Dorian

• What happened in chapter 1?

  • Lord Henry visits Basil Hallward, praises the portrait Basil works on, suggesting he display it at London's Grosvenor Gallery. Basil doesn't want to exhibit the painting as he's put too much of himself into it.
  • He's obsessed with Dorian who posed for the portrait, so he's scared people could see it through the painting.
  • Henry remembers he met Dorian at his Aunt Agatha's. A servant enters telling Basil that Dorian is in the studio, Basil asks Henry not to "spoil" or influence Dorian in any way.
• What happens in chapter 2?

  • Henry and Dorian briefly talk about Aunt Agatha, he stays to watch Basil work on the portrait.
  • Dorian asks Henry if he is a bad influence. Henry answers at length, explaining all influence is bad. The purpose of human life is for individuals to express their own thoughts and passions. Dorian asks Henry to stop talking. Basil paints without noticing Dorian's introspection.
  • Dorian and Henry go into the garden, tells him that the senses can cure the soul, also urges Dorian to move into the shade so he doesn't ruin his beauty.
• What happens in chapter 2? (pt2)

  • They return to the studio. Basil finishes the portrait, and Henry admires it. Dorian, however, is struck by how sad it is that his portrait will stay young and beautiful while he ages. He makes the faustian pact here
• What happens in chapter 3?

  • Henry visits George Fermor (his uncle) to learn about Dorian's mother who ran off with a poor suitor and that both died.
  • Henry goes Aunt Agatha's, joining important people where Dorian's name comes up, and Henry lays claim to him, hoping Dorian will play piano for him.
• What happens in chapter 4?

  • Dorian goes to Henry's house and sees his wife; she recognises him from the 17 photos henry has of him at an opera, he shares his opinion which is the same as Henry's, she says a lot of people have the same opinion as henry.
  • Henry enters, he talks bad of his marriage, Dorian reveals he's in love with Sibyl Vane, she's a 'genius'.
  • Dorian said they met, when a "hideous Jew" lured him in to watch Romeo and Juliet.
  • Dorian leaves, Henry thinks about Dorian as an 'Interesting study".
  • He finds a telegram waiting from Dorian saying he and Sibyl are to be married.
• What happens in chapter 5?

  • Sibyl is enraptured by her union to Dorian, but her family has doubts about Dorian’s intentions.
  • While on a walk with her brother James, Sibyl spots Dorian, but Dorian quickly disappears.
  • James pledges that if Dorian ever hurts Sibyl, he will kill him.
• What happens in chapter 6?

  • Lord Henry tells Basil of Dorian’s plan to marry Sibyl, a fact that worries Basil because Dorian would be marrying beneath his social position.
  • When Dorian enters and tells the story of his engagement, Lord Henry defends his point of view concerning the virtues of selfishness by claiming that it is nature that dictates the pursuit of pleasure.
• What happens in chapter 7?

  • The men attend the theatre to watch Sibyl’s play, but Sibyl gives a disappointing performance. Dorian confronts Sibyl backstage, and she says that before meeting Dorian she was able to inhabit other characters, but now that she has met Dorian and has true feelings for him, she has no interest in false emotions.
  • Dorian disparages Sibyl, calls off their engagement, and returns home, where he notices that Basil’s portrait of him has changed.
• What happens in chapter 8?

  • The face on Dorian’s portrait has indeed changed, and while he tries to come up with a rational explanation, Lord Henry arrives with the news that Sibyl has committed suicide.
  • Lord Henry convinces Dorian not to go to the police or wallow in guilt, but rather appreciate her suicide as an example of undying love.
  • Dorian resolves to live a life of hedonism while his portrait incurs the marks of age and experience.
• What happens in chapter 9?

  • When Basil arrives to offer condolences, Dorian does not express any remorse.
  • Basil attempts to remove the screen covering Dorian’s painting, at which point Dorian stops him and insists that the portrait never be seen in public.
  • After Basil leaves, Dorian decides to hide the portrait.
• What happens in chapter 10?

  • Dorian locks the portrait in a room, thinking if no one sees the painting, then it bears no importance.
  • Dorian becomes entranced by a book Lord Henry lent him that confuses the boundaries between vice and virtue.
• What happens in chapter 11?

  • After years pass, Dorian maintains his youth and beauty as his soul corrupts.
  • Dorian keeps up with contemporary ideas and devotes himself to the study of beautiful things.
  • Dorian worries that someone will steal the painting.
• What happens in chapter 12?

  • Dorian encounters Basil, who warns Dorian of the many rumors being spread around him, and questions Dorian as to why so many of his friendships have ended.
  • Dorian offers to show Basil the diary of his daily life, certain that it will answer all of Basil’s questions
• What happens in chapter 13?

  • Dorian reveals the portrait to Basil, who is horrified by the change that his work has undergone, and he curses the painting and begs Dorian to pray for forgiveness.
  • Dorian stabs Basil repeatedly and hides his belongings in a secret compartment in the wall.
• What happens in chapter 14?

  • The following morning, an estranged friend of Dorian’s, Alan Campbell, arrives, and reluctantly agrees to help Dorian dispose of Basil’s body using his knowledge of chemistry.
• What happens in chapter 15?

  • Dorian leaves a party early, heads home to burn Basil’s belongings, and draws out a canister of opium.
  • At midnight, Dorian goes to a London neighborhood popular for their opium dens.
• What happens in chapter 16?

  • A woman at the opium den addresses Dorian as “Prince Charming.”
  • James Vane recalls that “Prince Charming” was Sibyl’s nickname for Dorian and he seizes Dorian from behind.
  • Dorian explains that the man James is looking for was in love with Sibyl eighteen years ago, and since Dorian has not aged, he cannot possibly be the same man. He accepts Dorian’s story, but when the woman tells James that Dorian has been visiting the dens for eighteen years, James becomes furious for having let Dorian escape.
• What happens in chapter 17?

  • Dorian faints, and he recalls seeing the face of James Vane pressed against the window.
• What happens in chapter 18?

  • Dorian joins a shooting party, and when entranced by the gracefulness of a hare, Dorian begs the party not to shoot it.
  • However, when the hare is shot, they hear the cry of a man. The man dies instantly.
  • Dorian rides to a farm where the body is kept and identifies it as that of James Vane.
• What happens in chapter 19?

  • Dorian expresses his desire to reform himself and be virtuous.
  • Lord Henry dismisses Dorian’s intentions and changes the subject to Alan Campbell’s suicide, as well as the mystery surrounding Basil’s disappearance, at which point Dorian makes Lord Henry laugh when he suggests that he was the one who murdered Basil.
• What happens in chapter 20?

  • Dorian visits the locked room to see the portrait, but after realizing that his decision to reform has not altered the painting, Dorian strikes it with a knife.
  • Dorian’s servants break into the room and discover the body of an old, wrinkled man with a knife plunged into his heart, while Dorian’s painting is unharmed.
  • Dorian’s servants examine the rings on the old man’s hands and identify him as Dorian Gray