[Dorian: A Peculiar Edition With Annotated Text
Oludare Padilla
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a philosophical novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde. A shorter novella-length version was published in the July 1890 issue of the American periodical Lippincott's Monthly Magazine.[1][2] The novel-length version was published in April 1891.
The story revolves around a portrait of Dorian Gray painted by Basil Hallward, a friend of Dorian's and an artist infatuated with Dorian's beauty. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton and is soon enthralled by the aristocrat's hedonistic worldview: that beauty and sensual fulfillment are the only things worth pursuing in life. Newly understanding that his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses the desire to sell his soul, to ensure that the picture, rather than he, will age and fade. The wish is granted, and Dorian pursues a libertine life of varied amoral experiences while staying young and beautiful; all the while, his portrait ages and visually records every one of Dorian's sins.[3]
In 1889, J. M. Stoddart, an editor for Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, was in London to solicit novellas to publish in the magazine. On 30 August 1889, Stoddart dined with Oscar Wilde, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and T. P. Gill[4] at the Langham Hotel, and commissioned novellas from each writer.[5] Doyle promptly submitted The Sign of the Four, which was published in the February 1890 edition of Lippincott's. Stoddart received Wilde's manuscript for The Picture of Dorian Gray on 7 April 1890, seven months after having commissioned the novel from him.[5]
In July 1889, Wilde published "The Portrait of Mr. W. H.", a very different story but one that has a similar title to The Picture of Dorian Gray and has been described as "a preliminary sketch of some of its major themes", including homosexuality.[6][7]
The literary merits of The Picture of Dorian Gray impressed Stoddart, but he told the publisher, George Lippincott, "in its present condition there are a number of things an innocent woman would make an exception to."[5] Fearing that the story was indecent, Stoddart deleted around five hundred words without Wilde's knowledge prior to publication. Among the pre-publication deletions were: (i) passages alluding to homosexuality and to homosexual desire; (ii) all references to the fictional book title Le Secret de Raoul and its author, Catulle Sarrazin; and (iii) all "mistress" references to Gray's lovers, Sibyl Vane and Hetty Merton.[5]
It was published in full as the first 100 pages in both the American and British editions of the July 1890 issue, first printed on 20 June 1890.[8] Later in the year the publisher of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, Ward, Lock and Company, published a collection of complete novels from the magazine, which included Wilde's.[9]
The edits have been construed as having been done in response to criticism, but Wilde denied this in his 1895 trials, only ceding that critic Walter Pater, whom Wilde respected, did write several letters to him "and in consequence of what he said I did modify one passage" that was "liable to misconstruction".[12][13] A number of edits involved obscuring homoerotic references, to simplify the moral message of the story.[5] In the magazine edition (1890), Basil tells Lord Henry how he "worships" Dorian, and begs him not to "take away the one person that makes my life absolutely lovely to me." In the magazine edition, Basil focuses upon love, whereas, in the book edition (1891), he focuses upon his art, saying to Lord Henry, "the one person who gives my art whatever charm it may possess: my life as an artist depends on him."
Wilde's textual additions were about the "fleshing out of Dorian as a character" and providing details of his ancestry that made his "psychological collapse more prolonged and more convincing."[14] The introduction of the James Vane character to the story develops the socio-economic background of the Sibyl Vane character, thus emphasising Dorian's selfishness and foreshadowing James's accurate perception of the essentially immoral character of Dorian Gray; thus, he correctly deduced Dorian's dishonourable intent towards Sibyl. The sub-plot about James Vane's dislike of Dorian gives the novel a Victorian tinge of class struggle.
In April 1891 Ward, Lock and Company published the revised version of The Picture of Dorian Gray.[15] In the decade after Wilde's death, the authorized edition of the novel was published by Charles Carrington.[16]
The original typescript submitted to Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, housed at UCLA, had been largely forgotten except by professional Wilde scholars until the 2011 publication of The Picture of Dorian Gray: An Annotated, Uncensored Edition by the Belknap Press. This edition includes the roughly 500 words of text deleted by J. M. Stoddart, the story's initial editor, prior to its publication in Lippincott's in 1890.[17][18][19][20] For instance, in one scene, Basil Hallward confesses to have worshipped Dorian Gray with a "romance of feeling", and that he had never loved a woman.[18]
Following the criticism of the magazine edition of the novel, Wilde wrote a preface in which he indirectly addressed the criticisms in a series of epigrams. The preface was first published in The Fortnightly Review and then, a month later, in the book version of the novel.[21] The content, style, and presentation of the preface made it famous in its own right as a literary and artistic manifesto in support of artists' rights and art for art's sake.
