The Picture of Dorian Gray

While posing for a painting by his friend Basil Hallward Noah Segan, handsome young aristocrat Dorian Gray David Gallagher meets Hallward’s friend Lord Henry Wotton, who persuades Gray that the only worthwhile life is dedicated to pleasure, because what the gods give they quickly take away.

what the gods give they quickly take away.

Moved by this philosophy, Gray wishes that his portrait could age instead of him, a wish he makes in the presence of an Egyptian cat statue said to possess magical powers.

After Gray callously breaks off his engagement to tavern singer Sibyl Vane, Gray finds the portrait has begun to change and wonders if his wish may have come true. He locks the painting away in his old schoolroom, discreetly disguising its location by firing the servants who moved it, while Gray, after Sibyl’s suicide, becomes more devoted to a sinful and heartless life.

Years pass, and Gray is forty but still looks twenty-two. London society is awestruck by his unchanging appearance, and the locked-away portrait remains a secret kept by Gray, who holds the only key. Over the years, the portrait of the once-young, handsome Dorian Gray has warped into a demon-like reflection of his sins. When Basil Hallward confronts the truth of Gray’s corruption, Gray murders his friend and seals his body in the schoolroom next to the portrait, then blackmails his friend Allen Campbell to dispose of Hallward’s body. Campbell, overwhelmed by guilt, commits suicide.

Gray soon begins a romance with Hallward’s niece, Gladys. James Vane, Sibyl’s brother, follows Gray to his country estate to seek revenge for Sibyl’s death and is shot by accident during a hunting party.

Despairing at the harm he’s caused, Gray decides to spare Gladys from further misfortune by leaving her. He sends a letter breaking their engagement and then faces the portrait, hoping to see a change. The portrait shows a subtle improvement, and in a fateful confrontation he stabs the portrait in the heart, crying out as if he has himself been pierced. When his friends burst into the schoolroom, they find Gray dead beside the painting, his deformed body mirroring his sins, while the portrait, in a final turn, returns to show Dorian Gray as a young, innocent man.

Last Updated: October 14, 2025 at 04:07