Dorian Gray's destruction of the portrait

Dorian Gray's destruction of the portrait is the final, catastrophic act of his life, a desperate attempt to murder his own conscience and erase the physical evidence of his accumulated sins. The act, which he performs with the same knife he used to kill Basil Hallward, paradoxically results in his own death and the restoration of the portrait to its original, flawless beauty, revealing the inescapable bond between his soul and the painted image.

The Decision to Destroy

In the final chapter, after a conversation with Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian Gray returns home and reflects on his life. He feels a wild longing for the unstained purity of his boyhood, but knows he has tarnished himself, filled his mind with corruption, and brought shame to the fairest lives that crossed his own. He considers the possibility of a new life, thinking of Hetty Merton, the girl he recently spared. He wonders if the portrait in the locked room has changed, if his one good deed has made it less horrible. He creeps upstairs, unlocks the door, and drags the purple hanging from the portrait. A cry of pain and indignation breaks from him: he can see no change, unless that in the eyes there is a look of cunning, and in the mouth the curved wrinkle of the hypocrite. The thing is still loathsome, more loathsome than before, and the scarlet dew that spotted the hand seems brighter, more like blood newly spilt. He questions his own motives for sparing Hetty, wondering if it was merely vanity, the desire for a new sensation, or the passion to act a part. He realizes that the portrait itself is the only bit of evidence left against him. He will destroy it. It has been like conscience to him, and he will kill it.

The Act of Stabbing

Dorian Gray looks around and sees the knife that had stabbed Basil Hallward. He had cleaned it many times, till there was no stain left upon it; it is bright and glistens. As it had killed the painter, so it will kill the painter's work, and all that that means. It will kill the past, and when that is dead he will be free. He seizes the knife and stabs the canvas with it, ripping the thing right up from top to bottom. The act is a direct echo of his earlier murder of Basil Hallward, when he had seized the same knife and stabbed the painter repeatedly. Now, he turns the same instrument of violence against the painted image that has recorded every one of his sins.

The Consequences and Death

A horrible cry of agony is heard, followed by a crash. The frightened servants wake and creep out of their rooms. Two gentlemen passing in the Square below stop, look up at the great house, and bring a policeman. The man rings the bell several times, but there is no answer. Inside, the half-clad domestics talk in low whispers; old Mrs. Leaf is crying and wringing her hands; Francis is as pale as death. After about a quarter of an hour, Francis gets the coachman and one of the footmen and creeps upstairs. They knock, but there is no reply. Finally, after vainly trying to force the door, they get on the roof and drop down onto the balcony. The windows yield easily; the bolts are old. When they enter, they find hanging upon the wall a splendid portrait of their master as they had last seen him, in all the wonder of his exquisite youth and beauty. Lying on the floor is a dead man, in evening dress, with a knife in his heart. He is withered, wrinkled, and loathsome of visage. It is not till they have examined the rings that they recognize who it is: Dorian Gray. The magical exchange that had kept him young and beautiful while the portrait aged and bore the marks of his sins is finally broken. The portrait reverts to its original state, and Dorian's body assumes the full, hideous weight of his corrupted soul.