The story
“Dorian Gray, a handsome young man of wealth and a favorite in London society, has his portrait painted by Basil Hallward, a celebrated artist. As he gazes at it, Gray says: ‘I wish that I might always remain young like this painting. I wish it were the picture which would grow old, and not myself.’ Dorian is in love with Evelyn, an obscure actress, who plays Shakespeare in a small theatre. She has promised to marry him. Convinced that his sweetheart is a genius, he takes Hallward and Lord Henry Wotton to the theater. They see her work as it is—woefully bad. The audience hisses and laughs at the poor girl. And Dorian, his illusion shattered, bitterly reproaches Evelyn. She tells him that never can she endure again the life of sham and mockery on the stage, for his love has changed all that for her.
“’You have killed my love!’ cries the young man, ‘I will never see you again.’ The next morning he hears that Evelyn has shot herself. The news stirs him only remotely. Looking at the portrait of himself, he sees that an expression of cruelty has crept into the lips. As time passes, and Gray becomes more inhuman, and even criminal, the portrait reflects all these evil changes. But Dorian himself does not alter. Still young and innocent to look upon, no one will believe him the beast that he is. At last, one day, facing his real self in the portrait, the libertine picks up a knife and sinks it into the breast of the man on the canvas. A terrible cry rings through the house. The servants find on the wall a beautiful portrait of their master as last they saw him, unspoiled and youthful. On the floor lies a wizened, loathsome old man with a knife in his heart.”
Summary from Reel Life · 17 July 1915
