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Cover of The Picture of Dorian Gray

Gothic

The Picture of Dorian Gray

A Victorian dandy turns to a life of debauchery after a magical portrait stops him from aging.

First published
1890
Length
79,081 words
Reading time
About 5 hr 30 min
Language
English (UK)

About the book

The Picture of Dorian Gray was first published as a serial in Lippencott’s Monthly Magazine , and the publishers thought it would so offend readers that they removed nearly 500 words without Wilde’s approval. Wilde soon expanded it and republished it as a novel, including a short preface justifying his art. Even though his contemporaries considered it so offensive that some argued for his prosecution, Dorian Gray today survives as a classic philosophical novel that explores themes of aestheticism and double lives. Couched in Wilde’s trademark cutting wit, Dorian Gray is still being adapted today, with Dorian and his moldering portrait remaining cultural touchstones.

First published 1890.

The Read4Max reading text contains approximately 79,081 words arranged in 22 navigable sections.

About the author

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) is described by Wikidata as Irish poet, playwright, and aesthete (1854-1900), with citizenship or national association recorded as United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Ireland, United Kingdom, and France.

Recorded occupations include poet, playwright, short story writer, children's writer, novelist, and writer. Languages recorded for Oscar Wilde include English, French, Latin, Ancient Greek, and German. The structured record associates Oscar Wilde with Aestheticism and Decadent movement. Wikidata lists The Importance of Being Earnest, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Canterville Ghost, The Soul of Man under Socialism, and The Ballad of Reading Gaol among Oscar Wilde's notable works. Open Library identifies The Picture of Dorian Gray as a leading work in its author record. Open Library catalogs 5546 works under this author record. The Read4Max catalog currently includes A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband, Children’s Stories, Lady Windermere’s Fan, Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories, Poetry, and The Importance of Being Earnest under Oscar Wilde's authorship.

Reading options

  • A complete text with direct section navigation in the browser reader.
  • A downloadable EPUB for phones, tablets, desktop reading apps, and compatible ereaders.
  • Book and contributor metadata are checked against the source edition before indexing.

Themes and ideas

  • Appearance (Philosophy)--Fiction
  • Conduct of life--Fiction
  • Portraits--Fiction

Table of contents

Open reader
Show all 22 sections
  1. Preface
  2. The Picture of Dorian Gray
  3. I
  4. II
  5. III
  6. IV
  7. V
  8. VI
  9. VII
  10. VIII
  11. IX
  12. X
  13. XI
  14. XII
  15. XIII
  16. XIV
  17. XV
  18. XVI
  19. XVII
  20. XVIII
  21. XIX
  22. XX