
more sympathy for the man who shot him as it has ruined their hunting
trip. Dorian thinks the incident is a bad omen. Later that evening it is
revealed that the man is not a beater, but an outsider, possibly a sailor.
Dorian identified the body as James Vane and is overcome with tears of
relief.

Discussion Questions:
1. Discuss the significance of Lord Henry and Dorian’s different
response to the death in this chapter.

2. Is it possible for the reader to feel sympathy with Dorian at this stage
in the novel?

3. Why is Dorian so terrified of dying? (apart from the obvious!)

Useful Quotes:
“The next day he did not leave the house, and, indeed, spent most
of the time in his own room, sick with a wild terror of dying, and yet
indifferent to life itself. The consciousness of being hunted, snared,
tracked down, had begun to dominate him… When he closed his
eyes, he saw again the sailor's face peering through the mist-
stained glass, and horror seemed once more to lay its hand upon his
heart.”

"I have no terror of death. It is the coming of death that terrifies me.
Its monstrous wings seem to wheel in the leaden air around me.
Good heavens! don't you see a man moving behind the trees there,
watching me, waiting for me?"
 Chapter 19
Summary:
This chapter brings a few plot lines to a close. Alan Campbell has
committed suicide. Basil’s disappearance has come to light. Lord Henry’s
wife has left him for a pianist. Dorian is talking to Lord Henry and says he
is going to be good. He fell in love with a country girl but left her before
corrupting her. He resists Henry’s persistent praise and continues to say he
is going to be good. He was corrupted by the yellow book but is going to
change. Lord henry comments that art cannot influence us.
Discussion Questions:
1. Examine Lord Henry and Dorian closely as we see them in this
chapter. In what way has each of them changed? In what ways are
they the same?

2. Do you believe that Dorian’s quest for goodness is possible at this

stage?

Useful Quotes:
“To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take
exercise, get up early, or be respectable. Youth! There is nothing like it. It's
absurd to talk of the ignorance of youth. The only people to whose opinions
I listen now with any respect are people much younger than myself. They
seem in front of me. Life has revealed to them her latest wonder.”

“’My dear boy," said Lord Henry, smiling, "anybody can be good in the
country. There are no temptations there. That is the reason why people who
live out of town are so absolutely uncivilized. Civilization is not by any
means an easy thing to attain to. There are only two ways by which man
can reach it. One is by being cultured, the other by being corrupt.”

"The world has cried out against us both, but it has always worshipped you.
It always will worship you. You are the type of what the age is searching
for, and what it is afraid it has found. I am so glad that you have never done
anything, never carved a statue, or painted a picture, or produced
anything outside of yourself! Life has been your art. You have set yourself
to music. Your days are your sonnets."
 Chapter 20
Summary:
As Dorian walks back from Henry’s house, he contemplates what Henry
said. He realises that anyone who could implicate him in Basil’s death is
dead. At home he wonders if he can change and if his treatment of Hetty
could be the beginning of his redemption. He looks at himself in the mirror
and becomes angry and smashes it. He curses his preoccupation with
youth. He hopes that his goodness to Hetty has made a positive change to
the portrait, but it has not. He realises that the picture acts as a sort of
conscious and decides to destroy it to erase evidence of his crimes. He stabs
the painting. His servants and people on the street hear a terrible scream
and rush upstairs to find an old, disfigured man with a knife in the heart.
The portrait has been restored to its former beauty. The only way they are
able to identify the ugly corpse as Dorian is by seeing his rings.

Discussion Questions:
1. Explain why there was no evidence of improvement in the painting.

2. Discuss whether you are satisfied with this ending. How would you
have chosen to end the novel?

3. What does this ending suggest about Dorian’s connection with the
painting?

Useful Quotes:
"Then he loathed his own beauty, and flinging the mirror on the floor,
crushed it into silver splinters beneath his heel. It was his beauty that had
ruined him, his beauty and the youth that he had prayed for. But for those
two things, his life might have been free from stain… Youth had spoiled
him."

“He knew that he had tarnished himself, filled his mind with corruption
and given horror to his fancy; that he had been an evil influence to others,
and had experienced a terrible joy in being so; and that of the lives that
had crossed his own, it had been the fairest and the most full of promise
that he had brought to shame. But was it all irretrievable? Was there no
hope for him? “
Sources:
IMAGES:

http://torontopubliclibrary.typepad.com/.a/6a00e5509ea6a1883401bb0825f7c6970d-pi

CONTENT:

http://www.shmoop.com/picture-dorian-gray/ Accessed: 12 April 2017.

Robinson, Dr D. Literature Resource Pack: The Picture of Dorian Gray. Macrat Publishing.