For research purposes for my upcoming novel, I picked up The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

I’ve heard of the classic way back in school when I heard that it was a story about a handsome young man named Dorian Gray who sells his soul to the devil for eternal youth. Though I had purchased the novel out of curiosity, I never got to actually reading it until now.

I always imagined Dorian Gray to be a brooding man who sells his soul to the devil by writing a contract or something.

Boy, was I off the mark!

Summary

Here is what actually happens:

A painter named Basil Hallward paints a portrait of a handsome young man named Dorian Gray. Basil’s friend, Lord Henry, is impressed by the artwork and surprised to find that Basil won’t exhibit the portrait because he has poured “too much of [himself] in the thing,” with expression of “curious artistic idolatry” (Wilde 13). Just when the two are talking about Dorian Gray, the man himself arrives at the studio and Basil, albeit reluctantly, introduces them to one another.

Upon their encounter, Lord Henry, aka Harry, begins to influence Dorian’s way of thinking. Harry’s toxic, immoral, and conceited views slowly pollute Dorian’s innocent mind. Under Harry’s influence, Dorian declares before Basil and Henry that he would give his soul to keep his beauty and youth. He cries that he would like to have his portrait grow old and ugly in his place.

Even when Dorian’s lover, Sibyl Vane, kills herself over him, Lord Henry successfully persuades Dorian that he needn’t feel guilty. Although Dorian was responsible for her death, Lord Henry convinces Dorian that her death was just “one of the great romantic tragedies of the age.”

And Dorian being Dorian, he adopts Harry’s attitude and feels no remorse for the girl he once loved and hurt.

As Dorian’s soul corrupts, his portrait (painted and presented to him by Basil) mysteriously distorts as if reflecting his soul. (His wish has been granted.) Afraid of anyone seeing his distorted portrait (i.e. his corrupted soul), Dorian locks the painting away in an old schoolroom located above his residence where he spent much of his childhood in.

Dorian Gray’s Murder

And for years, he spends a life of excess and debauchery. Though rumors spread about his questionable lifestyle, most people, including Lord Henry and Basil, can’t believe them because of his faultless, angelic face. (His real face, the one in his portrait, rots away with age and sin.)

But when his friend/admirer Basil the painter confronts Dorian one day about the terrible rumors he heard about him, Dorian loses it and reveals his secret. He shows Basil the hideous portrait reflecting his corrupt, immoral soul. When Basil, terrified and worried, tries to convince Dorian to repent, Dorian ends up murdering him out of a sudden surge of sheer hatred.

Dorian Gray’s Downfall

After murdering Basil, Dorian Gray commits even more crimes as he blackmails Alan Campbell, a chemist he was once friends with, into getting rid of the corpse with nitric acid. It’s also implied that he has lived corrupting the lives of his other male friends and tarnishing the reputations of ladies.

Dorian tries to push away the guilt of killing his friend by spending time with Lord Henry and other companions. He goes as far as to smoking opium to forget but becomes paranoid after running into his ex lover’s brother, James Vane, in the opium den. Dorian is stalked and hunted by Sibyl’s brother, but luckily escapes death when James Vane is accidentally shot by Dorian’s acquaintance.

After the near-death experience, Dorian tries to live differently, hoping that his good deeds will undo his portrait’s horrible disfiguration. But the painting remains unchanged. It even looks worse with blood-like stains on the portrait’s fingers and feet. The portrait being the only evidence against all his sins, Dorian tries to destroy it with the knife he used to murder Basil.

But somehow he and the portrait switch places and Dorian Gray ends up killing himself.

Review

I honestly did not expect much from this novel. As mentioned in the beginning, I only picked it up because I had once purchased it out of curiosity and it somehow seemed relevant for the manuscript I’m currently working on.

But The Picture of Dorian Gray was a wild, addicting literary ride! I could not put the book down. When I did, I could not wait to get back to it to find out what happens.

Oscar Wilde is a talented writer, with easy-to-read, flowing verses of vivid imagery and his many philosophies on everything. He had much to say in his uniquely dark novel of explicit LGBTQ elements.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is an intriguing murder mystery thriller about an immature, impressionable brat (i.e. Dorian Gray) with good looks who murders a fangirling painter (i.e. Basil Hallward) obsessed with him after letting a pompous, conceited man of immoral philosophies (i.e. Lord Henry Wotton) influence him.

Avoid Bad Friends Like Lord Henry

Wikipedia labels the novel as “philosophical,” and I couldn’t agree more. It’s jam-packed with the grotesque, perverted philosophies of Lord Henry that was sometimes a pain to read page after page. On top of the never-ending hedonistic blabbers of the aristocrat, the author himself uses the first-person and second-person points of view at times to talk directly about his own philosophies.

