Basil's studio

This extract from “The picture of Dorian Gray" opens in the London studio of Basil Hallward, an artist. With him is Lord Henry Wotton, who is smoking a cigarette in the sofa.

Basil is finishing painting a portrait of a young man. Lord Wotton considered the portrait as the best work that Hallward has done and insists that it must be shown at Grosvenor gallery. To Lord Wotton’s surprise, Basil states that he will not show it anywhere, because he had "put too much of myself in it."

This extract introduces two characters: Basil is an artist of apparently independent means; Lord Henry Wotton, a very intelligent, confident, manipulative man, smokes opium-tainted cigarettes and often speaks in aphorisms.

It may seem strange to consider a painting as a character, but Basil's portrait of Dorian plays an important role in the book: the reader is introduced to the painting as if it were a character before meeting Dorian himself. Perhaps Wilde is indicating that Dorian's reputation for physical beauty precedes him and is more important than any other attribute (it can be linked to Estethic movement).

It is also introduced one of the major themes of the novel: the importance and power of beauty in relation to the intellect and the soul, and the not eternal nature of beauty.