Dorian Gray At the beginning of the book, Dorian Gray is a very sweet and innocent boy, as described by his friends Basil Hallward and Lord Henry. He has a very naive outlook on the world and is easily influenced by Lord Henry and his assertions about life, beauty and pleasure. I will get back to this conversation, because I do believe it has something - if not a lot - to do with Dorian’s future development. Upon meeting and falling in love with Sibyl Vane, Dorian becomes rather obsessed with her and her acting. He sees in her all the beauty and tragedy a play has to offer, and refuses to listen to Lord Henry and his pessimistic view of it all. Sibyl Vane and Dorian fall in love, but I do not think that Dorian truly fell in love with
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The book which Lord Henry gave to him once greatly affected and dominated his life and development. Associating with Lord Henry at all greatly influenced him. This is where I get back to the first conversation they ever had, at Basil’s studio, during which Lord Henry says: “Youth! Youth! There is absolutely nothing in the world but youth!” p. 29. Here Dorian’s obsession with youth began, most likely. The book I mentioned affected him later on, and spoke to him about different kinds of beauty and different ways to interpret what others would call evil and ugly things. “There were moments when he looked upon evil simply as a mode through which he could realize his conception of the beautiful.” p. 146. This was all due to him reading that book, which, I suspect is the same book that affected Lord Henry when he was young - it is mentioned quite briefly that he read such a book. However, it is not as if Dorian is unaware of the impact Lord Henry has had over his life. “Yet you poisoned me with a book once. I should not forgive that. Harry, promise me that you will never lend that book to any one. It does harm.” p. 214. Of course, Lord Henry belittles his admonition and the subject is not touched …show more content…
Dorian was created as an example of all of us, because each and every human being has both good and bad in them. This is something I strongly believe, personally. It all depends on how one chooses to act upon these parts of one’s self. Dorian Gray did not have the strength not to succumb to his darker side, or he had lead such a good life before meeting Lord Henry that it was simply impossible to resist the exoticness of the concept. In addition, he had had to more or less raise himself, and probably did not have the basic confidence or feeling of safety that most people have. Of course, this is only speculation, the interpretation I made regarding his
The book which Lord Henry gave to him once greatly affected and dominated his life and development. Associating with Lord Henry at all greatly influenced him. This is where I get back to the first conversation they ever had, at Basil’s studio, during which Lord Henry says: “Youth! Youth! There is absolutely nothing in the world but youth!” p. 29. Here Dorian’s obsession with youth began, most likely. The book I mentioned affected him later on, and spoke to him about different kinds of beauty and different ways to interpret what others would call evil and ugly things. “There were moments when he looked upon evil simply as a mode through which he could realize his conception of the beautiful.” p. 146. This was all due to him reading that book, which, I suspect is the same book that affected Lord Henry when he was young - it is mentioned quite briefly that he read such a book. However, it is not as if Dorian is unaware of the impact Lord Henry has had over his life. “Yet you poisoned me with a book once. I should not forgive that. Harry, promise me that you will never lend that book to any one. It does harm.” p. 214. Of course, Lord Henry belittles his admonition and the subject is not touched …show more content…
Dorian was created as an example of all of us, because each and every human being has both good and bad in them. This is something I strongly believe, personally. It all depends on how one chooses to act upon these parts of one’s self. Dorian Gray did not have the strength not to succumb to his darker side, or he had lead such a good life before meeting Lord Henry that it was simply impossible to resist the exoticness of the concept. In addition, he had had to more or less raise himself, and probably did not have the basic confidence or feeling of safety that most people have. Of course, this is only speculation, the interpretation I made regarding his