But my main takeaway from this novel was its warning against bad companions. Dorian Gray was an innocent, promising young man who, by choosing to listen to and spend time with Henry Wotton, changed for the worse. He believed everything “Harry” said, which were untrue, prejudiced, oversimplified, narrow-minded, hedonistic, selfish, or rubbish in some other way. Dorian also let his bad influence of a friend recommend him a decadent novel, which also shaped his amoral life. Lord Henry’s words and the book he recommended ultimately led to Dorian’s sinful life of regret, paranoia, and suicide.

Plus Those Like Basil

And I think the painter, Basil Hallward, was also not a good influence on Dorian Gray. Not because he was amoral like Harry, but because he was OBSESSED with Dorian. Basil was so in love with Dorian Gray’s youthful beauty that he idolized him. Though Dorian Gray IS to blame for his vanity and corruption, I kind of agree with Dorian’s pathetic blame on Basil. The painter’s obsession and praise for Dorian’s beauty and Lord Henry’s hedonistic influence combined led to Dorian’s fear of growing “old and ugly.” Which started the whole mess.

However, The Author’s Message Is Unclear

But considering Wilde’s life and opinions revealed in the novel, I don’t think bad friendship is the actual message. And since the novel was censored, I don’t think Wilde wrote it to warn against friends like Harry or Basil. I have a hunch that Wilde wrote it to explore taboo themes in Victorian England.

My Conclusion For Now

The message I experienced while reading the Barnes & Noble Classics edition was “choose your friends wisely.” (In addition to “be careful what you wish for.”) And I couldn’t agree more. I would personally go as far as to say that it’s better to have no friends at all than to have bad ones. Because instead of wasting time and energy on negative people, one can use them to care for oneself. And instead of surrounding oneself with those who obsess over or idolize one, one can use the time to improve oneself.

I say, choose self-care and self-improvement over toxic friendships. Don’t let a Lord Henry or a Basil influence you. Live your life fully with prudence and age with grace.

What are your thoughts on The Picture of Dorian Gray?

P.S. Upon research, I came across several movie and TV adaptions of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Here they are, in chronological order:

The 1910s Silent Films:

• Danish version (1910) directed by Axel Strom.
• American version (1913) directed by Phillips Smalley.
• Another American version (1915) directed by Eugene Moore.
• British version (1916) by Fred W. Durrant.
• Russian version (1916) by Vsevolod Meyerhold and Mikhail Doronin.
• German version (1917) by Richard Oswald.
• Hungarian version (1918) by Alfréd Deésy.

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)

Directed by Albert Lewin, this 1945 movie adaptation stars Hurd Hatfield as Dorian Gray and George Sanders as Lord Henry Wotton. Here is the original theatrical trailer:

What’s interesting about this version is that it features Basil Hallward’s niece, Gladys, who isn’t in the original plot and also showcases portraits of Dorian Gray painted by real artists, Ivan Le Lorraine Albright and Henrique Medina.

The film was nominated for multiple awards, including two Academy Awards, and won two Golden Globes (for Best Cinematography and Best Supporting Actress) and a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. Considering the cast, the original paintings by the artists and just the overall effort and quality, it’s no surprise that this version has won all these awards AND is the favored movie adaptation of many!

Portrait of Hurd Hatfield as Dorian Gray (Left) by the Portuguese painter Henrique Medina. Picture of Dorian Gray (Right) by the American artist Ivan Albright. It is said that it took him about a year to complete the portrait of the decayed Dorian Gray.

The 1970s Dorian Gray Film & TV Shows

Multiple adaptations of the classic emerged during the 1970s. They’re all in color and feature Dorian Grays as he is described in the novel: with blonde hair and blue eyes.

• The Evils of Dorian Gray aka The Secret of Dorian Gray aka Dorian Gray (1970)

• The Picture of Dorian Gray (The 1973 TV Movie)

• “The Picture of Dorian Gray” from the BBC One TV Series Play of the Month (1976)

Dorian Gray (2009)

In addition to the 1910s and 1970s, there was a surge of adaptations in the 2000s as well. But I think none garnered as much public attention as the 2009 version directed by Oliver Parker. It showcases a cast well known to the younger public today, namely Colin Firth and Ben Barnes.

The actor playing Dorian Gray is none other than Ben Barnes, who is best known for his epic role as Prince Caspian in the second Narnia movie.

I haven’t watched the 2009 Dorian Gray yet, despite it being one of the most well-known, recent adaptations of the novel. I did watch the trailer for it. The handsome Ben Barnes looks like Dorian Gray even though he has darker features. And like the acclaimed 1945 version and its Gladys, they added another character not in the book: Lord Henry’s daughter, Emily, played by Rebecca Hall.

But honestly, it doesn’t look that interesting. I think there is a limit to what the plot of The Picture of Dorian Gray can do in feature films or TV series. Especially for viewers who know the plot already from watching other adaptations or reading the source novel itself.

Comics & Graphic Novels

Lastly but not least, here are the different Japanese, Korean and English graphic novels based on/about The Picture of Dorian Gray: