Summary
and
Analysis
Chapter 19
Summary
Lord Henry tells Dorian that he does not believe him when he says he will now be good. He believes Dorian is already perfect and should not change. Dorian maintains that he has done many heinous things and has resolved to change his ways and become a good person. He claims to have been staying in the countryside and has resolved to change his ways. According to Lord Henry, anyone can do good in the country. He courted and adored a young girl as lovely as Sibyl Vane. He has been seeing her many times every week for the past month. They were about to leave together when he decided to abandon her and her innocence. Lord Henry claims that the novelty of the emotion must have given Dorian as much pleasure as robbing the innocence of girls did. Dorian implores Henry not to make fun of his rehabilitation. Lord Henry asks if he believes this girl will ever be happy after being loved by someone as lovely and graceful as he is. She will be dissatisfied with love for the rest of her life. He is concerned that the girl may commit suicide.
Dorian urges Henry to stop mocking him. He tells him he wants to be a better person than he has been in the past. He eventually brings up the matter of Basil's disappearance. He asks Henry what people are saying about it and if anyone suspects foul play. Henry laughs about it. He imagines Basil drowned after falling off a bus into the Seine. Dorian asks what Henry would think if he told him he killed Basil. Henry laughs at the idea, stating Dorian is too sensitive for such heinous crime. Lord Henry expresses his displeasure that Basil's art has deteriorated in his final years. His art became banal once Dorian quit sitting for him.
Lord Henry urges Dorian to play Chopin and converse with him. Dorian begins to play and recalls a Hamlet passage that reminds him of the painting Basil made of him: "Like the painting of a sorrow,/ A face without a heart." He repeats the words, thinking about how well it fits the painting Basil created of him. Lord Henry recalls a statement he heard from a preacher in the park on Sunday: "What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"
Dorian is taken aback by the statement and wonders why Henry would ask him such a question. Henry laughs and moves on to another subject.
Henry advises Dorian to lighten up a little. He tells him he looks better than he has in years and wonders what his secret is to staying young. He admires Dorian's lavish lifestyle and wishes he could swap places with him. He describes Dorian’s life as a work of art. Dorian pauses his performance and informs Lord Henry that if he knew what he had done in life, he would despise him.
Lord Henry persuades Dorian to accompany him to the club. He wants to present him to Lord Poole, the eldest son of Bournemouth who has been emulating Dorian and longs to see him. He then advises that Dorian come to his house the next day to see Lady Baranksome, who wants to consult him about a tapestry she plans to purchase. He asks Dorian why he no longer sees the Duchess and surmises that she is too bright for him, since men generally dislikes being around clever women.
Dorian departs, vowing to return later.
Notes
Dorian spends his final evening with Lord Henry, a friend. He informs Lord Henry that he intends to mend himself and requests his friend not to speak to him any longer with his distinctive smirk. This chapter tries to inform the reader while also portraying Dorian in his inferior connection to Lord Henry for the final time. People are still speculating about Basil Hallward's disappearance, but no one suspects illegal acts.
Basil was always very secretive about his travels and people just assume he will come back when he is done. Alan Campbell has also committed suicide. Dorian's one and only collaborator in the death of Basil Hallward is no longer alive. He is virtually undetectable.
The second function of this chapter, demonstrating Dorian's continued dominance over Lord Henry, is only fully disclosed in the last chapter. Dorian attempts to persuade Lord Henry that he will now repent and be good. When he recounts of his recent infatuation with a country girl named Hetty, he demonstrates his transformation. He abandoned her just as she was about to leave with him. Lord Henry assures him that it is not a reform, but rather a different type of pleasure, the pleasure of renunciation of pleasure. He claims Dorian did it for his own ego, not for moral reasons.
Chapter 20
Summary
The night is lovely. Dorian returns home from Lord Henry with a pleasant feeling about himself. He walks past some young men who are whispering his name. He no longer gets the excitement he used to get when young men speak so highly of him. He wonders if Lord Henry is correct in saying that he can never change. He regrets he hadn't wished for the painting to bear the weight of his age. He understands that his downfall has occurred because he has never had to face the repercussions of his actions.
When he arrives home, he glances in the mirror. He is horrified by the thought that his youth ruined his spirit. He hurls the mirror to the ground, destroying it. He makes an effort not to think about the past. Nothing can make things better. He is aware that Alan Campbell died without informing anyone about Dorian's secret. He doesn't even seem to be bothered by Basil's death. He can never forgive Basil for painting the portrait that destroyed his life. He simply wishes to begin a new life.
He thinks of Hetty Merton and wonders if the portrait upstairs has changed as a result of his kindness to her. He grabs the lamp and rushes up the stairs, hoping that the image has already begun to revert back to its former beauty. When he arrives, he is astounded to see that the portrait has deteriorated even further. The image now has an arrogant smirk on its face. More blood has been found on its hands and feet.
Dorian is unsure what to do. He wonders if he will have to confess to the murder in order to be free of its guilt. He refuses to confess since he does not want to go to jail. He worries if the murder will haunt him for the rest of his life. He eventually decides to destroy the portrait. He discovers the knife he used to murder Basil. He goes to the portrait and slashes it.
Two men are passing by on the street below when they hear a loud scream. They hurry for a cop who knocks on the door but no one answers. The men inquire as to who owns the house. They scowl and walk away when they learn it's Dorian Gray's. Inside, the servants run up to the room where the noise originated.
They attempt to open the door, but it is locked. Two of them go around the roof to enter through the window. When they enter, they discover Dorian Gray stabbed in the heart and a gorgeous image of him hanging on the wall above him. The stabbed man on the floor is wrinkled and unsightly. They don't even know who he is until they notice the rings on his fingers.
Notes
The novel concludes with the confluence of art and subject. Dorian stabs the picture in an attempt to destroy it, killing himself in the process. The novel's mystery is preserved. The reader never learns whether the painting magically altered itself or was a figment of Dorian's—and later, Basil's—imagination. When those who aren't emotionally invested in the image view it, they perceive nothing more than a gorgeous portrait of Dorian Gray as a young man.