The Picture of Dorian Gray Questions: Chapter 2 (Dorian’s Wish)

Dorian: “How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young. It will never be older than this particular day of June. … If it were only the other way! If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! For that – for that – I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give! I would give my soul for that!” (p25) Dorian never signs a contract with the devil, as in other “Faustian” tales; Wilde does not choose to focus on the “how’s.” How does this affect the novel? How would it have been different if Dorian had officially signed up for his fate?