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Characters
In a letter, Wilde said the main characters are reflections of himself: В«Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry what the world thinks me: Dorian what I would like to be-in other ages, perhaps В».
The main characters are:
· Dorian Gray - a handsome young man who becomes enthralled with Lord Henry's idea of ​​a new hedonism. He begins to indulge in every kind of pleasure, moral and immoral. p> · Basil Hallward - an artist who becomes infatuated with Dorian's beauty. Dorian helps Basil to realise his artistic potential, as Basil's portrait of Dorian proves to be his finest work. p> · Lord Henry «Harry» Wotton - a nobleman who is a friend to Basil initially, but later becomes more intrigued with Dorian's beauty and naivete. Extremely witty, Lord Henry is seen as a critique of Victorian culture at the end of the century, espousing a view of indulgent hedonism. He conveys to Dorian his world view, and Dorian becomes corrupted as he attempts to emulate him.
The other characters are:
В· Sibyl Vane - An exceptionally talented and beautiful (Though extremely poor) actress with whom Dorian falls in love. Her love for Dorian destroys her acting ability, as she no longer finds pleasure in portraying fictional love when she is experiencing love in reality.
В· James Vane - Sibyl's brother who is to become a sailor and leave for Australia. He is extremely protective of his sister, especially as his mother is useless and concerned only with Dorian's money. He is hesitant to leave his sister, believing Dorian will harm her and promises to be vengeful if any harm should come to her.
В· Alan Campbell - a chemist and once a good friend of Dorian; he ended their friendship when Dorian's reputation began to come into question.
В· Lord Fermor - Lord Henry's uncle. He informs Lord Henry about Dorian's lineage.
В· Victoria, Lady Henry Wotton - Lord Henry's wife, who only appears once in the novel while Dorian waits for Lord Henry; she later divorces Lord Henry in exchange for a pianist.
In his preface, Wilde writes about Caliban, a character from Shakespeare's play The Tempest. When Dorian is telling Lord Henry Wotton about his new 'Love', Sibyl Vane, he refers to all of the Shakespearean plays she has been in, referring to her as the heroine of each play. At a later time, he speaks of his life by quoting Hamlet, who has similarly driven his girlfriend to suicide and her brother to swear revenge.
Literary significance
The Picture of Dorian Gray began as a short novel submitted to Lippincott's Monthly Magazine. In 1889, J.M. Stoddart, a proprietor for Lippincott, was in London to solicit short novels for the magazine. Wilde submitted the first version of The Picture of Dorian Gray , which was published on 20 June 1890 in the July edition of Lippincott's. There was a delay in getting Wilde's work to press while numerous changes were made to the novel. Some of these changes were made at Wilde's instigation, and some at Stoddart's. Wilde removed all references to the fictitious book В«Le Secret de Raoul В», and to its fictitious author, Catulle Sarrazin. The book and its author are still referred to in the published versions of the novel, but are unnamed.
Wilde also attempted to moderate some of the more homoerotic instances in the book or instances whereby the intentions of the characters may be misconstrued. In the 1890 edition, Basil tells Henry how he В«worshipsВ» Dorian, and begs him not to В«take away the one person that makes my life absolutely lovely to me.В» The focus for Basil in the 1890 edition seems to be more towards love, whereas the Basil of the 1891 edition cares more for his art, saying В«the one person who gives my art whatever charm it may possess: my life as an artist depends on him. В»The book was also extended greatly: the original thirteen chapters became twenty, and the final chapter was divided into two new chapters. The additions involved the В«fleshing out of Dorian as a characterВ» and also provided details about his ancestry, which helped to make his В«psychological collapse more prolonged and more convincing. В»The character of James Vane was also introduced, which helped to elaborate upon Sibyl Vane's character and background; the addition of the character helped to emphasise and foreshadow Dorian's selfish ways, as James sees through Dorian's character, and guesses upon his future dishonourable actions. Another notable change is that in the latter half of the novel events were specified as taking place around Dorian Gray's 32nd birthday, on 7 November. After the changes, they were specified as taking place around Doria...
