The Picture of Dorian Gray Trivia Quiz

Answer: Painter

London artist Basil Hallward speaks to Lord Henry Wotton about his newest portrait, one of young, local subject Dorian Gray. It's an odd painting, Basil claims, as he sees much of himself in it. After all, when he met Gray he had a feeling that Fate had joys and sorrow ready for him. It'll be the greatest work of his life, he states, but the public should never see it. With comments like this, it comes as no surprise that Lord Henry is so eager to meet Mr. Gray (despite Basil's apprehension).

The meeting proves interesting as Lord Henry and a naive Dorian Gray hit it off. It's undeniable that Gray is a unique individual but Lord Henry's influence has a clear effect. Henry recommends that Gray give in to temptation because to resist will make him sick with longing. In the garden outside, Lord Henry warns him not to squander his natural beauty.

When the painting is completed, Gray agrees that it's beautiful but he wishes that it could grow old instead of him. Real life beauty fades, but the masterpiece will retain him as he is. It's pure jealousy, he says; every second he ages, the painting takes something from him and gives it to itself.

Answer: Romeo and Juliet

After their meeting, Dorian and Lord Henry hit it off and spend time with one another. Lord Henry speaks to relatives to learn more about the young man he's taken under his wing and, at a later social gathering, Dorian is convinced to follow along with the lord who is, for all intents, his opposite. Perhaps he could learn from this interesting individual.

A month passes and one day, while seeking a form of beauty in grey and miserable London, Gray wanders into a theatre and witnesses a young woman by the name of Sibyl Vane performing in 'Romeo and Juliet' on stage. To Lord Henry he professes his admiration of the actress and, to the lord's shock (but perhaps as a result of his own words), Gray announces his engagement to her via a letter.

Answer: Australia

Sibyl, as it turns out, is madly in love with Dorian. Her mother isn't happy (though she is melodramatic), while her brother, James, off to Australia to work on a sailing ship, departs with the solemn vow that he will return and kill her Prince Charming should any harm come to her.

Meanwhile, at dinner, Basil is shocked to hear the news that Dorian has become engaged to wed a common actress though he does believe that Dorian would be a good husband as it's in his temperament to be so. Following Lord Henry's words that to be good is to be in harmony with one's self, he implies that he must give in to his decision and follow the natural course of pleasure, and that means embarking on his impulsive marriage decision. As they unite with Henry and head to the theatre, Basil realizes that a remarkable shift has occurred; Dorian is no longer the man he once was and things may never be the same between them.

Answer: Dorian ends their relationship

It's to Dorian's severe disappointment that when he takes Lord Henry and Basil to see Sibyl perform, she ends up being a wooden actress, giving perhaps the worst show of her life. Shattered, he asks her why she's fallen so far and she explains that he freed her. Since they professed their love for one another, she saw the artificiality of her acting and the beauty of their true love. Because art is but a mere reflection of the real thing, she may never be a good actress again. Unfortunately, for Dorian, this ruins their love. He leaves, ending their relationship.

Returning home Dorian sees the portrait in his study and it appears to have changed, now depicting what appears to be cruelty in its face that wasn't originally painted there. He remembers wishing he could stay young while the painting stayed old and, feeling a sense of regret, he considers returning to Sibyl and making amends.

The next day, however, Dorian awakens and finds that the painting remains changed. Despite this he writes a long letter to Sibyl to apologize for his madness but Lord Henry arrives to inform him that she has tragically passed away, likely having committed suicide by eating prussic acid.

Answer: His old schoolroom

Following Sibyl's tragic suicide, Basil stops by Dorian's home to check in on him and finds that his friend already seems to have moved past the event. The coldness Basil sees in Dorian doesn't appear to be a personality trait he knows of the man, but Dorian asks him not to bring up Sibyl any longer. In the study, Basil finds that the portrait he painted is hidden by a screen and Dorian, in a rage, forbids him from peeking at the masterpiece he composed. Basil concedes that he doesn't need to see it again for the time being, but he would like to exhibit it in Paris-- a suggestion that's quickly turned down by the subject himself. Dorian vows it must be kept away at all costs.

After Basil departs, Dorian obtains the key to his old schoolroom on his home's top floor. He brings a frame maker in and has the piece moved upstairs, away from prying eyes. And there is where it stays.

