200 Matching Annotations
  1. May 2023
    1. CHAPTER THIRTEEN

      From LAWLER 274: Wilde added chapters 15-18 here in 1891. Lippincott's chapter 13 was then divided into chapters 19 and 20 (1891).

      ZABROUSKI: In summary, chapters 15-18 describe Dorian Gray's character deterioration. - In Chapter 15, Dorian flirts with bored noblewomen at a dinner party, and ends up leaving early to abuse opium. - In Chapter 16, Dorian travels to an opium den in London and has a run-in with Sibyl Vane's brother, James Vane. James had been on the hunt for Dorian to avenge his dead sister, but once faced with the young Dorian, he assumes he was mistaken and had been following the wrong man. After the men part ways, James learns that he was fooled and resolves to hunt down Dorian again. The concept of Dorian's inability to age further plays into the fantastical nature of the novel. - In Chapter 17, Dorian entertains guests at his estate in Shelby, and they discuss the beauty of art. Dorian sees James out in the conservatory, and he faints from terror. - In Chapter 18, Dorian hides indoors for two days before gaining the courage to venture outside. Later in the day, he attends a shooting party in the park, and, attempting to shoot a hare, shoots and kills a man (it is later revealed in this chapter that the man was in fact James Vane). When Dorian claims the incident was a "bad omen," Lord Henry disagrees and tries to change the subject; he teases Dorian about his relations with a duchess. Dorian shuts down Lord Henry's teasing and says, "I wish I could love." This loaded utterance could possibly reference Dorian's poor mental state resulting in his inability to love, or his inability to love a woman. Either way, it is unclear what Dorian exactly means.

    2. It was not till they had examined the rings that they recognized who it was.

      From LAWLER 281: The original ending read "When they entered, they found on the wall the portrait of a young man of extraordinary personal beauty, their master as they had last seen him. Lying on the floor was a dead body, withered, wrinkled, and loathsome of visage with a knife in his heart." Wilde changed the ending to what it is now in the Lippincott's typescript.

    3. It would kill the past, and when that was dead he would be free.

      From LAWLER 280: Wilde added this sentence in the typescript and added the following sentence in 1891: "It would kill this monstrous soul-life, and without its hideous warnings, he would be at peace."

    4. tell?

      From LAWLER 280: Wilde added five lines here in 1891: "...No. There had been nothing more. Through vanity he had spared her. In hypocrisy he had worn the mask of goodness. For curiosity's sake he had tried the denial of self. He recognized that now."

    5. him?

      From LAWLER 279: Wilde added two paragraphs here in 1891: Ah! in what a monstrous moment of pride and passion he had prayed that the portrait should bear the burden of his days, and he keep the unsullied splendour of eternal youth! All his failure had been due to that. Better for him that each sin of his life had brought its sure swift penalty along with it. There was purification in punishment. Not “Forgive us our sins” but “Smite us for our iniquities” should be the prayer of man to a most just God. [New paragraph] The curiously carved mirror that Lord Henry had given to him, so many years ago now, was standing on the table, and the white-limbed Cupids laughed round it as of old. He took it up, as he had done on that night of horror when he had first noted the change in the fatal picture, and with wild, tear-dimmed eyes looked into its polished shield. Once, some one who had terribly loved him had written to him a mad letter, ending with these idolatrous words: “The world is changed because you are made of ivory and gold. The curves of your lips rewrite history.” The phrases came back to his memory, and he repeated them over and over to himself. Then he loathed his own beauty, and flinging the mirror on the floor, crushed it into silver splinters beneath his heel. It was his beauty that had ruined him, his beauty and the youth that he had prayed for. But for those two things, his life might have been free from stain. His beauty had been to him but a mask, his youth but a mockery. What was youth at best? A green, an unripe time, a time of shallow moods, and sickly thoughts. Why had he worn its livery? Youth had spoiled him.

