Oscar Wilde

Name: The Picture of Dorian Gray — Chapter 12
Author: Oscar Wilde

The Picture of Dorian Gray — Chapter 12 (1891)

Summary

“The Picture of Dorian Gray — Chapter 12”, published in 1891, is a work by Oscar Wilde. It explores elements such as Dorian Gray, scandal and Hallward.

Quotes from The Picture of Dorian Gray — Chapter 12 (Oscar Wilde)

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray — Chapter 12 (1891)

“ His life is dreadful. But you, Dorian, with your pure, bright, innocent face, and your marvellous untroubled youth – I can't believe anything against you. And yet I see you very seldom, and you never come down to the studio now, and when I am away from you, and I hear all these hideous things that people are whispering about you, I don't know what to say. Why is it, Dorian, that a man like the Duke of Berwick leaves the room of a club when you enter it? Why is it that so many gentlemen in London will neither go to your house or invite you to theirs? ”

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Source: Wikisource

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray — Chapter 12 (1891)

“ When you met Lady Gwendolen, not a breath of scandal had ever touched her. Is there a single decent woman in London now who would drive with her in the park? Why, even her children are not allowed to live with her. Then there are other stories – stories that you have been seen creeping at dawn out of dreadful houses and slinking in disguise into the foulest dens in London. Are they true? Can they be true? When I first heard them, I laughed. I hear them now, and they make me shudder. What about your country-house and the life that is led there? Dorian, you don't know what is said about you. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray — Chapter 12 (1891)

“ In this country, it is enough for a man to have distinction and brains for every common tongue to wag against him. And what sort of lives do these people, who pose as being moral, lead themselves? My dear fellow, you forget that we are in the native land of the hypocrite."
"Dorian," cried Hallward, "that is not the question. England is bad enough I know, and English society is all wrong. That is the reason why I want you to be fine. You have not been fine. One has a right to judge of a man by the effect he has over his friends. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray — Chapter 12 (1891)

“ I should like to be somebody else."
"It is about yourself," answered Hallward in his grave deep voice, "and I must say it to you. I shall only keep you half an hour."
Dorian sighed and lit a cigarette. "Half an hour!" he murmured.
"It is not much to ask of you, Dorian, and it is entirely for your own sake that I am speaking. I think it right that you should know that the most dreadful things are being said against you in London."
"I don't wish to know anything about them. I love scandals about other people, but scandals about myself don't interest me. They have not got the charm of novelty." ”

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Source: Wikisource

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray — Chapter 12 (1891)

“ They must interest you, Dorian. Every gentleman is interested in his good name. You don't want people to talk of you as something vile and degraded. Of course, you have your position, and your wealth, and all that kind of thing. But position and wealth are not everything. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray — Chapter 12 (1891)

“ The middle classes air their moral prejudices over their gross dinner-tables, and whisper about what they call the profligacies of their betters in order to try and pretend that they are in smart society and on intimate terms with the people they slander. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray — Chapter 12 (1891)

“ Dorian looked at him and smiled. "What a way for a fashionable painter to travel! A Gladstone bag and an ulster! Come in, or the fog will get into the house. And mind you don't talk about anything serious. Nothing is serious nowadays. At least nothing should be."
Hallward shook his head, as he entered, and followed Dorian into the library. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray — Chapter 12 (1891)

“ I remember Harry saying once that every man who turned himself into an amateur curate for the moment always began by saying that, and then proceeded to break his word. I do want to preach to you. I want you to lead such a life as will make the world respect you. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray — Chapter 12 (1891)

“ Sin is a thing that writes itself across a man's face. It cannot be concealed. People talk sometimes of secret vices. There are no such things. If a wretched man has a vice, it shows itself in the lines of his mouth, the droop of his eyelids, the moulding of his hands even. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray — Chapter 12 (1891)

“ You have a wonderful influence. Let it be for good, not for evil. They say that you corrupt every one with whom you become intimate, and that it is quite sufficient for you to enter a house for shame of some kind to follow after. ”

Oscar Wilde

Summary

Quotes from The Picture of Dorian Gray — Chapter 12 (Oscar Wilde)

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