The Picture of Dorian Gray Chapter 18 Summary

 The next day, Dorian doesn't leave the house; he's terrified that his assassin will find
him. He wonders if this is all a product of his imagination – could he just have
hallucinated his vision of his would-be killer? Surely he's safe.
 However, he can't get the vision out of his head; Henry comes in that evening and finds
Dorian crying.
 After a couple of days of sulking, Dorian feels well enough to go outside. He feels
infinitely better, and looks back on his former fear with contempt.
 Dorian goes on a walk in the garden with the Duchess, then joins some other friends to
go hunting.
 Dorian and the Duchess's brother, Geoffrey, stroll through the woods, looking for
animals to shoot. They come upon a beautiful hare. Dorian is charmed by the creature,
and tells Geoffrey not to shoot it, but he scoffs and takes aim.
 Geoffrey hits the hare – but also hits something else. He accidentally shoots a man
hidden behind the trees.
 Geoffrey angrily yells at the gamekeeper; he thinks it's one of the "beaters," men
employed to flush birds out of the trees to be shot at.
 The body of the shot man is dragged out, and Dorian is distraught – he finds the whole
thing to be dreadful. Henry gently walks him back to the house, and informs him on the
way that the man has died. Dorian is profoundly disturbed.
 Henry, however, is not. He thinks it's the man's own fault for being in the line of fire,
though he admits that this situation is rather awkward for Geoffrey.
 Dorian thinks this is a bad omen, and is certain that something bad is going to happen
to someone – maybe him.
 Henry blows off this presentiment, and they change topics to Dorian's affair with the
Duchess. However, Dorian's distress is still palpable, but he won't tell Henry what's the
matter.
 The Duchess comes out to join them, and the three of them discuss the murdered man
in the most alarming way – as though he's just an animal. Their snobbery is
unbelievable.
 Dorian leaves his two friends and goes into the house. Henry and the Duchess
continue their banter; they're pretty much equally matched in wit.
 Inside, Dorian is totally freaking out. He feels like death is coming for him.
 Thornton, the gamekeeper, comes in to see Dorian about the dead man. It turns out he
wasn't a beater, after all. In fact, Thornton says, he looks more like a sailor.
 This really wakes Dorian up – he desperately wants to know the man's identity. He
rushes out on horseback to see the body where it's being kept in a stable.
 The dead man is James Vane. Dorian rides back to the house, crying tears of joy –
he's safe.

