The Picture of Dorian Gray "psychological collapse more prolonged and more convincing." The introduction of the James Vane character to the story develops the socio-economic background of the Sibyl Vane character, thus emphasising Dorian's selfishness and foreshadowing James's accurate perception of the essentially immoral character of Dorian Gray; thus, he correctly deduced Dorian’s dishonourable intent towards Sibyl. The sub-plot about James Vane's dislike of Dorian gives the novel a Victorian tinge of class struggle. With such textual changes, Oscar Wilde meant to diminish the moralistic controversy about the novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray". Consequent to the harsh criticism of the magazine edition of the
The Picture of Dorian Gray made excisions of some of the most controversial material when revising and lengthening the story for book publication the following year. The longer and revised version of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" published in book form in 1891 featured an aphoristic preface—a defence of the artist's rights and of art for art's sake—based in part on his press defences of the novel the previous year. The content, style, and presentation of the preface made it famous in its own right, as a literary and artistic manifesto. In April 1891, the publishing firm of Ward, Lock and Company, who had distributed