    6. be

      From LAWLER 278: A dozen lines or so were added here in 1891, nearly half of which argue against art influencing human action: As for being poisoned by a book, there is no such thing as that. Art has no influence upon action. It annihilates the desire to act. It is superbly sterile. The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame. That is all. But we won’t discuss literature. Come round to-morrow. I am going to ride at eleven. We might go together, and I will take you to lunch afterwards with Lady Branksome. She is a charming woman, and wants to consult you about some tapestries she is thinking of buying. Mind you come. Or shall we lunch with our little duchess? She says she never sees you now. Perhaps you are tired of Gladys? I thought you would be. Her clever tongue gets on one’s nerves. Well, in any case, be here at eleven.” [New paragraph] “Must I really come, Harry?” [New paragraph] “Certainly. The park is quite lovely now. I don’t think there have been such lilacs since the year I met you.”

    7. Victoria

      From LAWLER 276: Stoddart cancelled the following: "She was desperately in love with you at one time, Dorian. It used to amuse me to watch her paying you compliments. You were so charmingly indifferent. Do you know I really miss her? She never bored me. She was so delightfully improbably in everything that she did."

    8. wretched

      From LAWLER 275: After "wretched," Wilde originally had the following passage: "Upon the other hand, had she become your mistress, she would have lived in the society of charming and cultivated men. You would have educated her, taught her how to dress, how to talk, how to move. You would have made her perfect, and she would have been extremely happy. After a time, no doubt, you would have grown tired of her. She would have made a scene. You would have made a settlement. Then a new career would have begun for her." Stoddart cut this entire section to eliminate ambiguity.

    9. This was the man that Dorian Gray was waiting for, pacing up and down the room, glancing every moment at the clock, and becoming horribly agitated as the minutes went by. At last the door opened, and his servant entered

      From LAWLER 268: Wilde replaced these sentences and added the following: "This was the man Dorian Gray was waiting for. Every second he kept glancing at the clock. As the minutes went by he became horribly agitated. At last he got up and began to pace up and down the room, looking like a beautiful caged thing. He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold. [New paragraph] The suspense became unbearable. Time seemed to him to be crawling with feet of lead, while he by monstrous winds was being swept towards the jagged edge of some black cleft of precipice. He knew what was waiting for him there; saw it, indeed, and, shuddering, crushed with dank hands his burning lids as though he would have robbed the very brain of sight and driven the eyeballs back into their cave. It was useless. The brain had its own food on which it battened, and the imagination, made grotesque by terror, twisted and distorted as a living thing by pain, danced like some foul puppet on a stand and grinned through moving masks. Then, suddenly, time stopped for him. Yes: that blind, slow-breathing thing crawled no more, and horrible thoughts, time being dead, raced nimbly on in front, and dragged a hideous future from its grave, and showed it to him. He stared at it. Its very horror made him stone. [New paragraph] At last the door opened and his servant entered. He turned glazed eyes upon him."

    1. secret

      From LAWLER 233: Stoddart cancelled the following lines in the typescript: "There was love in every line, and in every touch there was passion."

      From "Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray, Annotated & Uncensored": This sentiment belongs to an established literary convention: the artistic process is being equated with sexual intimacy. Normally, however, the artist is male and his subject (or model) female. Wilde is adding an unmistakably homoerotic twist to this tradition.

    2. CHAPTER FOUR

      This chapter shows up as Chapter VI in the 1891 edition.

      ZABROUSKI: Directly preceding this chapter, Wilde had added his second chapter addition, considered to be "Chapter V". The added chapter is told from Sibyl Vane's perspective, describing her excitement about the engagement with Dorian. Also in this chapter is the first mention of Sibyl's brother, James Vane, whom Wilde created in 1891. James will eventually become Dorian's unsuccessful nemesis.

    3. worshipped

      From LAWLER 233: Wilde made extensive revisions to this paragraph in 1891, deleting two passages, "It is quite true... country" and "I quite admit... was with you," and adding as much as he removed. Carson made much of such passages during the first cross-examination of the libel trial.