To communicate how the novel should be read, Wilde used aphorisms to explain the role of the artist in society, the purpose of art, and the value of beauty. It traces Wilde's cultural exposure to Taoism and to the philosophy of Chuang Tsǔ (Zhuang Zhou). Before writing the preface, Wilde had written a book review of Herbert Giles's translation of the work of Zhuang Zhou, and in the essay "The Critic as Artist", Oscar Wilde said:
The honest ratepayer and his healthy family have no doubt often mocked at the dome-like forehead of the philosopher, and laughed over the strange perspective of the landscape that lies beneath him. If they really knew who he was, they would tremble. For Chuang Tsǔ spent his life in preaching the great creed of Inaction, and in pointing out the uselessness of all things.[22]
On a summer day in Victorian England, Lord Henry Wotton, an opinionated man, observes the sensitive artist Basil Hallward painting the portrait of Dorian Gray, a young man who is Basil's ultimate muse. While sitting for the painting, Dorian listens to Lord Henry espousing his hedonistic worldview. He begins to think that beauty is the only aspect of life worth pursuing, prompting Dorian to wish that his portrait would age instead of himself.
Under Lord Henry's influence, Dorian fully explores his sensuality. He discovers the actress Sibyl Vane, who performs Shakespeare plays in a dingy, working-class theatre. Dorian courts her and soon proposes marriage. The enamoured Sibyl calls him "Prince Charming" and swoons with happiness. However, her protective brother, James, warns that if "Prince Charming" harms her, he will murder him.
Dorian invites Basil and Lord Henry to see Sibyl perform in a play. Sibyl, too enamoured with Dorian to act, performs poorly, which makes both Basil and Lord Henry think Dorian has fallen in love with Sibyl because of her beauty instead of her talent. Embarrassed, Dorian rejects Sibyl, telling her that acting is her beauty; without that, she no longer interests him. Returning home, Dorian notices that the portrait has changed; his wish has come true, and the man in the portrait bears a subtle sneer of cruelty.
Conscience-stricken and lonely, Dorian decides to reconcile with Sibyl, but is too late; she has killed herself. Dorian understands that, where his life is headed, lust and beauty shall suffice. Dorian locks the portrait up, and for eighteen years, he experiments with every vice, influenced by a morally poisonous French novel that Lord Henry gave him.
One night, before leaving for Paris, Basil goes to Dorian's house to ask him about rumours of his self-indulgent sensualism. Dorian does not deny his debauchery, and takes Basil to see the portrait. The portrait has become so hideous that Basil can only identify it as his by the signature on it. Horrified, Basil beseeches Dorian to pray for salvation. In anger, Dorian blames his fate on Basil and kills him. Dorian then blackmails an old friend, scientist Alan Campbell, into using his knowledge of chemistry to destroy Basil's body. Alan later kills himself.
To escape the guilt of his crime, Dorian goes to an opium den, where, unbeknownst to him, James Vane is present. James was seeking vengeance upon Dorian ever since Sibyl killed herself but had no leads to pursue as the only thing he knew about Dorian was the nickname Sibyl called him. There, however, he hears someone refer to Dorian as "Prince Charming", and he accosts Dorian. Dorian deceives James into believing he is too young to have known Sibyl, as his face is still that of a young man. James relents and releases Dorian but is then approached by a woman from the opium den who reproaches James for not killing Dorian. She confirms Dorian's identity and explains that he has not aged in eighteen years. James runs after Dorian, but he has gone.
James then begins to stalk Dorian, who starts to fear for his life. During a shooting party, a hunter accidentally kills James, who was lurking in a thicket. On returning to London, Dorian tells Lord Henry that he will live righteously from now on. His new probity begins with deliberately not breaking the heart of the nave Hetty Merton, his current romantic interest. Dorian wonders if his newly found goodness has rescinded the corruption in the picture but when he looks at it, he sees only an even uglier image of himself. From that, Dorian understands that his true motives for the self-sacrifice of moral reformation were the vanity and curiosity of his quest for new experiences, along with the desire to restore beauty to the picture.
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