Oscar Wilde's only published full-length novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, is the story of a man who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for eternal youth. As Basil Hallward, an aspiring artist, puts a few touches on a portrait of his handsome young friend Dorian Gray, Gray wishes that the portrait might grow old while he remains forever young. While Dorian Gray spends his life pursuing fresh experiences and new sensations, his looks do not change. However, the portrait, secretly hidden in the attic of his residence and with which he has grown increasingly obsessed, does. More And more, as Dorian struggles to hide his true identity, the portrait reveals his progressive pathway to dissolution. Born in Dublin and educated at Trinity College, Oscar Wilde distinguished himself throughout his entire academic career. As a student at the University of Oxford, he excelled in classics and wrote poetry, earning the Newdigate Prize for his poem "Ravenna" in 1878. At Oxford, Wilde cultivated the eccentric style for which he later became famous.