Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray

"As he was turning the handle of the door, his eye fell upon the portrait Basil Hallward had painted of him. He started back as if in surprise. Then he went on into his own room, looking somewhat puzzled. After he had taken the button-hole out of his coat, he seemed to hesitate. Finally, he came back, went over to the picture, and examined it. In the dim arrested light that struggled through the cream-coloured silk blinds, the face appeared to him to be a little changed. The expression looked different. One would have said that there was a touch of cruelty in the mouth. It was certainly strange." Dorian Gray is the subject of a full-length portrait in oil by Basil Hallward, an artist who is impressed and infatuated by Dorian's beauty. Understanding that his beauty will fade, Dorian Gray expresses the desire to sell his soul, to ensure that the picture, rather than he, will age and fade. The wish is granted, and Dorian Gray pursues a life of amoral experiences, while staying young and beautiful. All the while his portrait - the picture of Dorian Gray - ages and records every sin. "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde was first published in 1890. The young bohemian Dorian Gray is the subject of a full-length portrait in oil by Basil Hallward, an artist who is impressed and infatuated by Dorian's beauty. Through Basil, Dorian Gray meets Lord Henry Wotton, and he soon is enthralled by the aristocrat's hedonistic world view: that beauty and sensual fulfilment are the only things worth pursuing in life. "The Picture of Dorian Gray" is the only novel written by Oscar Wilde.