At the start of the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian Gray is a face that is both literally and figuratively untouched by external forces. His own ideas about society, morality, youth, beauty are barely formed. They exist as soft and malleable globs of clay that do not yet have any tangible substance or definitive shape. Consequently, throughout the entirety of Wilde’s novel, Gray is molded by the myriad of internal and external forces that bombard a person throughout their lives. By the end of the book, Dorian has taken a journey that puts him in a position far different from the one he started in. The credit of the fully formed Dorian Gray goes to the most prominent forces working upon him throughout the book. These prominent influences
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Lord Henry Wotton is a person that lives simply for the pleasure of it. The consequences of his actions on other people do not faze him. When his friend Basil first tells him of the beautiful and pure Dorian Gray, he is deeply intrigued. Lord Henry sees Dorian as a blank canvas that he can paint on. When the pair first meet, Henry immediately draws Dorian in like a moth to a flame. Lord Henry makes a grand passionate speech to Dorian about how “the only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.” (Wilde, 13) He continues by saying that when one resists temptation, “your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden itself.” (Wilde, 13) In this first encounter, Lord Henry lays the seeds in Dorian’s brain that will soon bloom and grow as the two become close. The influence Lord Henry has on the young Dorian …show more content…
The Picture of Dorian Gray sets the scene of a community that subscribes to the idea that physical beauty is the most important thing a man can have. Not only is it man’s most treasured quality, but also it directly correlates to the purity soul. In other words, it was believed that the corrupt must wear their ugliness on their faces as well as in their hearts and that the pure-faced must also be pure-hearted. Basil Hallward tells Dorian the evilness of man, “shows itself itself in the lines of his mouth [and] the droop of his eyelids” (Wilde, 109) He says to Dorian, “But you...with your pure, bright, innocent face... I can’t believe anything against you.” (Wilde, 109) Dorian is deeply influenced by this idea. He believes that, as long as he has his beauty and youthful face, he is worthy. The consequences of this is that Dorian is not ashamed of the crimes he commits or the corruption of his soul. He can easily pretend as though his sins don’t matter because he knows he will never grow hideous or old. “Like the gods of the Greeks, he would be strong….What did it matter what happened to the coloured image on the canvas? He would be safe. That was everything.” (Wilde, 78) Dorian Gray sheds his shame and guilt and embarrassment because, since his portrait will bare the evidence of his sins, he will stay forever beautiful and therefore pure. He is therefore free to
Lord Henry Wotton is a person that lives simply for the pleasure of it. The consequences of his actions on other people do not faze him. When his friend Basil first tells him of the beautiful and pure Dorian Gray, he is deeply intrigued. Lord Henry sees Dorian as a blank canvas that he can paint on. When the pair first meet, Henry immediately draws Dorian in like a moth to a flame. Lord Henry makes a grand passionate speech to Dorian about how “the only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.” (Wilde, 13) He continues by saying that when one resists temptation, “your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden itself.” (Wilde, 13) In this first encounter, Lord Henry lays the seeds in Dorian’s brain that will soon bloom and grow as the two become close. The influence Lord Henry has on the young Dorian …show more content…
The Picture of Dorian Gray sets the scene of a community that subscribes to the idea that physical beauty is the most important thing a man can have. Not only is it man’s most treasured quality, but also it directly correlates to the purity soul. In other words, it was believed that the corrupt must wear their ugliness on their faces as well as in their hearts and that the pure-faced must also be pure-hearted. Basil Hallward tells Dorian the evilness of man, “shows itself itself in the lines of his mouth [and] the droop of his eyelids” (Wilde, 109) He says to Dorian, “But you...with your pure, bright, innocent face... I can’t believe anything against you.” (Wilde, 109) Dorian is deeply influenced by this idea. He believes that, as long as he has his beauty and youthful face, he is worthy. The consequences of this is that Dorian is not ashamed of the crimes he commits or the corruption of his soul. He can easily pretend as though his sins don’t matter because he knows he will never grow hideous or old. “Like the gods of the Greeks, he would be strong….What did it matter what happened to the coloured image on the canvas? He would be safe. That was everything.” (Wilde, 78) Dorian Gray sheds his shame and guilt and embarrassment because, since his portrait will bare the evidence of his sins, he will stay forever beautiful and therefore pure. He is therefore free to