Summary

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. 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.

Wilde’s only novel, it was subject to much controversy and criticism in its time but has come to be recognized as a classic of Gothic literature.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

You can read the full text here: “The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde” [Full Text].

Other formats on Project Gutenberg

You can read the full text here: “The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde” [Full Text].

Audiobook

There are a number of versions of this book that can be listened to for free on YouTube, and a few of them are shared below.  Different audiobook narrators have different styles and some people prefer certain types of voices over others, so you might want to listen to a couple of different ones for a minute or two before deciding to stick with one for 8+ hours.

You can listen to all but chapters 9 and 20 here, with separate videos for each chapter.  This link is to the first video in the playlist: “AUDIOBOOK The Picture of Dorian Gray (Preface) by Oscar Wilde” by TLC Recordings

You can listen to the entire book here as one long video, and if you click “…more” in the grey box below the video, you’ll get a table of contents with links to specific timestamps where each chapter begins: “The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde | Full audiobook” by Gates of Imagination

You can listen to the entire book here as one long video, but the creator did not include a table of contents.  However, if you scroll through the comments to @Batman’s comment from 2023, there is a list of timestamp links for each chapter.  The creator’s description and the majority of their channel is in German, and this book seems to be the only video that they have in English: “The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde (Full Audiobook)” by Bookstream Hörbücher

You can listen to the entire book here as a single video, but as with the one above, the creator did not include a table of contents.  This time, the commenter with linked timestamps is @ShindaSakana from 2024.  This audiobook narrator states that his purpose is to help you fall asleep, so keep that in mind if you choose this one.  Also, it starts with him talking about his podcast and patreon, so the book doesn’t start until 1:11 into the video: “The Picture of Dorian Gray (Complete Audiobook with rain sounds) | ASMR Bedtime Story (Male Voice)” by Down to Sleep

Text Attributions

• Summary: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Wikipedia. Adapted by Octaviano Gutierrez © Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Licence.
• This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.