Ten of the best locked rooms in literature

At the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the best locked rooms in literature.

One novel on the list:

The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde

Cruel and narcissistic Dorian stays youthfully beautiful, but in his portrait we can see the price that is being paid for this cosmetic miracle. He has it moved to a locked room, where the image turns uglier and more raddled by the month. "No one would ever look on the horrible thing. No eye but his would ever see his shame." You wish!

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Picture of Dorian Gray also appears on Mullan's lists of ten of the best mirrors in literature, ten of the best disastrous performances in fiction, and ten of the best examples of ekphrasis in literature.

--Marshal Zeringue