The picture of Dorian Gray

3.About the author-

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish playwright, novelist, essayist, and poet He was born on October 16, 1854 in Dublin, Ireland and died on November 30, 1900 at the age of 46 in Paris, France. As a spokesman for aestheticism, he tried his hand at various literary activities: he published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on the new “English Renaissance in Art”, and then returned to London where he worked prolifically as a journalist. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversation, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day.

Wilde studied at Oxford and there his aesthetic conception was formulated, which placed art above life and assigned it a role in the repair of society. Already during his studies, Wilde stood out in his long hair and elegant, flamboyant style of dress, which was his trademark in his later years. In his third year he was thrown out of the university for his insolent behavior and contempt.

4.Young Gray falls in love with a young actress, Sybil and Wayne, and breaks her heart. Her heartbreak is so great that she commits suicide. When Gray looks at his portrait hanging on the wall he notices a cruel expression that appears in him and understands that his will has indeed come true.

Lord Henry lends to young Gray a book that deeply influences him and causes him to turn to hedonistic life and to perform acts contrary to morality and virtues. When time passes, Gray stays as beautiful as he was on the day of his portrait painting and his portrait, which he hides in a locked room, getting old and ugly.

On the eve of his thirty-eighth birthday, Basil Hallward visits young Gray and claims that he is notorious for his actions. Gray shows Harvard his portrait, which now looks very ugly and wicked, and Harvard, who sees the portrait as a sign of Gray’s moral decline, calls on him to ask forgiveness from God and change his actions. Gray is angry at Howard and his words and in response kills him with a knife. Gray calls his acquaintance, a chemist, and coaxes him to help him hide the body by arguing that if he refuses, Gray will reveal a great and terrible secret. The chemist sold an assistant to hide the body against his will and after a while committed suicide.

After years, the brother of Cybil Wayne, Gray’s former lover, decides to avenge his sister’s death and persecutes Gray. Finally, her brother died in an accident during a hunt.

The stormy events finally make Gray decide to change his ways and become better. He tells Lord Henry about his decision after, as a first step, he relinquished a possible relationship with a beautiful country girl. Lord Henry doubts his motives and suggests that Gray’s actions did not stem from compassion for the young woman, but out of pride and curiosity. Gray decides to check whether the good deed he has done is reflected in his picture and finds that instead of the picture going back to being as beautiful as a painting, it looks more horrific than ever. Gray ponders the possibility of confessing his actions, but finally retracts and decides to destroy his image, in which he hanged his moral decline. He tries to destroy it by stabbing a knife, the same knife in which he murdered his friend. When his servants enter the room, after this attempt, they find him lying on the floor, very old and ugly, the knife stuck in his chest and his picture as beautiful as the day it was painted.

5.The main characters-

Lord Henry Wotton– A nobleman and a close friend of Basil Hallward.

Basil Hallward–  An artist, and a friend of Lord Henry.

Sibyl Vane–  A poor, beautiful, and talented actress with whom Dorian falls in love.

James Vane–  Sibyl’s brother, a sailor bound for Australia.

6.The picture of Dorian Gray was beautiful at first, and every time he did something wrong, it got worse and worse.

7.The sentence “The picture is the mirror of the soul” says that the picture shows the soul – the more ugly the soul, the more the picture will be.

8.Reflection-  I loved to read the book – it was interesting and tense and I enjoyed reading it.
In addition, I enjoyed doing the work because it was unusual, and especially because the work is on this book.