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Lord Henry personality
The character of Lord Henry
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Dorian Gray, the protagonist in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, is led to his downfall due to his naiveté and innocence, which allowed him to be easily influenced by Lord Henry’s suave wit and intellect. From his first encounter with Dorian, Lord Henry recognizes the potential for experimentation of his own ability to influence others. Dorian’s purity allows him to be instantly captivated by every word that Lord Henry says, so much so that he begins to view Lord Henry not only as a role model, but also as an ideal that he wishes to achieve for himself. As a result of this overwhelming desire to be like Lord Henry, Dorian allows him to guide his choices and decisions through Lord Henry’s philosophy on life and the yellow book. Lord Henry’s approach to life is both hedonistic and cynical, with his sole dedication being to the search of pleasure, which can only be satisfied by giving into temptations. The vital part of Lord Henry’s hedonist philosophy includes the search and adoration of the highest forms of beauty. It is for this reason that Lord Henry takes such a keen interest in Dorian, who is described by all, as the essence of physical beauty. He realizes that he has already captivated the young Dorian, and if he gains complete control, he can mould the perfect man. “With a subtle smile, Lord Henry watched him…He felt intensely interested. He was amazed at the sudden impression that his words had produced…” (Wilde, 20) However, the control that Lord Henry possesses over Dorian turns Dorian into a monster rather than the perfect man. Lord Henry’s corruption of Dorian begins when he prophetically states to Dorian that “there is no such thing as a good influence…all influence is immoral” (Wilde, 18). From this poi... ... middle of paper ... ...es the desire to act… The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame. That is all” (Wilde, 192). Dorian Gray is a prime example of a literary character brought down by the corruption of influence. Dorian’s innocence and purity make him an easy victim for those who have already been corrupted by influence. Lord Henry’s own corruption was brought about by the yellow book, which led him to seek out all that is pleasurable and beautiful in life. Dorian, the essence of physical beauty, was seen in Lord Henry’s eyes as just another object of pleasure. As a result, he felt no remorse over influencing Dorian’s life to the point of complete destruction. Had Lord Henry not seen the beauty in Dorian, Dorian would never have been influenced into living a hedonistic life, which ultimately led to the destruction of his body, mind and soul.
“The Picture of Dorian Gray” is a novel written by Oscar Wilde. The story takes place in England, where the artist Basil Hallward paints a portrait of the young and beautiful Dorian Gray. During his stay at the artist’s studio, he gets introduced to Lord Henry who later becomes one of the most influential people in his life. Dorian Gray becomes aware of his amazing beauty and youthfulness due to the portrait and wishes that the portrait ages instead of him. His wish comes true, Dorian remains beautiful and youthful while the portrait changes. Lord Henry becomes his best friend and motivates him to live in abundance, to sin and always strive for beauty. After a while, Dorian discovers that his portrait doesn’t only age, but also changes face expression as a result of all his sins and evil deeds. Dorian gets anxious by the fact that the portrait shows his evil soul and is scared that somebody will see it, therefore he hides it. The portrait haunts Dorian although it’s hidden. As Dorian’s sins gets worse, he feels that he can’t handle the pressure anymore and decides to destroy the portrait that shows his true self.
Within The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde depicts two characters that follow the philosophy of Walter Pater. These two characters are Dorian Gray and Henry Wotton. They both embody Pater’s ideal of placing as much enjoyment in one’s short life as possible. While Dorian learns of Pater’s philosophy from Henry he soon exceeds his teacher and becomes invested within the philosophy of living life to the fullest. Dorian exceeds Henry in Pater’s philosophy through his active experimentation and desire for beauty, but Dorian fails to live up to all of Pater’s expectations due to his inability to separate morality for art.
In Wilde’s era he created literature that corrupted the audiences ideas of purity. In the beginning of the novel, Basil Howland, the artist of a controversial painting, is particularly proud of his new muse
Lord Henry cements his archetype as the Devil as his influence is “bad,” (14) foreboding Henry controlling Dorian with the influences that “give him [Dorian’s] one’s own soul,” (17).
Wilde illustrated a need for a controlled approach to aestheticism, without which would lead to a severe loss of morality. The concept of unrestrained aestheticism, as displayed by Dorian, results in egotism, a lack of guilt, and decay of the logical mind. As the novel asks, “Is it better to pursue Aesthetics or Morality?” it depicts an uncontrollably aesthetic lifestyle, the life of Dorian Gray, and answers the question by revealing the slow decay and eventual demise of Mr. Gray’s life. It is better to maintain a moral life with a conscience filled with guilt than to have a life of beauty and self-indulgence, filled with nothing but the temporary “pleasures” of the world around us.
Fellner, Richard L. “Forever Young? The Dorian Gray Syndrome.” Pattaya Mail. Pattaya Mail Media Group, 09 Sept. 2011. Web.
Oscar Wilde’s only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, shows a man’s vanity, self- indulgence and utter lack of regard for others through art. The portrait of Dorian Gray, created at the height of Dorian’s beauty, youth and charm is a reflection of the evils in basing the worth of someone on appearance rather than character. Since those around him find him beautiful and charming, Dorian believes that that the only thing matters is his appearance, so that he is able to focus on his own needs and wants. Showing how vain people in a society can really be, and its destructive force, is Wilde’s ultimate statement. After Basil Hallward paints a magnificent portrait of Dorian Gray, the painting changes along with Dorian’s soul, but Dorian’s physical presence stays the same. Evolving into this new person, Dorian tends to collapse people’s reputations and also ends up ruining his own reputation, leaving a path of destruction in the pursuit of his own pleasures and those things to which he feels entitled. Oscar Wilde draws attention to society’s vanity by creating an element of supernatural within the painting. When Dorian does things that are horrid, the painting captures what he has done and starts looking cruel and evil while Dorian’s youth and beautiful appearance remains the same. The painting is a metaphor for Dorian’s soul. His soul and the painting are changing for the worse, but Dorian Gray always looks like the nearly twenty year old boy he was when the painting was first composed. Dorian’s vanity is all that matters.
