The Picture of Dorian Gray The Picture of Dorian Gray The Picture of Dorian Gray is a Gothic and philosophical novel by Oscar Wilde, first published complete in the July 1890 issue of "Lippincott's Monthly Magazine". Fearing the story was indecent, the magazine's editor without Wilde's knowledge deleted roughly five hundred words before publication. Despite that censorship, "The Picture of Dorian Gray" offended the moral sensibilities of British book reviewers, some of whom said that Oscar Wilde merited prosecution for violating the laws guarding the public morality. In response, Wilde aggressively defended his novel and art in correspondence with the British press, although he personally
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945 film) and heartless life. Years later, Dorian Gray is forty but looks twenty-two, unchanged from when Hallward painted the portrait. London society is awestruck at his unchanging appearance. Over eighteen years of pointless debauchery, the portrait has remained locked away, with Gray holding the only key. Gray has become paranoid no others see the portrait and he repeatedly fires servants who are too inquisitive. Over the years, the portrait of the young, handsome, Dorian Gray has warped into a hideous, demon-like creature reflecting Dorian's sins. Basil Hallward, the painter, eventually sees his painting. Shocked at its disfigurement, scarred "as if some