The Picture of Dorian Gray

Name: The Picture of Dorian Gray
Author: Oscar Wilde

Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray

Original author

Oscar Wilde

Adapted by

Line by Line Publishing,

Read The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde in German and English, a parallel text graded reader with audio. Available in CEFR levels A2, B1, B2, and C2.

About this book

In a studio thick with rose scent and laburnum blossom, the distant hum of London sounding like an organ note, a painter named Basil Hallward finishes the finest portrait of his life. Its subject is Dorian Gray, a young man so beautiful that Basil has poured his own soul into the canvas. Into this hushed room drifts Lord Henry Wotton, languid and cynical, armed with a philosophy that treats youth as the only thing worth having. "Youth! Youth! There is absolutely nothing in the world but youth!" he declares, and Dorian, listening, feels a new dread crash over the joy of first beholding his own beauty.

So Dorian makes his wish: let the painting grow old, and let his own face stay flawless. He would give his soul for it. What follows is the story of a man who spends his life chasing pleasure while a picture, locked away, keeps the ledger of everything he has done.

Wilde writes in epigrams that gleam and turn against themselves, and in prose that lingers over jewels, perfumes, music, and the strange power of a single yellow book. There is the actress Sibyl Vane, who calls Dorian her Prince Charming; there is Lord Henry, whose wit is a slow poison; there is Basil, undone by the friend he idolizes. Beneath the glittering talk runs a quieter question about what a face conceals and what it cannot — the question Basil puts plainly when he says, "Sin is a thing that writes itself across a man's face. It cannot be concealed."

Whether that holds true for Dorian is the door this book leaves open: a portrait behind a gilded screen, and no way to know what it now shows.

Available editions

Short, concrete sentences for early learners.

6,261 sentences

Longer sentences and a wider vocabulary.

6,261 sentences

Complex sentences and a fuller vocabulary, close to everyday native reading.

6,261 sentences

Original English — The most complex prose — long, intricate sentences, and advanced vocabulary.

6,261 sentences

Read a sample

Kapitel 1

Chapter 1

Das Atelier war voll vom starken Duft der Rosen.

The studio was full of the rich smell of roses.

Wenn der leichte Sommerwind durch die Bäume im Garten wehte, kam ein schwerer Fliederduft durch die offene Tür.

When the light summer wind moved through the trees in the garden, a heavy scent of lilac came through the open door.

Manchmal kam auch ein leichterer, feinerer Duft von rosa blühendem Weißdorn herein.

Sometimes a lighter, more delicate smell of pink-flowering thorn came through too.

Lord Henry Wotton lag in der Ecke des Zimmers auf einem Sofa, das mit persischen Satteltaschen bedeckt war.

Lord Henry Wotton was lying on a sofa covered with Persian saddlebags, in the corner of the room.

Wie immer rauchte er viele Zigaretten.

As always, he was smoking many cigarettes.

Von dort, wo er lag, konnte er gerade noch die goldgelben Blüten eines Goldregenbaums sehen.

From where he lay, he could just see the golden-yellow flowers of a laburnum tree.

Die Zweige zitterten und wirkten zu schwach für so schöne Blüten.

The branches shook, looking too weak for such beautiful flowers.

History

Written by Oscar Wilde in English
Adapted by Line by Line Publishing in 2026

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