The Picture of Dorian Gray Chapter 19 Summary

 This whole James Vane incident seems to have shaken Dorian significantly. Back in
London, he informs Lord Henry that he's going to become a good person again.
 Henry doesn't believe it, nor does he think Dorian should change at all. In his view, his
friend is perfect. For about the thousandth time, we think about how warped Lord Henry
is.
 Apparently, the day before, Dorian was staying out in the countryside by himself, and
Henry comments that it's a lot easier to be good out there, since there's nothing to do.
  Dorian continues, saying that he's altered (presumably for the better).
 Lord Henry demands to know what Dorian's done that's so great.
 Dorian tells Henry about a young girl that he met and fell in love with in the countryside.
She reminded him of Sibyl Vane, and she totally fell for him. However, instead of
corrupting her and destroying her life, he decided to let her go – he leaves her in her
innocent state.
 Dorian thinks this good deed is enough to set him on the path to righteousness, despite
Henry's doubts. Lord Henry continues to mock Dorian's fantasies.
 Dorian abruptly changes the subject, and asks Henry what's going on around town.
Apparently, the gossip around their club is all about Basil – people are still discussing
his disappearance. We also hear in passing that Alan Campbell committed suicide (no
doubt because of what Dorian did to him).
 Dorian plays it cool, and asks Henry what he thinks happened to Basil; Lord Henry's
basically like, "Screw Basil! Listen to me talk about my life."
 But Dorian doesn't want to let it go. He asks Henry if he's ever wondered if Basil was
murdered – or, for that matter, if anyone else thinks that. Henry's just not that
concerned; besides, he doesn't think Basil was interesting enough to get himself
murdered.
 Dorian asks an interesting hypothetical question: what would Henry think if he said
that he had killed Basil?
 Henry basically laughs this off, too, saying that crime is for the lower classes. He
honestly just doesn't care, and even jokes that Basil probably drowned in the river
Seine. Since Basil's paintings haven't been that great lately, Henry doesn't think there's
anything to be sad about.
 Henry brings up the portrait, which he identifies as one of Basil's great works.
Apparently Dorian told him that it was either lost or stolen.
 They discuss the painting a bit more, and Dorian confesses that he never liked it (we
know why).
 Lord Henry changes the topic slightly to souls – what might it be like to sell one's soul?
Little does he know that he's talking to the one person who knows…
 Dorian tells Henry that that he's sure that everyone has a soul, for better or worse.
 Languidly, Henry asks Dorian to play some Chopin on the piano. As Dorian plays,
Henry muses at length about Dorian's youth and beauty, and his own lost youth. He
tells Dorian that he's led an amazing, full life, and mistakenly praises him for still being
the same. Dorian corrects him, saying that he's not the same, but Henry doesn't
believe it. He thinks that Dorian is perfect.
 Henry goes on, saying that Dorian has always been loved by the world, even when it
denounced him; he says that Dorian is the ideal of their time, and that, though he's
never created anything, his whole life has been art.
 Dorian stops playing and tells Henry again that things are going to be different from
now on. He resists Henry's praise of him.
 After insisting that he's going to change, Dorian reminds Lord Henry that the older man
poisoned him with the yellow book, all those years ago. Henry doesn't buy it, saying
that art doesn't influence real life.
 Dorian says his goodbyes and extricates himself from Henry, after wearily promising to
see him the next day.

The Picture of Dorian Gray Chapter 20 Summary

 Dorian walks pensively home from Henry's house in the pleasant, warm evening air.
On his way, he hears people gossiping about him as he passes.
 Dorian wistfully thinks of the lovely country girl he left, and the idyllic town where
nobody knew who he was.
 At home, Dorian begins to worry about what Henry said – is it true that people can't
really change? He thinks back on his innocent boyhood, and knows that he's ruined
himself – but can't he change back?
 Dorian regards his own beautiful face in the mirror, and suddenly is filled with self-
loathing. He throws the mirror down, shattering it. He can't believe he's invested so
much in youth – what a foolish thing!
 Now, Dorian tries to get over the past and think of the future. As far as he can tell, he's
perfectly safe from the law, and from anyone ever knowing about the things he's done.
Looking back, he blames everything on the portrait; it was the portrait's fault that he
killed Basil, after all.
 Dorian longs for a new life, and wonders if he's already started it by saving Hetty, the
young country girl, from his corruption. He wonders if this one good deed has started
making the portrait look any different yet. Excited and anxious, Dorian goes upstairs to
see.
 In the schoolroom, Dorian confronts his portrait again, certain that it will look less
loathsome. However, the terrible truth is that it's actually worse than ever – the
bloodstain on the figure's hand that dates from Basil's death looks even brighter and
more real. Furthermore, there's a new look of hypocrisy on its face – the portrait knows,
even if Dorian doesn't, that he doesn't actually want to become good again.
 Dorian wonders for a moment if he should confess all his crimes, but quickly dismisses
that idea. Instead, he decides to destroy all the evidence of his shameful life – the
portrait itself.
 Fittingly, Dorian grabs the very same knife he used to kill Basil, and stabs the picture
with it.
 Downstairs, Dorian's servants are terrified – they hear a mysterious scream and a
crash. It's even audible outside, and two passing gentleman go to get a policeman. The
three men knock on the door, but there's no answer. When they find out that it's Dorian
Gray's house, they leave – they don't want to help him.
 Dorian's valet, Francis, and the housekeeper, Mrs. Leaf, are petrified. Finally, Francis
and two other servants go up to the schoolroom to investigate. They easily knock down
the old door.
 Inside the schoolroom, the servants discover something terrible: the portrait of their
master, Dorian, restored to its youth and beauty, hangs over an old, hideous, dead
man with a knife in his heart. When they look at the mysterious corpse's rings, they
realize that it's Dorian.