    4. For a moment he thought of praying that the horrible sympathy that existed between him and the picture might cease. It had changed in answer to a prayer; perhaps in answer to a prayer it might remain unchanged. And, yet, who, that knew anything about Life, would surrender the chance of remaining always young, however fantastic that chance might be, or with what fateful consequences it might be fraught? Besides, was it really under his control? Had it indeed been prayer that had produced the substitution? Might there not be some curious scientific reason for it all? If thought could exercise its influence upon a living organism, might not thought exercise an influence upon dead and inorganic things? Nay, without thought or conscious desire, might not things external to ourselves vibrate in unison with our moods and passions, atom calling to atom, in secret love or strange affinity? But the reason was of no importance. He would never again tempt by a prayer any terrible power. If the picture was to alter, it was to alter. That was all. Why inquire too closely into it?

      From LAWLER 227: This paragraph was added in the typescript.

    5. Poor Sibyl! what a romance it had all been! She had often mimicked death on the stage, and at last Death himself had touched her, and brought her with him. How had she played that dreadful scene? Had she cursed him, as she died? No; she had died for love of him, and love would always be a sacrament to him now. She had atoned for everything, by the sacrifice she had made of her life. He would not think any more of what she had made him go through, that horrible night at the theatre. When he thought of her, it would be as a wonderful tragic figure to show Love had been a great reality. A wonderful tragic figure? Tears came to his eyes as he remembered her child-like look and winsome fanciful ways and shy tremulous grace. He wiped them away hastily, and looked again at the picture.

      From LAWLER 226: This paragraph was added in the typescript.

    6. Three o'clock struck, and four, and half-past four, but he did not stir. He was trying to gather up the scarlet threads of life, and to weave them into a pattern; to find his way through the sanguine labyrinth of passion through which he was wandering. He did not know what to do, or what to think.

      From LAWLER 220: Wilde added these sentences in the typescript.

    7. A long line of boys carrying crates of striped tulips, and of yellow and red roses, defiled in front of him, threading their way through the huge jade-green piles of vegetables. Under the portico, with its gray sun-bleached pillars, loitered a troop of draggled bareheaded girls, waiting for the auction to be over.

      From LAWLER 216: Added in the typescript.

      ZABROUSKI: After these sentences, Wilde revised the rest of the paragraph in 1891: "Others crowded round the swinging doors of the coffee-house in the piazza. The heavy cart-horses slipped and stamped upon the rough stones, shaking their bells and trappings. Some of the drivers were lying asleep on a pile of sacks. Iris-necked and pink-footed, the pigeons ran about picking up seeds. After a little while, he hailed a hansom and drove home. For a few moments he loitered upon the doorstep, looking round at the silent square, with its blank, close-shuttered windows and its staring blinds. The sky was pure opal now, and the roofs of the houses glistened like silver against it. From some chimney opposite a thin wreath of smoke was rising. It curled, a violet riband, through the nacre-coloured air."

    8. And it is an irrevocable vow that I want to take.

      From LAWLER 209: After this sentence, Wilde originally had the following: "Why she would loathe me if she thought I merely meant to use her till I grew weary of her and then threw her away." Wilde crossed this out in his manuscript.

    9. appointment

      From LAWLER 206: Wilde added several lines here in 1891: "Are you serious?" / "Quite serious, Basil. I should be miserable if I thought I should ever be more serious than I am at the present moment."

      ZABROUSKI: This may just be a personal opinion, but I don't think adding that extra dialogue was necessary. However, I suppose the extra back and forth between Basil and Henry is meant to emphasize how beautiful Sybil is. Because there was no lead up to Basil asking Harry if he approves of the marriage, one may have argued that Basil was hinting at previous romantic relations between Harry and Dorian.

    10. Hallward turned perfectly pale, and a curious look flashed for a moment into his eyes, and then passed away, leaving them dull.

      From LAWLER 206: Wilde changed these lines to "Hallward started, and then frowned." This change was to mute Basil's reaction.

    1. CHAPTER THREE

      This chapter shows up as Chapter IV in the 1891 edition.

