Enamoured by the beauty of Dorian Gray, the sensitive artist Basil Hallward paints in oil a full-length portrait of the protagonist. Sitting there Gray listens to the hedonistic worldviews of Hallward s friend Lord Henry Wotton and wants to stay young forever to pursue his epicurean ideals. He wishes his portrait to age instead of himself. Later. when he dumps his actress friend Sybil Vane, Gray notices a change of expression in his portrait. He knows that his wish has been granted. Now nothing will keep him from leading the life of a libertine.
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a tour de force in which Wilde intricately explores the idea of “art for art s sake.” Published in 1890, it is his only novel and arguably his best work.