Sebastian Golze <[e-mail]>

Summary of: "The Picture of Dorian Gray"

Basil Howard a painter draws a portrait of a young man, that becomes the
best thing he has ever done. Dorian Gray who has been painted discovers
for the first time how good he looks by seeing his portrait. Being at Basil’s
house Dorian meets Lord Henry a friend of Basil whom Basil did not want
Dorian to meet because he feared that he could steel Dorian’s purity and
innocence. Nevertheless Lord Henry and Dorian become close friends
while Dorian is impressed by Lord Henry’s hedonistic philosophy. Dorian
realizes by the conversations with Lord Henry, who says he should profit
of his beauty before it is gone, that his marvelous body will degenerate. So
he hopes that he could stay forever young and that his portrait would make
the physical changes he should. He would even give his soul away for this
wish.
Dorian meets Sybil Vane an actress that in the end of their relation
commits suicide because of him, and then the first changes in the portrait
become visible. Dorian realizes that his wish became true and leads for
years a vicious live comporting drug addiction and many relations to
women’s without losing one bit of his beauty. This whole change in his
live has always been supported by Lord Henry’s ideas. With the years
Dorian became an example for younger people trying to imitate his way of
live.
When Dorian meets the painter Basil after some years again he shows him
the picture and in a rush of anger against him, blaming him for his vicious
live kills Basil. Then he makes the corps disappear and continues his bad
live. Some day Dorian gets scruples and he realizes that he can’t continue
the way he lives so he destroys the picture and all the signs of age are
transferred from the picture to him. When he sees himself in the mirror he
commits suicide. The second part of his wish became also true he had to
give his soul for his everlasting youth.

343 Words