The Picture Of Dorian Gray : Oscar Wilde

Shortly after meeting Dorian for the first time, Lord Henry calmly declares, “to influence a person is to give him one’s own soul” (20). In these few words, Lord Henry foreshadows the

Dorian is introduced to Lord Henry Wotton. Lord Henry Wotton seems at the beginning of the novel to be the most corrupting character in the book, being the catalyst of Dorian Gray?s change in character, or realization of true character. Wotton is a cynical character, and is somewhat of a hypocrite, as Hallward rightly says (paraphrasing Charles 2nds epigram), "You never say a moral thing, and you never do a wrong thing" (4). For all his talk, Lord Henry remains a married man who chooses a life as a spectator rather than a carouser (Miller 385). From the instant of their acquaintance, Lord Henry causes an instantaneous difference in Dorian. "Lord Henry lives vicariously on the emotions and experiences of other people" (Shewan 376). Lord Henry awakens in Dorian feelings and thoughts Dorian has never had before, and Dorian feels overcome with awe. When asked about his negative influence on people, Lord Henry says," There is no such thing as a good influence, Mr. Gray. All influence is immoral?Because to influence a person is to give him one?s own soul?" (17). Dorian immediately develops an attachment to Lord Henry, one which Henry claims will be everlasting. Jeffrey Meyers explains, "If Hallward is the masochistic creator of Dorian?s aesthetic glorification, Wotton (who manipulates the vanity stimulated by the portrait) is the sadistic catalyst of his moral degeneration"(372). In fact, Ted Spivey claims that

Lord Henry’s influence over Dorian is quite evident to the reader just from their first interaction. During their initial conversation, Lord Henry explains his philosophy of how, “the aim of life is self-development. To realize one’s nature perfectly,—that is what each of us is here for,” (Wilde 15). Dorian takes this quite literally and later states that, “when one loses one’s good

Basil Hallward and Henry Wotten are quite the opposite of each other—Basil is unwaveringly conventional in his values while Henry instead enjoys entertaining the idea of radical and inappropriate ways of thinking (on page 4, he claims that “the one charm of marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely necessary,” to which Basil responds that he “hate[s] the way [Henry] talks about his married life). Because of their profoundly contrasting ideas, they are not so much foils for each other as they are for Dorian Gray. It is by these two men that one measures Dorian’s place on the scale of morality.

According to critics, Lord Henry Wotton most closely represents Wilde's character. Critics see Wilde's appreciation for all kinds of art as a form of Hedonism. "The body sins once, and has done with its sin, for action is a mode of purification." Hedonism is what Lord Henry believes in; the belief that all that matters is seeking pleasure in life. Lord Henry is also seen as a bad influence and a very seductive person. Wilde writing this book is seen as a way of convincing the public to become hedonists and therefore critics compare him to Lord Henry.

Lord Henry feels that, "The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself..." (Wilde 13). Lord Henry tries to persuade Dorian to believe that listening to his conscience will only bring him pain. Dorian must give into temptation if he wants to be happy. Dorian listens acutely to Henry's words. Dorian now has a justification for ignoring his conscience and acting sinfully. Slowly Henry's influence takes over Dorian's conscience.

As a whole, this opening confrontation between Lord Henry and Dorian’s initial character proves several points: one, Dorian does have his own passions and soul before meeting Lord Henry, and two, Lord Henry’s teachings initially echo Dorian’s own feelings, which are what draw him to Lord Henry over the two-dimensional Basil Hallward. Later, ironically, it is Lord Henry’s own teachings which leads to Dorian’s struggle to repress his "true self" and ultimately bring about his downfall.

