Dorian Gray
Oscar Wilde · 1891
This book is rated Ages 13+. It isn't available on your library card.
In a rose-scented London studio, a painter finishes the portrait of a young man of dazzling beauty, and a witty, dangerous lord whispers to him that youth is the only thing worth having. Dorian Gray makes a careless wish that the picture should grow old instead of him, and soon he begins to suspect that the wish has been granted.
A gothic tale of vanity and conscience, with two suicides, a murder and a death. Each is shown by the moment before or after, with shadow and stillness and never anything gruesome. The opium den is shown as murky atmosphere only.
Characters
Dorian Gray
A golden-haired youth of dazzling beauty who wishes, before his own portrait, that the picture might grow old in his place.
Lord Henry
A languid, witty aristocrat whose dangerous epigrams about youth and pleasure set out to shape Dorian like an experiment.
Basil Hallward
An earnest, devoted painter who has put too much of himself into his portrait of Dorian to ever exhibit it.
Sibyl Vane
A poor, gifted seventeen-year-old actress playing Juliet in a shabby theatre, who falls in love with her Prince Charming.
James Vane
Sibyl's rough, protective brother, bound for Australia, who swears vengeance on any man who wrongs his sister.
About the story
In a sunlit London studio, the painter Basil Hallward has just finished a portrait of Dorian Gray, a young man of startling beauty. Basil's friend Lord Henry Wotton is a witty talker with a taste for daring ideas. He tells Dorian that youth is the only thing worth having and that beauty fades quickly. Looking at the finished painting, Dorian makes a reckless wish: that the picture might grow old while he stays young.
The story follows Dorian through Victorian London, from Mayfair libraries and society lunches to a shabby theatre in the East End. He falls under Lord Henry's influence and falls in love with Sibyl Vane, a seventeen-year-old actress who plays Shakespeare's heroines night after night. Along the way the book asks hard questions about vanity, influence, pleasure and conscience, and about what a beautiful face can hide.
This is Oscar Wilde's only novel. It caused a scandal when it first appeared in 1890, and Wilde revised and expanded it for the 1891 book edition. Readers still come back to it for its sparkling, endlessly quoted dialogue, its gothic atmosphere and its sharp look at a society that cared most about appearances. Its central image, a portrait that keeps a secret, has become one of the best-known ideas in English literature.
This is a condensed picture-book retelling in 72 illustrated pages, with about 25 minutes of narration by a synthetic voice; the pictures are AI illustrations made for this edition. Wilde's full original text is in the public domain, free to read, and well worth reading for its wit and detail.
Adapted from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1891), public domain.
Questions
What is The Picture of Dorian Gray about?
A handsome young man in Victorian London has his portrait painted and wishes that the painting could age instead of him. The novel follows what happens as he falls under the influence of the witty, cynical Lord Henry Wotton.
Who is the main character?
Dorian Gray, a wealthy and very good-looking young man. The other key characters are Basil Hallward, the painter who adores him, and Lord Henry Wotton, whose ideas about youth and pleasure shape him.
Is The Picture of Dorian Gray suitable for children or teens?
This edition is rated 13+. The story deals with dark moral themes, cruelty, violence and death, and its tone becomes unsettling, though nothing is shown graphically. Most teens can handle it, but it is not meant for young children.
How long does this edition take?
About 25 minutes of narration across 72 illustrated pages, so most people finish it in one sitting.
Is this the full book?
No. It is a condensed retelling that keeps the main story and some of Wilde's famous lines. The complete 1891 novel is in the public domain and free to read.
Read the text version: every page's caption, with its picture, on one page.
