The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde's Only Novel: The Picture of Dorian Gray stands as the sole novel Oscar Wilde ever wrote. He focused primarily on poetry, plays, and essays throughout his career. This makes the book even more remarkable as his singular venture into long-form fiction.

Inspired By A Portrait Sitting: Wilde got the idea for the story in December 1887 when a Canadian artist named Frances Richards painted his portrait. After seeing it, he jokingly remarked what a tragedy it was that the portrait would never age while he would. The moment he said it, he realized what a perfect plot it would make.

Published For Twenty-Five Cents: The first version appeared in the July 1890 issue of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine and sold for just twenty-five cents to American readers. It was a cheaply printed novella before becoming a proper book.

Censored Before Publication: Editor J.M. Stoddart deleted around 500 words from Wilde's original manuscript without his permission before the magazine publication. These cuts removed homoerotic content and references to Dorian's lovers as "mistresses." Wilde didn't see these changes until the story appeared in print.

Received 216 Negative Reviews: During just the first month after publication, the novella received 216 negative reviews. Critics called it "unclean," "poisonous," "nauseous," and said it had "mephitic odours of moral and spiritual putrefaction."

Expanded From Thirteen To Twenty Chapters: After the backlash, Wilde revised and expanded the story significantly. He added six new chapters when the book version was published in April 1891. The additions helped dilute the perceived immorality and homoerotic themes.

Used As Evidence Against Wilde: The book was used as evidence during Wilde's 1895 trial for "gross indecency." Prosecutors read passages aloud in court to portray him as immoral. The novel became a weapon to turn the public and jury against him.

Wilde Identified With All Three Characters: Wilde famously said the novel "contains much of me." He explained that Basil Hallward is "what I think I am," Lord Henry is "what the world thinks me," and Dorian is "what I would like to be in other ages, perhaps."

Famous Preface Added Later: The preface, now famous as a manifesto for art for art's sake, was written after the initial criticism. Wilde published it first in The Fortnightly Review, then included it in the 1891 book edition. It contains his celebrated line "All art is quite useless."

Mostly Ignored Until The 1980s: The novel was considered "unworthy" of critical attention for decades. Even renowned critic Richard Ellmann wrote that "parts of the novel are wooden, padded, self-indulgent." Only from the 1980s onward did scholars begin reassessing it as a masterpiece.

Dinner That Changed Literature: On August 30, 1889, editor J.M. Stoddart dined with Oscar Wilde and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at the Langham Hotel. He commissioned novellas from both writers. Doyle submitted The Sign of the Four, while Wilde delivered Dorian Gray seven months later.

Self-Censorship In The Manuscript: Even before the editor's cuts, Wilde censored himself while writing. In the original manuscript, he changed words like "beauty" to "good looks" and "passion" to "feeling" when describing Basil's admiration for Dorian. He crossed out Basil's confession about holding Dorian's hand.

Original Typescript At UCLA: The earliest surviving manuscript, with Wilde's handwritten additions, is housed at UCLA's William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. It remained largely forgotten except by scholars until Harvard's Belknap Press published an annotated, uncensored edition in 2011.