The Picture of Dorian Gray Lesson Plan

How does the way in which Wilde introduces Dorian Gray reflect on Dorian's personality?

Early in the novel, it is worth having students note how Wilde goes about characterizing his main players. As the titular character, have students focus on Gray himself. How do we first hear about Gray - do we meet him first, or do we hear about him before actually meeting him?

It is noteworthy that the reader meets the incomplete portrait of Dorian before Dorian himself even makes his first appearance: Dorian exists as a beautiful but essentially superficial image first and foremost, even before he exists as a human being. After all, the title of the book is The Picture of Dorian...