'women are a decorative sex' 'women remain slaves looking for their masters' 'a man can be happy with any woman, as long as he does not love her' 'the husbands of very beautiful women belong to the criminal classes' 'the only way a woman can ever reform a man is by boring him so completely he loses all interest in life' 'Men marry because they are tired; women, because they are curious: both are disappointed'

Quotes about women

'Callous, concentrated on evil, with stained mind, Dorian hastened on' 'they say he has sold himself to the devil for a pretty face' 'each of us has heaven and hell in him' 'you have such a wonderful influence. Let it be for good not evil' (BH) 'Dorian Gray had been poisoned by a book'

Quotes about evil

'Dorian watched with listless eyes the sordid shame of the great city' 'There were opium dens, where one could by oblivion, where the memory of old sins could be destroyed by the madness of sins that were anew' 'The wind had blown the fog away, and the sky was like a monstrous peacock's tail' 'The sullen murmur of the bees shouldering their way through the long unmown grass, or circling with monotonous insistence round the dusty gilt horns of the straggling woodbine, seemed to make the stillness more oppressive. The dim roar of London was like the bourdon note of a distant organ'

Quotes about location

'the only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it' 'he had mad hungers that grew more ravenous as he fed them' 'some love might come across his life and purify him' (D) 'Harry, why is it that I cannot feel this tragedy as much as I want to?' 'His sudden mad love for Sibyl Vane was a psychological phenomenon of no small interest' 'I love Sibyl Vane. I want to place her on a pedestal of gold and to see the world worship the woman who is mine'

Quotes about desire/love

'youth had spoiled him' 'the soul is a terrible reality. it can be bought and sold and bartered away' 'ugliness was the one reality' 'you have gone from corruption to corruption' (Alan) 'sin is something that writes itself across a man's face'

Quotes about corruption/decay

'An exclamation of horror broke from the painter's lips as he saw in the dim light the hideous face on the canvas grinning at him' 'for years Dorian Gray could not free himself from the influence of this book' 'If one does not talk about a thing it never happened' (D) 'Only shallow people require years to get rid of an emotion' (D) 'To become the spectator of one's life is to escape the suffering of life' (D)

Quotes about pain/suffering

'Death is the only thing that terrifies me. I hate it' (LH) 'The dead linger sometimes. The man upstairs will not go away' (D) 'Dorian Gray glanced at the picture, and suddenly an uncontrollable feeling of hatred for BH came over him' 'he stood bending over the balustrade, peering down into the black seething well of darkness'

Quotes about the supernatural

Basil entertains Lord Henry, telling him how meaningful Dorian has become to him

Chapter One Summary

"An artist should create beautiful things, but should put nothing of his own life into them"

Chapter One Key Quotes

Henry and Dorian meet causing Dorian to introspect, Dorian is saddened by his portrait staying young while he ages

Chapter Two Summary

Henry discusses Dorian's background with Lord George, where Henry decides to 'dominate' Dorian and make 'that wonderful spirit his own'

Chapter Three Summary

Henry discusses marriage and Dorian proclaims his love for Sibyl Vane

Chapter Four Summary

Sibyl tells her family of her love for Dorian, James is established as a threat to Dorian

Chapter Five Summary

Dorian is engaged and kisses Sibyl after her performance as Rosalind/Juliet, Henry asserts that pleasure is the only worthy pursuit

Chapter Six Summary

Sibyl acts Juliet poorly now she has felt reality of love, Dorian tells her she has killed his love which creates cruel expression on face of the portrait

Chapter Seven Summary

Sibyl has committed suicide and Dorian attempts to save his soul by making it up to her but it is too late

Chapter Eight Summary

Dorian now leads an artistic life, Basil confesses his feelings for Dorian, Dorian hides the painting

Chapter 9 Summary

"It is not in you, Dorian to commit a murder, crime belongs exclusively to the lower orders" (LH) 'For the wonderful beauty that had so fascinated Basil Hallward, seemed never to leave him'

Dorian Gray Quotes

'The only horrible thing in the world Dorian is ennui, that is the one sin for which there is no forgiveness' 'You cut your life to pieces with epigrams' (D) 'I choose my friends for their good looks, my acquaintances for their good characters and my enemies for their good intellects' 'Harry spends his days in saying what is incredible and his evenings in doing what is improbable' 'You would sacrifice anybody, Harry, for the sake of an epigram' 'pleasure is the only thing worth having a theory about'

Lord Henry Quotes

'can they feel I wonder, those white silent people we call the dead?' (D) 'There is something to me quite beautiful about her death' (LH) 'You said to me that Sibyl Vane represented all the heroines of romance... don't waste your tears on Sibyl Vane, she was less real than they are' (LH) 'Dorian Gray falls in love with a girl who acts Juliet' 'your voice and the voice of Sibyl Vane are two things that I shall never forget. When I close my eyes, I hear them, and each of them says something different.' 'She is all the great heroines of the world in one. She is more than an individual'

Sybil Vane Quotes

'Yes Basil could have helped him. But it was too late now' (D) 'I was dominated, soul, brain and power by you' 'Don't...pay any attention to what Lord Henry says. He has a very bad influence over all his friends' 'Your rank and wealth, Harry; my brains, such as they are - my art, whatever it may be worth; Dorian Gray's good looks - we shall all suffer for what the gods have given us, suffer terribly'

Basil Hallward Quotes

Chapter Ten Summary

Chapter Eleven Summary

Chapter Twelve Summary

Chapter 13 Summary

Chapter 14 Summary

Chapter 15 Summary

Chapter 16 Summary

Chapter 17 Summary

Chapter 18 Summary

Chapter 19 Summary

Chapter 20 Summary