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Most classics reach us in a single, settled form. "The Picture of Dorian Gray" does not. Oscar Wilde published it twice, a year apart, and the two versions are different enough that it is worth knowing which one you are holding. That small fact says a lot about the book: it caused trouble from the moment it appeared, and a year later its author brought it out again, longer and with a new preface.
If you have only met Dorian Gray through films, television, or the general idea of a portrait that ages in someone's place, the novel itself is worth your time. Here is what to know before you open it, with nothing given away past the opening chapters.
The author, and the story of two versions
Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin on 16 October 1854. He studied at Trinity College Dublin and then at Magdalen College, Oxford, and he died in Paris on 30 November 1900, aged 46. He was one of the best-known voices of Aestheticism, the late nineteenth-century movement, centred in Britain, that valued beauty above moral lessons or practical use and took "art for art's sake" as its motto.
Wilde wrote fairy tales ("The Happy Prince and Other Tales," 1888), a play in French ("Salome," 1891), and comedies, among them "Lady Windermere's Fan" (1892) and "The Importance of Being Earnest" (1895). "The Picture of Dorian Gray" is his only novel.
It first appeared as a shorter, thirteen-chapter story in the July 1890 issue of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine. Even before it was printed, the magazine's editor, J. M. Stoddart, had quietly removed around five hundred words without telling Wilde. Even so, reviewers were offended. The Daily Chronicle warned that the book would taint the minds of young readers, and the bookseller W. H. Smith pulled the issue from its railway bookstalls.
In April 1891, Ward, Lock & Company published the book-length version. Wilde had expanded it from thirteen chapters to twenty and added a preface, a short set of statements about art that had first run in The Fortnightly Review.
Which version should you read?
For a first reading, the 1891 novel is a good place to start. It is the one you can read free at Project Gutenberg, preface and all, and with seven more chapters than the magazine text, it gives the story and its characters more room. When you buy a print edition, check the front matter: a book with twenty chapters and a preface is the 1891 text.
If you become curious about how the book changed, look for the 1890 magazine text, which is shorter. There is also a 2011 edition from Belknap Press that restores the passages Stoddart cut before publication. With the 1890, 1891, and 2011 texts all in existence, check the introduction or the note on the text before you buy.
Whichever you pick, read the preface. It is short.
Where the story begins
Think of the opening chapters as a scene for three people and one picture.
The painter. Basil Hallward has just finished a full-length portrait of a strikingly beautiful young man. He knows it is good, and he will not show it to anyone. He has put too much of himself into it, he says, and Dorian has come to mean more to his art than he wants the world to see.
The talker. Lord Henry Wotton, Basil's friend, lounges on a divan in the studio, smoking and making clever, cynical remarks. He calls the portrait Basil's best work and urges him to send it to an exhibition. Basil refuses.
The sitter. Then Dorian Gray himself arrives. Basil would rather Lord Henry went home; Dorian asks him to stay. In the garden, Lord Henry tells the young man that youth is the only thing worth having, that beauty outranks intellect, and that life should be lived to the full before time catches up. Dorian is charmed and unsettled in equal measure.
The picture. Back in front of the finished canvas, Dorian sees himself as Basil has painted him, and the thought of growing old while the painting stays the same becomes unbearable. He says his wish out loud: let the picture age instead of him.
That is where the door opens. What lies on the other side is for you to discover.
What makes it worth reading
The talk is dazzling. Wilde was a playwright, and it shows. The conversations crackle with paradox and wit, and Lord Henry in particular has a gift for saying outrageous things that are uncomfortably hard to dismiss. You may come for the premise and stay for the dialogue.
It is a novel of ideas in a Gothic mood. The book is classed as philosophical fiction, as Gothic fiction, and as decadent literature. Decadence was a late nineteenth-century movement, first flourishing in France, that prized sensual pleasure, artifice, and extravagance over nature and logic, and Wilde was one of its leading figures in Britain. In the opening chapters, the question on the table is simple: what are youth and beauty worth?
The premise fits in one sentence. A young man wishes that his portrait would grow old in his place. That single idea has carried the story into film, theatre, audio drama, and television, from the 1945 film to the series "Penny Dreadful." The novel lets you meet the idea where it started.
Who will enjoy it
This is a natural choice for readers who know Wilde from his comedies and want to see what he did with a novel. It suits anyone who enjoys Gothic fiction but prefers wit to gore, and book clubs that like a classic with plenty to argue about. Readers who have seen one of the adaptations will find that the novel's first pleasure is its talk, which no screen version can fully carry.
Start on that summer afternoon in the studio, and listen closely to what is said in the garden.
Sources
- Wikipedia, "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (Wilde's only novel; classed as philosophical fiction, Gothic fiction, and decadent literature; shorter version in the July 1890 issue of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, first printed on 20 June 1890; about 500 words cut by editor J. M. Stoddart without Wilde's knowledge; reviewers offended even after the cuts, including the Daily Chronicle of 30 June 1890 saying the book would taint young minds; W. H. Smith withdrawing the issue from its railway bookstalls; the April 1891 Ward, Lock & Company edition expanded from thirteen to twenty chapters with a new preface; the preface first appearing in The Fortnightly Review; the 2011 Belknap Press edition restoring the cut text; the opening setup; adaptations including a 1913 stage version, the 1945 film, 2013 audio dramas, and Penny Dreadful) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Picture_of_Dorian_Gray
- Wikipedia, "Oscar Wilde" (full name; birth on 16 October 1854 in Dublin; death on 30 November 1900 in Paris, aged 46; Trinity College Dublin and Magdalen College, Oxford; leading figure of Aestheticism; dates of The Happy Prince and Other Tales, Salome, Lady Windermere's Fan, and The Importance of Being Earnest; Salome written in French in Paris in 1891; described as author, poet, and playwright) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Wilde
- Wikipedia, "Aestheticism" (late 19th-century movement centred in Britain; valued beauty over moral or practical purpose; slogan "art for art's sake"; Wilde as a prominent supporter) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aestheticism
- Project Gutenberg, "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (free text with the preface and twenty chapters; chapter 1: a London studio on a summer afternoon, Basil Hallward's finished full-length portrait, Lord Henry Wotton lying on a divan smoking, his witty and cynical talk, his calling the portrait Basil's best work and urging him to exhibit it, Basil's refusal because he has put too much of himself into it; chapter 2: Basil asking Lord Henry to leave and Dorian asking him to stay, the conversation about youth and beauty in the garden, and Dorian's wish before the finished picture) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/174
- Wikipedia, "Decadent movement" (late 19th-century movement first flourishing in France, prizing sensual pleasure, artifice, and extravagance over nature and logic; Wilde as a leading decadent figure in Britain) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decadent_movement