the picture of dorian gray

When an artist composes a great piece of work, he puts his heart into it. Part of that person is invested into its creation, which makes it more than just a statue in the park, or a picture on a wall. In Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, more than the artist’s heart is put into his painting. Basil Hallward, an artist, paints an amazing lifelike portrait of a man named …

…as he had since the picture was painted. He died as an old man, his real age, “withered, and wrinkled.” These details included by the author at the books conclusion explain that while Dorian stabbed the picture, he himself was stabbed to death through the heart, and the picture and the person changed places. The picture, now eternally young, is the only living remembrance of this occurrence, and Dorian Gray lay dead, indirectly committing suicide.