      ZABROUSKI: Wilde added six additional chapters to the entire 1891 edition. The first 1891 chapter addition would be found here, in between this edition's Chapter II and Chapter III. The additional chapter, in summary, includes a scene between Lord Henry and his uncle, Lord George Fermor, in which Henry asks for any information regarding Dorian Gray. Uncle George tells Henry that he knew Dorian's mother, Lady Margaret Devereux, "intimately," and that she was a very beautiful woman. Lady Devereux had run off to marry some "penniless man," and, though tragic, Henry found it romantic. After learning about Dorian's wealthy parentage, Henry headed to his Aunt Agatha's house; on the way, he marveled about Dorian's backstory and beauty. Lawler mentions in his footnotes that "the scene at Aunt Agatha's house is one of the two social cameos Wilde added in the revised addition. The other comes late in the novel at Selby Royal. Each forms a background for another kind of dramatic action. In this scene, Henry's performance established his influence over Dorian's mind. The scene itself, however, foreshadows the success Wilde was soon to enjoy in the theatre" (34).

    1. 7th

      From LAWLER 255: Changed to "9th" in 1891 and the birthday from the "thirty-second" to "thirty-eighth."

      From TEMPLE: It's highly possible that Wilde changed Dorian’s age in the 1891 edition so that no one could argue that as a connection between them (they were both 32 at the time).

    2. Dorian, Dorian, your reputation is infamous. I know you and Harry are great friends. I say nothing about that now, but surely you need not have made his sister's name a by-word.

      From LAWLER 258: Wilde removed this sentence and added another section of dialogue 1891: “Stop, Basil. You are talking about things of which you know nothing,” said Dorian Gray, biting his lip, and with a note of infinite contempt in his voice. “You ask me why Berwick leaves a room when I enter it. It is because I know everything about his life, not because he knows anything about mine. With such blood as he has in his veins, how could his record be clean? You ask me about Henry Ashton and young Perth. Did I teach the one his vices, and the other his debauchery? If Kent’s silly son takes his wife from the streets, what is that to me? If Adrian Singleton writes his friend’s name across a bill, am I his keeper? I know how people chatter in England. The middle classes air their moral prejudices over their gross dinner-tables, and whisper about what they call the profligacies of their betters in order to try and pretend that they are in smart society and on intimate terms with the people they slander. In this country, it is enough for a man to have distinction and brains for every common tongue to wag against him. And what sort of lives do these people, who pose as being moral, lead themselves? My dear fellow, you forget that we are in the native land of the hypocrite.” [New paragraph] “Dorian,” cried Hallward, “that is not the question. England is bad enough I know, and English society is all wrong. That is the reason why I want you to be fine. You have not been fine. One has a right to judge of a man by the effect he has over his friends. Yours seem to lose all sense of honour, of goodness, of purity. You have filled them with a madness for pleasure. They have gone down into the depths. You led them there. Yes: you led them there, and yet you can smile, as you are smiling now. And there is worse behind. I know you and Harry are inseparable. Surely for that reason, if for none other, you should not have made his sister’s name a by-word.” [New paragraph] “Take care, Basil. You go too far.” [New paragraph] “I must speak, and you must listen. You shall listen."

    3. The Renaissance knew of strange manners of poisoning,—poisoning by a helmet and a lighted torch, by an embroidered glove and a jewelled fan, by a gilded pomander and by an amber chain. Dorian Gray had been poisoned by a book. There were moments when he looked on evil simply as a mode through which he could realize his conception of the beautiful.

      From LAWLER 255: The original ending of this chapter read: "Lord Henry had given him one, and Basil Hallward had painted the other."

    4. had caroused with the green-shirted jockeys in their stables, and supped in an ivory manger with a jewel-frontleted horse;

      From LAWLER 254: Stoddart changed what was originally "had drank the live philter of Caesonia, and wore the habit of Venus by night, and a false gilded beard."

    5. room

      From LAWLER 252: The conclusion of this paragraph, crossed out by Stoddart in the typescript, was as follows: "It was said that even the sinful creatures who prowl the streets at night had cursed him as he passed by, seeing in him a corruption greater than their own and knowing but too well the horror of his real life." An additional passage in the same spirit, which Wilde blotted out in the manuscript, described Dorian's appeal in terms of his "strange and dangerous charm."

