The Picture of Dorian Gray · Chapter
XIV explained
Dorian Gray awakens the morning after murdering Basil Hallward.
What happens
Dorian Gray awakens the morning after murdering Basil Hallward. He attempts to maintain his composure and sends for Alan Campbell, a former friend and scientist, to dispose of the body. Campbell initially refuses but is coerced by Dorian, and the chapter ends with Campbell beginning the grim task.
Themes in this chapter
Sin and Punishment
Dorian grapples with the immediate consequences of murder, experiencing psychological torment and the need to cover up his crime.
Influence and Corruption
Dorian uses his influence to coerce Alan Campbell into aiding him, demonstrating the corrupting power he wields over others.
Vanity and the Double Life
Dorian maintains his composed, elegant exterior while hiding the horrific reality of murder and the decaying portrait.
Characters to notice
- Dorian Gray
Awakens peacefully but is haunted by the memory of murdering Basil Hallward; he orchestrates the disposal of the body by coercing Alan Campbell.
- Alan Campbell
A former friend and scientist who is blackmailed into helping Dorian dispose of Basil Hallward's body; he is visibly disturbed and reluctant.
- Basil Hallward
The murdered artist; his body remains in the locked room, and his presence looms over the chapter.
- Victor
Dorian's servant, who brings chocolate and later delivers messages and the chemical chest.
- Lord Henry Wotton
Referenced indirectly through a quote about 'a woman's memory' that Dorian recalls.
- Adrian Singleton
Mentioned as the giver of the book Dorian reads.
Key passages
“Gradually the events of the preceding night crept with silent, bloodstained feet into his brain and reconstructed themselves there with terrible distinctness.”
The memory of the previous night's murder slowly and vividly returned to Dorian's mind.
Dorian's recollection of killing Basil is described as an unwelcome, vivid intrusion.
“It was a thing to be driven out of the mind, to be drugged with poppies, to be strangled lest it might strangle one itself.”
The memory of the murder was something Dorian felt he must suppress or it would destroy him.
Dorian's psychological struggle to repress the horror of his crime.
“You have gone from corruption to corruption, and now you have culminated in crime.”
Alan Campbell accuses Dorian of progressing from moral decay to outright criminality.
Campbell's condemnation of Dorian's descent into evil.