The extract is taken from the first page of the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray written by Oscar Wilde in 1891. The novel opens in the studio of Basil Hallward, an artist. Indeed the first sequence has the function to illustrate Basil’s studio and its peculiarities. There is another character: Lord henry Wotton, Basil’s friend. Basil is finishing painting a portrait of "a young man of extraordinary personal beauty." Lord Henry considered that the portrait is the best work that Basil has done and insists that it must be shown at a suitable gallery. But Basil states that he will not show it anywhere: "I have put too much of myself in it.” Lord Henry answers that he understands, but he is more interested in Basil's reason for not exhibiting the portrait. He fears that the painting will reveal the secret of his soul.

Chapter 1 introduces two of the major characters of the book. Basil is an artist. He is secretive, and Wilde even mentions that Basil has disappeared without notice in the past.
The other main character introduced in Chapter 1 is Lord Henry Wotton, a very intelligent, confident, manipulative man. Lord Henry often speaks in aphorisms.
The presence of the portrait in Chapter 1 allows the reader to hear something about Dorian before his character appears in the novel and the reader can immediately understand the importance of the portrait.
Chapter 1 also introduces some of the major themes of the novel: the importance and power of beauty in relation to the intellect and the soul, and the fleeting nature of beauty.