    6. He had a special passion, also, for ecclesiastical vestments, as indeed he had for everything connected with the service of the Church. In the long cedar chests that lined the west gallery of his house he had stored away many rare and beautiful specimens of what is really the raiment of the Bride of Christ, who must wear purple and jewels and fine linen that she may hide the pallid macerated body that is worn by the suffering that she seeks for, and wounded by self-inflicted pain. He had a gorgeous cope of crimson silk and gold-thread damask, figured with a repeating pattern of golden pomegranates set in six-petalled formal blossoms, beyond which on either side was the pineapple device wrought in seed-pearls. The orphreys were divided into panels representing scenes from the life of the Virgin, and the coronation of the Virgin was figured in colored silks upon the hood. This was Italian work of the fifteenth century. Another cope was of green velvet, embroidered with heart-shaped groups of acanthus-leaves, from which spread long-stemmed white blossoms, the details of which were picked out with silver thread and colored crystals. The morse bore a seraph's head in gold-thread raised work. The orphreys were woven in a diaper of red and gold silk, and were starred with medallions of many saints and martyrs, among whom was St. Sebastian. He had chasubles, also, of amber-colored silk, and blue silk and gold brocade, and yellow silk damask and cloth of gold, figured with representations of the Passion and Crucifixion of Christ, and embroidered with lions and peacocks and other emblems; dalmatics of white satin and pink silk damask, decorated with tulips and dolphins and fleurs de lys; altar frontals of crimson velvet and blue linen; and many corporals, chalice-veils, and sudaria. In the mystic offices to which these things were put there was something that quickened his imagination.

      From LAWLER 251: Wilde added this paragraph on two handwritten pages to add to the typescript.

    7. He discovered wonderful stories, also, about jewels.

      From LAWLER 247: Wilde added four paragraphs here in three long manuscript pages, beginning at "He discovered wonderful stories..." and ending at "luxury of the dead was wonderful." The following lines of the insert never appeared in print. Since there were no instructions from Stoddart or other editorial marks, the omission may have been a typesetting error or a deliberate omission to avoid an ambiguity of reference or syntax: "It was a pearl that Julius Caesar had given to Servilia when he loved her. Their child had been Brutus. [New paragraph] The young priest of the Sun, who while yet a boy had been slain for his sins, used to walk in jewelled shoes on dust of gold and silver."

    8. part

      From LAWLER 242: Cancelled in the manuscript: "twelfth and thirteenth chapters." No parallels seem to exist in these and other allusions between the contents of the yellow book and either A Rebours or Monsieur Venus except for similarities in tone, general subject matter, and angle of treatment.

    9. "Ah, if you have discovered that, you have discovered a great deal," murmured Lord Henry, with his curious smile. "Come, let us go in to dinner. It is dreadfully late, and I am afraid the champagne will be too much iced."

      From LAWLER 241: Changed to "'Ah, you have discovered that?' murmured Lord Henry. And they passed into the dining room" in 1891.

    10. up

      From LAWLER 240: Stoddart cancelled the following here: "Le Secret de Raoul par Catulle Sarrazin. What a curious title." All subsequent references to the title of the notorious yellow book were also removed by Stoddart. The author and title are fictitious, although Wilde knew a Gabriel Sarrazin, a French writer who reviewed for Wilde's Woman's World magazine. The title may have suggested to Stoddart the scandalous French novel by Rachilde (Marguerite Vallette) Monsieur Venus (1899), in which there is a character, M. Raeoule de Vénérande.

    11. "A terrible load to carry,"

      From LAWLER 238: Wilde changed this line three times. In the typescript, there was another sort of pun in Dorian's reply: "There is a good deal of heaviness in modern art." In 1891, Wilde changed it again to the deliberately prosaic "I am afraid it is rather heavy," emphasizing a different mood entirely.