Answer: His appearance remains the same

As the years pass, Dorian Gray's reputation changes but his appearance doesn't. While he retains his looks and youth, society starts to view him as a toxic individual; those who share company with him find themselves fated to misery. He spends nights staring at the picture and a mirror up in his old schoolroom. During the day, he learns of hedonist pleasures and studies in perfumes, music, jewels, embroideries, etc. It's all to forget, for weeks at a time, of the painting showing his degradation in the other room.

On the eve of his thirty-eighth birthday, Dorian runs into Basil as the artist leaves for Paris for a six month gallery showing. Dorian is, at this point, rife with scandal, and Basil cautions that the young men who meet him commit suicide or depart depressed simply for being in his orbit; he corrupts people with a madness for pleasure. Basil asks him for the simple truth of the matter, and with that, Dorian asks him upstairs.

Answer: Yes

When Dorian brings Basil upstairs to his old schoolroom and pulls back the curtain on his portrait, he reveals something that Basil never intended to create. It seems as though a parody, Basil says, and a perversion of the beauty he intended to capture. Compelled by the painting, as it would seem, Dorian grabs a knife off the nearby mantle and uses it to kill his artist, stowing his belongings away and planning for morning.

By the time the sun rises, the same loathing exists in Dorian. He waits for Alan Campbell, a former friend, to arrive and blackmails him into putting his fascination with chemistry to good use. Though Campbell no longer wishes to be mixed up in Dorian's awful ways, even if it's a matter of life and death, the body is destroyed in the next seven hours. No trace remains.

Answer: An opium den

The night after Dorian has Basil's body destroyed, he plays the part at Lady Narborough's, not alluding to any of the recent events. Basil, after all, should be en route to Paris. Fortunately for him, no one realizes. Lady Narborough and Lord Henry spend dinner talking about how they should find Dorian a wife; he is too good looking to be a bachelor, and it would simply be a good thing to happen. To avoid any further questioning, especially from Henry, he leaves the party early.

Instead, Dorian heads into London to an opium den where he runs into one of his past acquaintances-- one whose life he may have ruined. It's there that the past catches up to him in the form of James Vane, the man whose sister Dorian intended to marry half a lifetime ago. Dorian lies to the man, claiming he never knew Sibyl. Besides, as he says, with his face, how could he be the age of the man Mr. Vane is looking for. Sure enough, this argument is convincing to Vane, and Dorian slips away from his grasp.

Answer: He sees a man's face

A week after his run-in with James Vane, Dorian attends a lunch with the Duchess of Monmouth and discusses how he still always listens to Henry. In his life, he never sought happiness; he sought pleasure. It's why he may never love. When he goes into her conservatory to pick orchids, he's found, much later, having fainted inside. He later recalls that he saw the face of Janes Vane in one of the windows, peering in.

For the next several days, Dorian's imagination runs wild and he decides to stay inside. When he finally feels the coast is clear, he heads out for an afternoon with Lord Geoffrey who, hunting near the woods, fires his weapon on what he believes to be a squirrel. As it turns out, Lord Geoffrey hits a man hiding in the foliage instead. It's not until later that Dorian discovers the man was actually James Vane.

Dorian confides in Lord Henry that he feels something awful is bound to happen to him, even if he feels safe for now knowing Vane is out of the picture.

Answer: Yes

Dorian vows he will do no more dreadful things and tells Henry that he's changed his tune, even going so far to spend a day in the country where he spared someone from his prolonged and damaging influence; he ended a relationship with a girl before he could spoil her. It is, as he claims, the first bit of self-sacrifice he has known. The city, meanwhile, is abuzz about Basil's disappearance. Lord Henry says that if Basil is dead, he does not want to discuss it-- death is the only thing that scares him.

In talking about Basil, Henry asks about the portrait, asking, "What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?" Henry calls Dorian perfect as he is-- flawless and youthful. Life has been his art. Henry makes plans for the two of them and Dorian leaves for the night, never to see him again.

Dorian muses on Henry's words when he returns home, pondering the simple question of 'can one never change?' All he wants is a new life. He wonders if the portrait has changed solely on his own personal intent to change, but when he checks in on it one last time, he finds it more loathsome than ever. It's then that he realizes he can never be freed from the burden of murder. Taking the blade with which he killed Basil, he stabs at the painting and lets out a cry loud enough for his house staff to come running. When the police enter they find the painting, slashed on the ground, to depict Gray in his resplendent youth. The man on the ground, dead, is formerly Dorian Gray himself. And he's almost unrecognizable.