The Picture of Dorian Gray: Lord Henry Vs. Dorian Gray
Summary:
Describes the conflict between characters Dorian and Lord Henry in Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray." Explores how Lord Henry strives to corrupt Dorian. Compares the character of Lord Henry to a narcotic.
Oscar Wilde's A Picture of Dorian Gray presents many themes, including conflict and influence. In this novel, Lord Henry Wotton creates a conflict with the naïve and innocent Dorian Gray by influencing and mentally corrupting him. Under this influence, Dorian becomes a hedonist, constantly pursuing pleasure and everlasting beauty. This one-way conflict, where Lord Henry almost completely controls Dorian's emotions, is the cause for Dorian's downfall and death.
Lord Henry, who enjoys manipulating people to calm his hedonist feelings, spots Dorian's vulnerability immediately and plants the seeds of terror in the young man by imposing him his radical, yet catchy theories of life. In the beginning of the book, when he meets Dorian, he tells him "[An influenced person's] virtues are not real to him. His sins, if there are such things as sins, are borrowed. He becomes an echo of some one else's music, an actor of a part that has not been written for him. The aim of life is self-development. To realize one's nature perfectly - that is what each of us is here for." (20) The irony of Lord Henry saying this, is that he will eventually corrupt Dorian. He tells him this, but Dorian does not pay attention to the warning, and wants to hear more of Lord Henry's addicting sayings. Harry's theories act like a slow poison: They get into you, start reacting, and slowly but surely, they destroy you.
Dorian, who enters the novel as an almost idealistic figure, is completely under the control of Lord Henry's string pulling wordiness by the end of the second chapter. However, before he controls him, he confuses him and leaves him questioning himself and his way of life. This is observable as Dorian responds "'Stop! [...] Stop! You bewilder me. I don't know what to say. There is some answer to you, but I cannot find it. Don't speak. Let me think. Or, rather, don't let me think.'" The poison of Harry words keep on corrupting Dorian's vague morals to the point where he can play around with Dorian's feelings and make choices for him. It is obvious Dorian became his puppet as he says "'Yes, Harry. I believe that is true. I cannot help telling you things. You have a curious influence over me. If I ever did a crime, I would come and confess it to you. You would understand me.'" (51) In this quotation, it is made obvious that Dorian is under the full control of Lord Henry, and that he does not really have a conscience anymore. With his conscience diminishing, his sins grow worse over the course of the years. At the end of the novel, when Dorian wants to reform himself, tells Lord Henry so. Harry tells him that he cannot do so, because he has already created a prison of his mental and physical addictions. This conversation is the direct cause for Dorian's downfall, since after talking to Lord Henry he destroys the painting, and so himself.
Lord Henry Wotton has corrupted Dorian Gray with his poisonous theories of life to the point where he is like an addicting drug to Dorian who has to go talk to him every now and then. Every time Dorian confesses his thoughts to Lord Henry, Lord Henry would change them right away by simply pronouncing a few words to convince the naïve Dorian. Since Lord Henry is like a drug to Dorian, he does what most of the drugs do after a while: he destroys Dorian. Lord Henry ends the conflict he has started with Dorian as easily as he started it.
This is the complete article, containing 600 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).