      ZABROUSKI: While the original quote portrayed a fictional character's humor, the 1891 change seems to portray Wilde's personal struggle in publishing this book. This change may be alluding to the backlash Wilde received when Dorian Gray was first published. Thus, this darker, sadder, and overall more pessimistic tone would be bringing attention to Wilde's opinion on the debate between morality vs. art.

    12. "Well, Master Dorian," she said, "what can I do for you? I beg your pardon, sir,"—here came a courtesy,—"I shouldn't call you Master Dorian any more. But, Lord bless you, sir, I have known you since you were a baby, and many's the trick you've played on poor old Leaf. Not that you were not always a good boy, sir; but boys will be boys, Master Dorian, and jam is a temptation to the young, isn't it, sir?"He laughed. "You must always call me Master Dorian, Leaf. I will be very angry with you if you don't. And I assure you I am quite as fond of jam now as I used to be. Only when I am asked out to tea I am never offered any. I want you to give me the key of the room at the top of the house."

      From LAWLER 234: This section was cut in 1891. Wilde's revision all but removed the comic side of Leaf's personality. Most of her dialogue and Dorian's replies were changed in both substance and tone. This is the lone instance when Wilde eclipsed a character or diluted a scene in his last revision.

  2. Apr 2023
    1. "You don't mean to say that Basil has got any passion or any romance in him?"

      ZABROUSKI: Changed to "Oh, Basil is the best of fellows, but he seems to me just a bit of a Philistine. Since I have known you, Harry, I have discovered that" in 1891.

      A "Philistine" is a person who is indifferent to the culture or the arts (Oxford Dictionary). This alteration not only ties into Wilde's interest in aestheticism but more importantly detaches Basil from any romantic characteristics. Additionally, the following two lines of dialogue are deleted in the 1891 edition, which mutes the homoerotic undertones between Basil and Lord Henry; Lord Henry's comment that "[Basil] certainly has romance" provides insight that there was some sort of romantic relationship between the two. Furthermore, the fact that Henry asks Dorian if Basil has ever "let [him] know that" rather than "tell [him] that" also points to Basil's homosexuality. Because having any homosexual relations was illegal at the time, Henry's phrasing acts as an unspoken tip to Dorian. One could argue, then, that Basil, Lord Henry, and Dorian are homosexual. Another thing to note is that this particular deletion draws more attention to Basil's art rather than romantic relations. In this way, Wilde adds emphasis to the romance of art rather than homosexual romance.

      From LAWLER 203: Originally, Dorian had asked whether "Basil has got a passion for somebody?" Lord Henry answered, "Yes, he has. Has he never told you?" This dialogue was cancelled, and Wilde wrote the changes in the margin.

    2. yours

      From LAWLER 200: Was originally "your mistress," but Stoddart changed it. Wilde altered Stoddart's emendation in 1891, making it "I suppose she will belong to you some day."

      ZABROUSKI: I found this specific change interesting, for it seems like such a minor alteration yet makes a big impact in the grand scheme of things. Lawler claimed that the 1891 alteration is "stronger" than what is here. Given the time this was published, that claim rings true; because Victorian women were typically viewed as property or arm candy rather than an actual partner, saying the phrase "belong to" would have been fitting for a heterosexual Victorian man.

    3. And now tell me,—reach me the matches, like a good boy: thanks,—tell me, what are your relations with Sibyl Vane?"

      From LAWLER 200: This is another of the series of bowdlerizations by Stoddart. This line was written by Wilde: "is Sybil Vane your mistress?" Stoddart simply rewrote it in its present form, and although Wilde made an addition in 1891, he did not restore the original reading."

    4. Faithlessness is to the emotional life what consistency is to the intellectual life,—simply a confession of failure.

      From LAWLER 198: Wilde added this epigram to the typescript and followed it up with four additional sentences in 1891: "Faithfulness! I must analyze it someday. The passion for property is in it. There are many things that we would throw away if we were not afraid that others might pick them up."

    5. love

      From LAWLER 198: Wilde added three more sentences here in 1891: "A grande passion is the privilege of people who have nothing to do. That is the one use of the idle classes of a country. Don't be afraid. There are exquisite things in store for you. This is merely the beginning."

