In the following essay, Nasser suggests that Wilde reworks the four stages of Dorian Gray's life by embodying them in the four main characters of Lady Windermere's Fan, but this reworking is set within the framework and atmosphere of social comedy.

In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian develops from childlike innocence to a state of serious depravity in four states. The first stage is when he is still twenty and posing for Basil Hallward. Here he is the innocent young man who has not yet come in contact with evil. The second is when he is in love with Sibyl Vane. At this state evil has entered his life, but he is still largely innocent. The third is what might be called the "limited corruption" stage. Basil and Wotton become the opposing forces within him. Although he clearly leans toward Wotton, he is still balanced between...