Lord Henry’s influence was significant to the work as a whole because of the impact it had on Dorian. Lord Henry himself believes that “All influence is immoral -immoral from the scientific point of view(...) to influence a person is to give him one’s own soul. He does not think his natural thoughts, or burn with his natural passions. His virtues are not real to him. His sins, if there are such things as sins, are borrowed. He becomes an echo of someone else’s music” (20). Lord Henry manipulates Dorian by explaining to him why Influence is not a bad thing. Lord Henry saw this opportunity because he explains the person be manipulated as an actor without any

As the novel goes on so does Dorian's life. He begins to be under the control of Lord Henry to some degree. He also begin's to spend more time with Lord Henry, who is

The Picture of Dorian Grey as a novel in the Victorian Era was shocking to readers of the time due to the open nature of topics like: sexuality, greed and corruption. A Freudian perspective of the characters: Basil, Lord Henry and Dorian can be seen as the Id, Ego and Super Ego. Basil is the Super Ego, he conforms to a certain extent and tries to make Dorian lead a moral life when it comes to desperate times of the loss of the 'real Dorian'; Lord Henry can be seen as the Id, the immoral character who tries to convince Dorian to submit to his natural urges and passions; Dorian is the Ego, one who in the beginning is in between the two and has a power struggle within as to how he should act as a character in the novel. In answering this question and exploring the conflicts shown in the novel one must look at the gender, identity and sexuality.

Lord Henry is a deliberate antagonist because he intentionally tries to always bring Dorian back into a world of sin and pride. Before Lord Henry met Dorian, Dorian was innocent and pure and it was until after their friendship that Dorian became ill-minded. When Dorian felt pity for the death of Sibyl, Lord Henry twisted her death into an act committed to showing worship towards Dorian, “Some one has killed herself for love of you. I wish that I had ever such an experience”(89). Lord Henry consciously targets Dorian’s weaknesses and will not stop getting into Dorian’s head until Dorian allows him to do so.

Throughout the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde tells a tale about a young man named Dorian whose entire life changes after he meets Basil Hallward, who paints a portrait of Gray that ultimately leads to Gray’s demise. At the same time, Dorian also meets Lord Henry, who eventually plays a bad influence over Dorian. The portrait shows the man Dorian has become

With twisted views of love and not much of a marriage Henry begins to corrupt Dorian’s sense of compassion. Henry telling Dorian his views is very bad because Dorian soon seems to grow very dispassionate. This can be seen as how after his no longer is good at acting he soon loses interest in her. After his ex girlfriend kills herself Dorian is advised to distance himself from the whole thing and to go away for a little bit. This whole event showing the influences changing Dorian and how as time progressed his soul grew darker and darker.

During Lord Henry and Dorian’s first encounter, Henry rants about the power of influence and the effects it can have as Henry says one who is influenced, “does not think his natural thoughts, or burn with his natural passions. His virtues are not real to him” (20). This context of Henry’s ideas so early in the novel foreshadows the type of coercion Dorian experiences as he and Henry become closer. Even during their first conversation, Dorian began to feel different, as he experiences the world around him alter, he thinks, “The few words that Basil’s friend had said to him…had touched some secret chord that had never been touched before, but that he felt was now vibrating and throbbing to curious pulses” (21). Whether it was the way Henry portrayed his powerful ideas, or the naïve nature of Dorian, he was hooked and then on unable to decide for himself. Not only did Henry influence him, but Dorian’s book took hold of his life for countless years. Although the book was a gift from Henry, he was not responsible for Dorian’s obsession and seclusion from society. Eventually, Dorian realizes he had “been poisoned by a book,” (150) yet that does not change the fact that the book caused him to take trips and collect random trinkets. The words and actions of the people and objects surrounding Dorian steer him into every obsession he has, especially into his focus on eternal youth and

After Dorian murder’s Basil, Dorian begins to feel guilty and he swears he will start a new and wholesome life. Despite his efforts and his fortunate luck (James who was going to kill him died is a bizarre accident) Dorian cannot escape himself. The portrait of himself will always remind him of what he truly is inside. No matter what he does Dorian cannot escape the past or his wrong doings. This situation applies to most readers, as most people have gotten away with a sin. Although no one else knows about the wrong doing, the individual cannot escape the guilt or memory of what they have done. This is what happens to Dorian and the only way to escape his guilt is through suicide (unintentional).