The Picture of Dorian Gray aka 101 Times Lord Henry Should Have Kept His Mouth Shut

May I just start by saying that The Picture of Dorian Gray written by Oscar Wilde is one of the Wilde-est books I have ever read? Because all puns aside, it really, truly is. Wild(e) and ridiculous and hilarious - even though it is probably meant as a cautionary tale to be taken seriously. Dorian Gray's character is, however, so outrageous in his development that I found it impossible in the beginning of the book to be able to read more than a couple of pages without having the urge to close the book bang my head against it. But the true reason behind all the feelings of exasperation and the strange desire to keep reading would probably be the character of Lord Henry Wotton, and all his philosophies on life.

Real Life Lord Henry

How does this have anything to do with my summative project for English class, which is what this blog post is supposed to be about? Good question. For my summative project, which is, simply put, a project where we research and present any topic that interests us, I have chosen to look into what influences our personalities and shapes them into the sense of self and identity that every individual has.

What better example of someone influencing someone else than Lord Henry influencing Dorian Gray?

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Dorian. Oh, Dorian. So pure and innocent, beautiful and naive -- at least, at the beginning. As soon as Lord Henry opened his mouth, however, that all went down the drain. The change in Dorian was already visible after only one conversation with the cynical, cynical man that is Henry Wotton.

@ Lord Henry

The effects of the conversation on Dorian is clear, as shown by the line: " The hot tears welled into his eyes; he tore his hand away, and, flinging himself on the divan, he buried his face in the cushions, as though he was praying" (Wilde, 33).

He flung himself on the divan. While crying.

This poor, dramatic soul, so easily affected by Lord Henry's ideas and words. The main problem establishes itself very near this scene, where Dorian, already starting to see the world through Lord Henry's point of view, decides that he would very willingly sell his soul in order to pursue an ideal Lord Henry believes to be the very meaning of life - an ideal that Dorian is captivated by and readily agrees is the sole purpose of living. (Little does he know that he really did just sell his soul in that very moment. It just happens sometimes.) After that, it only took something like two chapters for Dorian to start echoing Lord Henry's beliefs and philosophies and change so apparently that Henry's wife even comments on it, despite never having met Dorian before, having realizing the words and philosophies that Dorian was spouting were very similar to the ones her husband speaks.

The influence that Lord Henry has on Dorian's personality is so obvious and apparent, and I suppose that is because the change and the influence is a bad and ridiculously outrageous one. I can't not talk about some of the things Henry convinces Dorian about. Warning: Spoilers ahead, although the book was published something like 120 years ago, so I'm not all that sorry about spoiling the book. But yes, lets bring our attention to when Lord Henry convinces Dorian that the suicide of Sybil Vane was a form of art, an utter and ultimate expression of love, and shouldn't be mourned. He even says that he wishes someone would kill themselves because of love for him, too, and he longs for that experience. These are not the thoughts that someone should be having when they have found out that a woman had just committed suicide.

me seeing Lord Henry's opinions on Sybil Vane's suicide

In the end, the biggest indicator of the influence of Lord Henry had over Dorian would be the painting that reflects his soul. At the beginning, the painting was a perfect copy of the actual physical appearance of Dorian, a beautiful blonde man who had innocence shining in his eyes. A painting so beautiful that Dorian sold his soul in order to look like the painted version of himself forever. At the end of the book however, after living a life of sin and scandal, his misdeeds had turned the once beautiful painted man into something hideous and loathsome in visage -- a true representation of the change his soul had undergone throughout the book. And all because Lord Henry had decided to open his stupid, cynical mouth and influence Dorian's entire outlook on life.

This book did help me with my research on my summative topic. The influence that Lord Henry had on Dorian, while it may have been slightly exaggerated, shows that the people around us can truly influence our personality and inner nature. Ironic that Oscar Wilde, the author of this insane and incredible piece of literature said that, " Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation". Fitting, as all of Dorian's philosophies and ideals are all direct quotations of Lord's Henry's. The quote further illustrates how others influence our opinions, behavior, and ultimately, our personality.

Until next time,

A Little Fall of Rain