A question about "The Picture of Dorian Gray" book?

-I just finished reading the book, and it's amazing, disturbing, but amazing. I just don't quite understand what happened at the end. When he stabbed the portrait with a knife, he became old and ugly and died, then the portrait returned to it's previous form but nothing happened to it. Now I understand that this portrait reflects his soul, but why did he die when he stabbed it? I mean wasn't he soulless? I am kinda confused!i think that when he stabbed the painting he released his soul which went back in to the real dorian and the force of that killed him. or that the painting is a part of him so when he stabbed the painting he was really stabbing himself which is why he died. i totally agree with you that its an amazing book and it remains one of my favourites :)I didn't think the portrait reflected his soul, did it?



I thought he sold his soul to the devil so that he didn't age anymore - the portrait aged instead.



So when he stabbed the portrait, I don't know why, but he resumed his aging as it would have been if he hadn't sold out to the devil. So he was really an old man, who was past his time of death so dies. the picture just returned to the young man that had originally been painted.
i understood it as, the pic was him/his soul, and when he destroyed the painting he got his soul back and his soul caught up with his real age



the book had a lot of gay over tones, i enjoyed the book,