Contents
CHAPTER XIII
Overview
Dorian declares a moral reform after sparing Hetty, but Lord Henry’s cynicism undercuts him. Seeking proof of change, Dorian finds his portrait more depraved and, to obliterate the past, stabs it. The painting reverts to youth as Dorian dies aged and disfigured, exposing his concealed corruption.
Summary
Dorian Gray dines with Lord Henry and announces a resolve to be good, claiming he has spared a village girl, Hetty Merton, by leaving her rather than ruining her. Lord Henry mocks the renunciation’s value and updates Dorian on society gossip: Basil Hallward’s disappearance remains a mystery and Alan Campbell has committed suicide.
At the piano, Lord Henry presses Dorian about the secret of his youth and discourages moral change. Dorian refuses the club, goes home, and reflects on his stained past and desire for a new life. He convinces himself he is safe from discovery in Basil’s murder and that Campbell’s death is his own doing, but longs for inner cleansing.
Hoping his good deed has improved the enchanted portrait, Dorian unlocks the hidden room. Instead, he finds the image more loathsome, with added signs of hypocrisy and blood. He briefly considers confession, then rejects it as futile. Concluding that the picture is the last evidence against him and a tormenting conscience, he decides to destroy it.
Dorian seizes the knife that killed Basil and slashes the canvas from top to bottom. A terrible cry and crash rouse the household. After forcing entry via the balcony, the servants discover the youthful portrait restored to beauty and a withered, hideous corpse on the floor, stabbed through the heart.
Only by Dorian’s rings do they recognize the dead man as their master, revealing that the act of destroying the portrait has transferred his hidden corruption back onto his body, ending his life as the painting returns to unblemished youth.
Who Appears
- Dorian GrayProfesses reform after sparing Hetty; confronts his corrupt portrait; destroys it and dies withered.
- Lord Henry WottonCynically dismisses Dorian’s renunciation; reports gossip on Basil’s disappearance and Campbell’s suicide.
- Hetty MertonVillage girl Dorian ‘spares’; her memory spurs his attempted moral reform.
- Basil HallwardMissing artist; his murder haunts Dorian; the knife used on him destroys the portrait.
- Alan CampbellFormer friend coerced to destroy Basil’s body; reported to have killed himself.
- FrancisValet who, with other servants, forces entry and discovers Dorian’s corpse and the restored portrait.
- Mrs. LeafHousekeeper, distraught as servants react to the upstairs cry and commotion.
- Two gentlemen and a policemanHear the cry, summon help, and identify the house as Dorian Gray’s.