Project Purpose

This project aims to highlight and analyze the revisions of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. In 1890, J.M. Stoddart, editor of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, altered some of Wilde's phrasings and word choices from his original manuscript to appeal to the public. However, despite Stoddart's cuts and edits, critics were not pleased, and Wilde and Lippincott's received immense backlash. Critics from St. James's Gazette, The Daily Chronicle, and Scots Observer had condemned the novel by calling Wilde's characters, Basil, Lord Henry, and Dorian Gray, "obscene," "vulgar," and "immoral," for seemingly having explicit homoerotic desires. In 1891, Wilde composed an extended version of the novel that retained Stoddart's edits but was also heavily influenced by the critical reviews. Wilde also expanded the novel from thirteen to twenty chapters and added a preface. ("Lippincott's Monthly Magazine")

With the help of Donald L. Lawler's edited version of Dorian Gray, this digital project includes the full text from Lippincott's Monthly Magazine (1890) and annotations highlighting the additions, deletions, and refinements to the novel. Additionally, in light of several critical reviews of the 1890 edition and Wilde's letter responses, this project includes an analysis of the 1891 edition.