The Picture of Dorian Gray

1. Who painted the picture of Dorian Gray?

A. Lord Henry Wotton

B. Margaret Devereaux

C. Basil Hallward

D. Lady Brandon

2. Which qualities make a person least likely to suffer, according to Basil?

A. beauty and intelligence

B. beauty and ignorance

C. ugliness and intelligence

D. ugliness and ignorance

3. Where did the artist meet Dorian Gray?

A. at a party thrown by Lady Brandon

B. at a dinner hosted by Lord Henry

C. at a cafe

D. on the train

4. Why won’t the artist exhibit the picture of Dorian Gray?

A. The artist worries that the picture displays too much personal emotion.

B. The artist doesn’t want Dorian to find out about the picture.

C. The artist is embarrassed by the picture’s poor quality.

D. The artist thinks gallery audiences lack appreciation for the picture.

5. What is Lord Henry’s response to the accusation that he is a bad influence?

A. He says all influence is good.

B. He says all influence is bad.

C. He says no one is capable of truly influencing another.

D. He says he is a good influence on some and a bad influence on others.

6. Why does Henry believe that beauty is a more valuable quality than genius?

A. Beauty is objective, while genius is subjective.

B. Beauty is subjective, while genius is objective.

C. There are fewer beautiful people than geniuses.

D. Beauty needs no explanation.

7. According to Lord Henry, what is the only thing that can cure the soul? (short answer)

8. Why does the picture make Dorian sad?

A. because it is a poor representation of his beauty

B. because it will stay beautiful forever while he will grow old

C. because it cheapens his own beauty

D. because it makes him realize he is not as beautiful as he thinks he is

9. Why does Basil attempt to destroy the painting?

A. because he finds it ugly

B. because Lord Henry asks him to

C. because the painting has caused strife between his friends and him

D. because he destroys all his paintings after he is done with them

10. Who is Dorian’s father?

A. Kelso

B. Lord Fermor

C. an important man with a government position

D. an unnamed man of low social standing

11. When did Dorian’s mother die?

A. shortly after Dorian was born

B. when Dorian was a teenager

C. one year earlier

D. one month earlier

12. Who is Sybil Vane?

A. Lord Henry’s wife

B. the woman Dorian loves

C. a woman who wishes to buy the painting

D. Dorian’s grandmother

13. According to Lord Henry, which people “exist simply in what they make, and consequently are perfectly uninteresting in what they are” (56)?