    6. Jew

      From LAWLER 198: An example of modern censorship of Dorian Gray may be found in some recent paperback editions (Dell and Signet) in which, "Jew" is silently changed to "man" here and to other equally neutral nouns throughout.

    7. "How sad it is!" murmured Dorian Gray, with his eyes still fixed upon his own portrait. "How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrid, and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young. It will never be older than this particular day of June. . . . . If it was only the other way! If it was I who were to be always young, and the picture that were to grow old! For this—for this—I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give!"

      From LAWLER 191: Wilde altered this passage each time he revised his text. After "dreadful," he cancelled the following: "Life will send its lines across my face. Passion will create it and thought twist it from its form." For the typescript of this edition, Wilde added the last sentence of this paragraph. In 1891, Wilde added another sentence at the paragraph's end: "I would give my soul for that."

    8. well

      From LAWLER 190: Following this sentence, Wilde originally had the following passage: Most modern portrait painting comes under the head of elegant fiction or if it aims at realism, gives one something between a caricature and a photograph. But this was different. It had all the mystery of life, and all the mystery of beauty. Within the world, as men know it, there is a finer world that only artists know of--artists or those to whom the temperament of the artist has been given. Creation within creation--that is what Basil Hallward named it, that is what he had attained to."

    9. "Stop!" murmured Dorian Gray, "stop! you bewilder me. I don't know what to say. There is some answer to you, but I cannot find it. Don't speak. Let me think, or, rather, let me try not to think."

      From LAWLER 186: Wilde added this sentence and the following five paragraphs to the typescript of this edition in a long marginal note ending with "...of the silence."

      ZABROUSKI: This addition plays into Wilde's interest in aestheticism, especially in regards to music, art, and linguistics.

    10. And Beauty is a form of Genius,—is higher, indeed, than Genius, as it needs no explanation. It is one of the great facts of the world, like sunlight, or spring-time, or the reflection in dark waters of that silver shell we call the moon.

      From LAWLER 188: These lines were originally spoken by Basil in the previous chapter. Wilde relocated them here and transferred them to Henry.

    11. terribly.

      From LAWLER 188: Wilde cancelled the following line from his original manuscript: "If you set yourself to know life, you will look evil; if you are afraid of life, you will look common."

      ZABROUSKI: The homoerotic undertone of this sentence wouldn't have gone unnoticed if it was included in this edition. Though Lord Henry seems to be talking about the changes in appearance through aging, if those lines were included in this edition, Lord Henry could've been implicitly addressing society's view on homosexual relations rather than society's view on physical appearance. The phrase "afraid of life" may suggest being afraid of acting on one's true desires, and the phrase looking "common" may suggest an unwanted submission to a heterosexual relationship.

    12. "Harry, don't talk like that

      From LAWLER 182: The following lines were cut from the original manuscript: "I am not afraid of things, but I am afraid of words. I cannot understand how it is that no prophecy has ever been fulfilled. None has I know. And yet it seems to me that to say a thing is to bring it to pass. Whatever has found expression becomes true, and what has not found expression can never happen. As for genius lasting longer than beauty, it is only the transitory that stirs me. What is permanent is monstrous and produces no effect. Our senses become dulled by what is always with us."

      ZABROUSKI: ADD SOMETHING HERE

    13. The worst of having a romance is that it leaves one so unromantic.”

      From LAWLER 182: Changed to "What you have told me is quite a romance, a romance of art one might call it, and the worst of having a romance of any kind is that it leaves one so unromantic" in 1891.

    14. day

      From LAWLER 181: The following lines were cancelled form the manuscript: "Who seems to take a real delight in giving me pain. I seem quite adjusted to it. I can imagine myself doing it. But not to him, not to him. Once or twice we have been away together. Then I have had him all to myself. I am horribly jealous of him, of course. I never let him talk to me of the people he knows. I like to isolate him from the rest of life and to think that he absolutely belongs to me. He does not, I know. But it gives me pleasure to think he does."

