He spent the rest of his life destitute and alone. His wife, children and Douglas had abandoned him. He abandoned Britain for Paris under the pseudonym Sebastian Melmoth. After his release only two works were published: De Profundis, a letter to Douglas that he had written in prison, and The Ballad of Reading Gaol, a piece intended to inspire sympathy for the prisoners. Wilde died in Paris on November 30, 1900, far removed from the glamor and glory of his former life (Bredbeck). The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde's only full-length novel, portrays the glamour, glory and extravagance that were so central to his life. The novel centers on the young, handsome, titular Dorian Gray and the gradual corruption that a life of self-indulgence brings to his soul. In the beginning, Dorian is “of a simple and beautiful nature” (Wilde 18). After seeing his friend Basil Hallward's beautiful portrait of himself, however, and influenced by the cynical ramblings of one Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian desperately wishes his portrait could grow old while he remains forever young and