The Picture of Dorian Gray Book Quiz
Eight multiple-choice questions on Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) — plot, characters and the moments everyone quotes. Two minutes, instant score, every answer explained below. For the full mixed-classics version, take the original book quiz — 15 questions across the whole canon.
All 8 questions and answers
Prefer to read the quiz instead of taking it? Expand for every question, answer and a one-line explanation.
- Who paints the fatal portrait? — Basil Hallward. The artist's too-much-of-himself-in-it canvas becomes Dorian's conscience.
- Who corrupts Dorian with his philosophy of pleasure? — Lord Henry Wotton. 'The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it' — the epigrams do their work.
- What is Dorian's wish over the portrait? — That it bear the burden of his age and sins. 'If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old...'
- Who is Sibyl Vane? — An actress Dorian jilts, who kills herself. She acts badly once — because she now loves reality, not theatre — and Dorian casts her off.
- Whom does Dorian murder? — Basil Hallward. Seeing the changed portrait, Basil asks Dorian to pray — and Dorian kills him, then blackmails Alan Campbell to dispose of the body.
- What is 'the yellow book'? — A poisonous French novel Lord Henry gives Dorian. Huysmans-style decadence that Dorian treats as the story of his own life.
- How does Dorian die? — He stabs the portrait and is found old and withered. The knife in the canvas; servants find a loathsome corpse and the portrait restored.
- What kind of novel is it, famously, for Wilde? — His only novel. Plays, poems, essays and stories surround it — but only one novel.
About The Picture of Dorian Gray
Wilde's only novel: Basil Hallward paints Dorian Gray's portrait, Dorian wishes the painting age in his place, and the wish is granted. Under Lord Henry's philosophy of the new hedonism, Dorian's face stays innocent while the canvas rots. The novel runs about 78,000 words (roughly 254 pages in a standard paperback) — about 5 hours and 28 minutes of reading at an average pace. Before you commit, see the full breakdown in how long it takes to read The Picture of Dorian Gray or calculate reading time for any other book.
Moderate — witty epigrams over a gothic engine; the 1891 revised novel is the standard text. If you get 6 or more of the eight questions right, the book clearly stuck.
What this quiz covers
Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray sits in our gothic & horror shelf, and the eight questions follow the book the way a reader experiences it: how the story opens, the turn in the middle, the characters who carry it, and the ending people still argue about. You will not be asked for page numbers or publication trivia — but three or four questions are built to separate people who read the book from people who read a summary. If a question stumps you, that gap is your reading list talking.
Fair warning for the ambitious: readers who clear this quiz often move straight to the reading-time breakdown for The Picture of Dorian Gray to plan the reread, then test the rest of their shelf against the mixed classic literature quiz.
More book quizzes
Frankenstein quiz, Dracula quiz, Wuthering Heights quiz, Rebecca quiz, 1984 quiz, Animal Farm quiz, Brave New World quiz — or browse every book quiz on the site. For scale, The Picture of Dorian Gray is the 77th longest of the 133 classics timed here — shorter than The Secret Garden but longer than Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
Doing the whole author? Our Oscar Wilde books in order guide lists every book with the best entry point.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions are in the Picture of Dorian Gray quiz?
Eight multiple-choice questions covering Oscar Wilde's plot, characters and most famous moments. The quiz takes about two minutes and your score is instant.
Is the Picture of Dorian Gray book quiz free?
Yes — no signup, no email, nothing to install. Answer the eight questions and get your score immediately.
What score should I aim for?
8/8 means you know the book cold; 6+ is a solid score. Below 4, the book is calling you back for a reread.
Is the Picture of Dorian Gray quiz hard?
Moderate — witty epigrams over a gothic engine; the 1891 revised novel is the standard text. The questions themselves stick to famous, load-bearing moments — the scenes and lines the book is remembered for — so a genuine read usually scores 6+.
How long is the Picture of Dorian Gray reading itself?
About 78,000 words — roughly 254 pages, or about 5 hours and 28 minutes at an average pace. The full pace breakdown is in how long it takes to read The Picture of Dorian Gray. It runs 20 chapters, averaging 3,900 words each; see the book-count guide for its full structure.