Dorian Gray's Portrait is a philosophical novel by writer Oscar Wilde.
Dorian Gray is the subject of a full-length portrait of Basil Hallward, an artist who is impressed and delighted by Dorian's beauty; he believes that Dorian's beauty is responsible for the new modality in his art as a painter. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, a soon, he is enthralled by the aristocrat's hedonistic worldview: that beauty and sensual fulfillment are the only things worth pursuing in life.
Understanding that his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses the desire to sell his soul, to ensure that the picture, rather than himself, will age and fade. The wish is granted, and Dorian pursues a libertine life of varied and amoral experiences; meanwhile his portrait ages and records all the bad things that corrupt him in the soul.