The Picture of Dorian Gray. Oscar Wilde

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      The Picture of Dorian Gray

      THE PICTURE OF

      DORIAN GRAY

      Can a painting of a person tell you more about him than the person’s own face? If it is painted with love, perhaps the painting will show more than just the outside of that person – perhaps it will show the inside.

      We often say that a face is like an open book: ‘the face tells its own story,’ we say. When Dorian Gray sees the painting of his own face, he falls in love with his own beauty. Nothing must touch his beauty, nothing must hurt or change it – not love, not even time. And so he cuts the link between his face and his heart, between his outside and his inside. His face does not change; it stays young and beautiful. But the picture – painted with love – tells the true story. It shows the real Dorian Gray, who is growing old and ugly and full of hate.

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford 0X2 6DPOxford University Press is a department of the University of OxfordIt furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship,and education by publishing worldwide inOxford New YorkAuckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong KarachiKuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City NairobiNew Delhi Shanghai Taipei TorontoWith offices inArgentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France GreeceGuatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal SingaporeSouth Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine VietnamOXFORD and OXFORD ENGLISH are registered trade marks ofOxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countriesThis simplified edition © Oxford University Press 2008Database right Oxford University Press (maker)First published in Oxford Bookworms 19892 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1No unauthorized photocopyingAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press,or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriatereprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproductionoutside the scope of the above should be sent to the ELT Rights Department,Oxford University Press, at the address aboveYou must not circulate this book in any other binding or coverand you must impose this same condition on any acquirerAny websites referred to in this publication are in the public domain andtheir addresses are provided by Oxford University Press for information onlyOxford University Press disclaims any responsibility for the contentISBN 978 0 19 479126 7A complete recording of this Bookworms edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray is available on audio CD ISBN 978 0 19 479098 7ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Illustrated by: Nick HarrisWord count (main text): 10,245 wordsFor more information on the Oxford Bookworms Library,visit www.oup.com/bookwormswww.oup.com/bookwormse-Book ISBN 978 0 19 478666 9e-Book first published 2012

      The Artist

      

‘I have put too much of

      myself into this painting.’

      1

      Through the open windows of the room came the rich scent of summer flowers. Lord Henry Wotton lay back in his chair and smoked his cigarette. Beyond the soft sounds of the garden he could just hear the noise of London.

      In the centre of the room there was a portrait of a very beautiful young man, and in front of it stood the artist himself, Basil Hallward.

      ‘It’s your best work, Basil, the best portrait that you’ve ever painted,’ said Lord Henry lazily. ‘You must send it to the best art gallery in London.’

      ‘No,’ Basil said slowly. ‘No, I won’t send it anywhere.’

      Lord Henry was surprised. ‘But my dear Basil, why not?’ he asked. ‘What strange people you artists are! You want to be famous, but then you’re not happy when you are famous. It’s bad when people talk about you – but it’s much worse when they don’t talk about you.’

      ‘I know you’ll laugh at me,’ replied Basil, ‘but I can’t exhibit the picture in an art gallery. I’ve put too much of myself into it.’