“This edition is of the utmost importance to those interested in Wilde and literary modernism. It seems certain to become the standard edition of Dorian Gray.” ―Ned Lukacher, University of Illinois at Chicago

This Norton Critical Edition includes:

* The 1890 (Lippincott’s Magazine) version and the 1891 (book) version of the novel. Under the editorial guidance of Wilde scholar Michael Patrick Gillespie, students have the opportunity to comparatively read and analyze both texts of this controversial novel.
* Editorial matter by Michael Patrick Gillespie.
* “Backgrounds” and “Reviews and Reactions” sections that allow readers to gauge The Picture of Dorian Gray’s sensational reception and to consider the heated public debate over art and morality that followed―including Oscar Wilde’s vehement replies to individual critics.
* Seven critical essays―six of them new to the Third Edition―that address the novel’s major themes: aestheticism, decadence, and vice. Contributors include Joseph Carroll, Nils Clausson, Emily Eells, Michael Patrick Gillespie, Richard Haslam, Donald L. Lawler, and Ellen Scheible.
* A chronology and a selected bibliography.

About the Series
Read by more than 12 million students over fifty-five years, Norton Critical Editions set the standard for apparatus that is right for undergraduate readers. The three-part format―annotated text, contexts, and criticism―helps students to better understand, analyze, and appreciate the literature, while opening a wide range of teaching possibilities for instructors. Whether in print or in digital format, Norton Critical Editions provide all the resources students need.