The Picture of Dorian Gray

After Basil Hallward paints a beautiful young mans portrait his subjects frivolous wish that the picture change and he remain the same comes true. Dorian Grays picture grows aged and corrupt while he continues to appear fresh and innocent. After he kills a young woman as surely as if I had cut her little throat with a knife Dorian Gray is surprised to find no difference in his vision or surroundings. The roses are not less lovely for all that. The birds sing just as happily in my garden. As Hallward tries to make sense of his creation his friend Lord Henry Wotton encourages Dorian in his sensual quest with any number of Wildean paradoxes including the delightful When we are happy we are always good but when we are good we are not always happy. Oscar Fingal OFlahertie Wills was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s he became one of Londons most popular playwrights. Today he is remembered for his epigrams and plays.