Wilde emphasizes Dorian’s beauty and youth in order to signify his innocent nature. Dorian is described as handsome, good looking, and beautiful throughout the novel. Lord Henry even calls Dorian an Adonis (in Greek mythology a youth who fell in love with his own image reflected in water), when he first views his portrait. Along with these youthful good looks comes the assumption that he is incapable of wronging others, also known as the halo-effect. This is revealed by Wilde, who sates that Dorian possesses “something in his face that made one trust him at once. All the candor of youth was there, as well as youth’s passionate purity. One felt that he had kept himself unspotted form the world.”(11-12; ch. 2).
Throughout the book Lord Henry constantly changes his view on events depending on the person he is addressing. Wanting to be liked by both Basil and Dorian he says to Basil “Genius lasts longer than Beauty” (9). Even though Lord Henry seems to stick by this saying he later on says, “Beauty is a form of Genius- is higher, indeed, than genius.” (16) when speaking to Dorian. Making this small change, his opinion on his view on of beauty and genius he can easily persuade Dorian to believe that beauty is the most important aspect of being alive, and without beauty life is nothing. Lord Henry exploits the fact that Dorian is gullible and narcissistic. Due to Lord Henry’s continuous influence upon Gray, Lord Henry speeds up the eroding of Gray’s soul. Lord Henry makes Dorian a selfish, shallow shell of a man. Worrying the future of his beauty and only making decisions that his beauty will benefit from, Dorian drives people away and becomes inconsiderate for others. After a long talk with Lord Henry, Dorian reflects on Henry’s words he
In conclusion, it has been reiterated that Lord Henry's influence, the changes in Dorian, and the immorality of the yellow book further enforced The Picture of Dorian Gray as a moral book. Oscar Wilde allows for those who could understand the real meaning of the novel by comprehending the importance of these three things to discern that he fully intended on writing this novel as a moral book.
Although Wilde halts short of stating that Basil and Lord Henry have sexual feelings for Dorian , the language he uses to describe their devotion for Dorian is unmistakably the language of deep, romantic intimacy. “Tell me more about Mr. Dorian Gray. How often do you see him?”. “Every day. I couldn’t be happy if I didn’t see him everyday. He is absolutely necessary to me”. This common motif of homoerotic bonds between men plays a large role in structuring the novel. Basils painting is born from his adoration of Dorians beauty , comparatively Lord Henry is overcome with desire to seduce Dorian. This sense of camaraderie between men fits into Wildes aesthetic values, for it returns him to his past where the philosophy of beauty was not only the basis of society but fundamental to culture. As a homosexual living in an intolerant society, Wilde asserted this philosophy in order to justify his own lifestyle.
Heroes embody every good nature and moral characteristics in society when looking at them in a traditional sense. However, George Gordon Byron created a hero that diverges from the typical hero we see today, one that differs so significantly with the hero society is used to seeing that we do not even notice them as such. In Manfred (1816), Byron shows how Manfred’s arduous journey of living with guilt and the limitations of human condition drives him to what he seeks, his own death. In contrast, in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) a young man who “looks as if he was made out of ivory and rose-leaves” (10) continues to look as so as the years go on. As a result, his portrait marks all of his sins, showing all of his suffering and pains while he remains untarnished. While these two authors are from different eras of literature, both explore how the possession of evil can govern their lives. However, whereas Byron illustrates the harmful effects when one is conscious of his evil, Wilde displays how Gray’s naivety and oblivion is what eventually lead to his downfall.
The development of Dorian’s double life discreetly implicates the confinement of homosexuality due to a lack of liberation.1 Before his confrontation with sin, Dorian leads a lifestyle of spiritual freedom and aesthetic oblivion.2 Dorian’s moral corruption does not arise until the forcible fragmentation of his identity when Basil asserts his desire to “stay with the real Dorian,” while referring to the portrait of Dorian.3 His corruption emerges when he begins to feel a “passion for sensations,” which results in a constant fluctuation of emotional stability and discontinuity of his puerile innocense.4 Wilde finalizes Dorian’s breakaway from realism through his proclamation that the portrait was to “bear the burden of his shame,” which foreshadows his shameful future and the degradation of his image.5 The implementation of a double life reflects the beginning of his battle with sin versus morale, and even more intuitively his expression of homosexuality versus traditional relations.6
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 entirety of his relationship with Dorian throughout the novel. By sharing his unique thoughts about the scientific view of influence, Lord Henry captures Dorian’s curiosity and attention, opening the door to the beginning of Dorian’s evolution
Art is seen as a human’s natural form of expression. It has a way of expressing the artist’s beliefs and can be influential to many of its viewers. The passion of revealing art’s meaning and its relevance to an individual is a strong topic that has been expressed by Oscar Wilde. In his novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde proposes to his audience that life is influenced by various pieces of art and depicts this through many different techniques and characters in his writing piece. He continues to further dive into the topic as he conveys the influence art plays in society, how art is able to express the artist’s true self and the role of art in determining the morality of one’s life. Through these three arguments, Wilde uses a variety