    15. "Because I have put into it all the extraordinary romance of which, of course, I have never dared to speak to him. He knows nothing about it. He will never know anything about it. But the world might guess it; and I will not bare my soul to their shallow, prying eyes. My heart shall never be put under their microscope. There is too much of myself in the thing, Harry,—too much of myself!"

      From LAWLER 181: Wilde altered this paragraph in every revision.

      ZABROUSKI: In the 1891 version, Wilde wrote, “Because, without intending it, I have put into it some expression of all this curious artistic idolatry, of which, of course, I have never cared to speak to him. He knows nothing about it. He shall never know anything about it. But the world might guess it, and I will not bare my soul to their shallow prying eyes. My heart shall never be put under their microscope. There is too much of myself in the thing, Harry—too much of myself!” In the original manuscript, Wilde had (after "But the world might guess it") "where there is merely love, they would see something evil. Where there is spiritual passion, they would suggest something vile." If Wilde kept those two sentences in, it could be assumed that critics would have used it as fuel for their argument on what constitutes a moral vs immoral book.

    16. I must see Dorian Gray."

      LAWLER 180: Henry's response in the manuscript is too heavily blotted to read fully, but he protests Basil's being in Dorian's power: "to make yourself the slave of your slave. It is worse than wicked, it is silly. I hate Dorian Gray!" In one stroke, Wilde rid himself of some silly dialogue and removed a clue, perhaps, to the nature of the relationship between Dorian and Basil as a form of homoerotic bondage so fashionable among the English that the French referred to it as le vice anglais.

    17. me

      ZABROUSKI: Wilde added "Some subtle influence passed from him to me, and for the first time in my life I saw in the plain woodland the wonder I had always looked for and always missed" to the end of this paragraph in 1891.

      LAWLER 180: From the original manuscript, Wilde deleted "and as he leaned across to look at it, his lips touched my hand. The world becomes young to me when I hold his hand..." In 1891, Wilde added another sentence here (which I transcribed above) emphasizing Dorian's influence over Basil's art.

    18. He has stood as Paris in dainty armor, and as Adonis with huntsman's cloak and polished boar-spear. Crowned with heavy lotus-blossoms, he has sat on the prow of Adrian's barge, looking into the green, turbid Nile. He has leaned over the still pool of some Greek woodland, and seen in the water's silent silver the wonder of his own beauty.

      From LAWLER 180: Was moved by Wilde to another context (in Chapter IX) in 1891.

    19. I choose my friends for their good looks, my acquaintances for their characters, and my enemies for their brains.

      From LAWLER 178: Another epigram Wilde touched up a little in 1891.

      ZABROUSKI: Changed to "I choose my friends for their good looks, my acquaintances for their good characters, and my enemies for their good intellects" in 1891.

    20. something like 'Sir Humpty Dumpty—you know—Afghan frontier—Russian intrigues: very successful man—wife killed by an elephant—quite inconsolable—wants to marry a beautiful American widow—everybody does nowadays—hates Mr. Gladstone—but very much interested in beetles: ask him what he thinks of Schouvaloff.'

      From LAWLER 178: Removed from 1891 text.

    21. My father destined me for the army. I insisted on going to Oxford. Then he made me enter my name at the Middle Temple. Before I had eaten half a dozen dinners I gave up the Bar, and announced my intention of becoming a painter.

      From LAWLER 177: Deleted in 1891.

    22. A grasshopper began to chirrup in the grass, and a long thin dragonfly floated by on its brown gauze wings.

      From LAWLER 176: Several stylistic changes made here in 1891.

      ZABROUSKI: Changed to "A grasshopper began to chirrup by the wall, and like a blue thread a long thin dragon-fly floated past on its brown gauze wings" in 1891.

    23. "I don't think I will send it anywhere,"

      From LAWLER 174: Wilde wrote Coulson Kernahan, editor of the revised edition of Ward, Lock and Company, asking that he "look after my 'wills' and 'shalls' in proof," explaining that his "usage was not Celtic English" (Letters 289).