Literary fiction · Book club
The Picture of Dorian Gray book club questions
Here are 12 book club questions for The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. Copy them, print them, or bring them up one at a time.
Dorian Gray is a beautiful young man who, on the day his portrait is painted, makes a wish — or perhaps a bargain, though no one is present to take the other side of it — that the portrait should age in his place.
Oscar Wilde · 1890 · 5h 15m
Full summary and key takeaways →The 12 questions
- 1.
Lord Henry never does the things he advocates — he lectures on sin from a position of aristocratic safety. What does his exemption from consequences mean for the novel's argument?
- 2.
Is Dorian purely a victim of Lord Henry's influence, or does the novel suggest he chose what he became?
- 3.
Sybil Vane falls in love with Dorian and her art suffers for it. Dorian abandons her. What is Wilde saying about the relationship between love and aestheticism?
- 4.
Basil's love for Dorian is presented as pure and serious, while Henry's is predatory and intellectual. Why does the novel kill Basil and let Henry live comfortably?
- 5.
The portrait tells the truth. What does it mean that the only honest record of Dorian is kept hidden in an attic?
- 6.
Wilde's trial testimony echoed his own novel's dialogue. Does knowing the biographical context change how you read Lord Henry's speeches?
- 7.
The first two chapters are much more philosophically interesting than the final chapters, which are fairly conventional Gothic. Is that a failure of craft or does it say something true about where Wilde's actual interests lay?
- 8.
Compared to Frankenstein — another novel about a creation that turns on its maker — what does each book say about responsibility for what we bring into being?
- 9.
Is the ending a moral judgment on Dorian, or is it simply the mechanical working-out of the premise?
- 10.
Which of Lord Henry's epigrams do you find most genuinely persuasive? Most clearly wrong? Does separating them change how you think about the novel's argument?
- 11.
The novel was a scandal on publication. What would be scandalous about it now, and what would be mundane?
- 12.
Who is the novel actually about — Dorian, Basil, or Henry? Which character's story do you think Wilde cared most about?
How to run the discussion
- Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
- Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
- Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
- Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.
Themes worth steering toward
If the conversation stalls, these are the threads that usually restart it.
Common questions
What are good book club questions for The Picture of Dorian Gray?
Here are 12 book club questions for The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. The strongest openers ask what each reader noticed rather than what they concluded, and the discussion usually turns on aestheticism and moral decay, vanity and the soul, art and life.
How long should a book club discussion of The Picture of Dorian Gray last?
Most groups run 60 to 90 minutes of actual discussion. That is roughly six to eight questions, not all of them, so pick the ones that suit your group rather than working down the list in order.
What are the main themes in The Picture of Dorian Gray?
Aestheticism and moral decay, Vanity and the soul, Art and life, Corruption and influence, The hidden self. Those are the threads most likely to divide a room, which makes them the useful places to steer a discussion that has gone quiet.
Picking the next one? See books like The Picture of Dorian Gray or questions for other book club picks.