A. women

B. factory workers

C. actors and actresses

D. good artists

14. What news is relayed by the telegram Lord Henry receives at the end of Chapter 4?

A. Lord Henry’s wife is dead.

B. The Spanish-American war has begun.

C. Dorian and Sybil are engaged.

D. Basil is leaving town.

15. Why does Mrs. Vane approve of the union between Dorian and her daughter?

A. Mrs. Vane finds Dorian incredibly handsome.

B. Mrs. Vane wants Sybil to be happy.

C. Mrs. Vane assumes Dorian is rich.

D. Mrs. Vane is desperate to marry Sybil off.

16. Which character do the Vanes owe a debt of 50 pounds?

A. Mr. Isaacs

B. Dorian

C. Lord Henry

D. Lady Brandon

17. What is Lord Henry’s attitude toward Dorian’s engagement?

A. He is disappointed by it.

B. He approves of it, given that it was his idea.

C. He is confused by it.

D. He neither approves nor disapproves of it.

18. To what does Lord Henry refer as “Nature’s test, her sign of approval” (76)?

A. marriage

B. pleasure

C. sin

D. conscience

19. In which Shakespeare play do the characters watch Sybil perform?

A. Hamlet

B. Romeo and Juliet

C. The Tempest

D. A Midsummer Night’s Dream

20. After Dorian breaks up with Sybil, what quality does his painting express that it did not before?

A. cruelty

B. madness

C. joviality

D. boredom

21. How does Sybil die?

A. She is struck by a carriage.

B. Lord Henry pushes her off London Bridge.

C. She poisons herself.

D. She dies in her sleep due to unknown causes.

22. What is Lord Henry’s chief concern surrounding Sybil’s death?

A. whether she suffered

B. that Dorian remain unsullied by scandal

C. what will happen to her theater company

D. how her mother will take the news

23. To what does Basil attribute Dorian’s turn toward cold heartlessness?

A. the painting

B. Sybil’s death

C. growing insanity

D. Lord Henry’s influence

24. Since Dorian never told Sybil his real name, what did she call him? (short answer)

25. What does Dorian do with the painting so that no one sees it?

A. destroys it

B. has another painting laid over it in the frame

C. turns it around on the wall

D. locks it in a room and puts a cloth over it

26. What does the inquest rule was the cause of Sybil’s death?

A. death by misadventure

B. inadvertent manslaughter

C. intentional manslaughter

D. first degree murder

27. In the book with which Dorian is obsessed, what object does the hero fear?

A. mirrors

B. clocks

C. guns

D. fire

28. Why does Dorian decide he can no longer stay away from England for long stretches of time?

A. He needs the constant adoration of his closest friends.

B. He worries about suffering a terrible accident while abroad.

C. He is afraid someone will find the painting.

D. He has found no place as enchanting as England.

29. What tends to happen to people who befriend Dorian?

A. They die.

B. Their reputations suffer.

C. They disappear.

D. They quickly show signs of age.

30. To which character does Dorian first show the painting? (short answer)

31. What does Dorian do with Basil’s body immediately after he kills him?

A. cuts it up and hides the pieces around town

B. leaves it in an alley under piles of trash

C. keeps it in the forbidden room with the painting

D. rolls it in a carpet and throws it in the Thames

32. Why does Dorian believe it will be a long time before Basil’s disappearance is reported?

A. Basil was about to go on a trip to Paris.

B. Basil was reclusive and seldom seen out of his home.

C. Basil had few if any friends close enough to care.

D. Basil’s disappearance is one of many in London.

33. What does Dorian blackmail Alan Campbell into doing for him?

A. tracking down Lord Henry

B. procuring addictive drugs for Dorian

C. engaging in sexual acts with Dorian

D. disposing of Basil’s body

34. What change does the painting undergo after Dorian commits murder?

A. A streak of blood appears on one hand.

B. The eyes are now red.

C. The body has grown bloated.

D. The teeth have grown sharp.

35. Where does Dorian spend the early evening on the day after he kills Basil?

A. the opera

B. a party at Lady Narborough’s

C. a brothel

D. the forbidden room

36. Where does Dorian find his old friend Adrian Singleton?

A. outside Dorian’s home

B. an opium den

C. standing on the edge of London Bridge

D. in the street, dead

37. How does Dorian convince James Vane not to kill him?

A. He bribes James.

B. He begs for forgiveness.

C. He shows his face in the light.

D. He tells James that killing him would be beneficial.

38. Whom does Dorian see watching him through the window at the Selby Royal conservatory?

A. the Duchess of Monmouth

B. Lord Henry

C. Sybil Vane

D. James Vane

39. Who is responsible for accidentally killing the man during the hunting party?

A. Dorian

B. James Vane

C. Sir Geoffrey Clouston

D. Lady Narborough

40. Who is Thornton?

A. the gamekeeper

B. the sailor killed during the hunting party

C. Dorian’s lawyer

D. another artist who wants to paint Dorian

41. Why does Lord Henry believe Dorian may have ruined Hetty’s life, even though he tried not to?

A. After meeting Dorian, she will never be happy with someone of her own social status.

B. Hetty now doubts her own beauty because of Dorian’s comments.

C. Dorian treated her horribly in a trancelike state he does not remember.

D. Dorian’s corruption now spreads naturally to everyone he meets.

42. How does Lord Henry respond to the suggestion that Dorian may have killed Basil?

A. He applauds Dorian.

B. He says that murder does not suit Dorian.

C. He says he already knew that Dorian killed Basil.

D. Shocked, he begs Dorian to turn himself into the authorities.

43. Why does Dorian ultimately decide not to confess to Basil’s murder?

A. He remains unrepentant over the murder.

B. He is afraid of going to jail and leaving the painting unguarded.

C. He believes he would be taken for a madman.

D. The authorities have already closed Basil’s case.

44. What happens when Dorian stabs the painting? (short answer)