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Book beginning: page 5

The novel: an introduction

• The structure of the book goes from the innocence Dorian had in his youth, to the introduction of Lord Henry and his many theories on life. Then, as if he had taught all he could, the second half of the story primarily focuses on Dorian, to watch how his character transforms into a corrupted creature. The ending ties back around to the two of them conversing over life’s ailments and corruption.
• The story shows that for one's prayers to be answered, you must put your heart and soul into them. Dorian's wish / prayer to remain young and beautiful was answered because he was so passionate about his plea. However, when Basil says "the prayer of your pride has been answered. The prayer of your repentance will be answered also" (p151), Dorian has no interest in changing back, and no other can do it for him.
• Lord Henry and Dorian are constantly looking for new experiences to feel the senses and new sensations, where beauty is the height of life.
• Basil talks of how society splits the soul from the body (p13), but how Dorian represents the old ways where they are united. However, the story is based on how he separated the two.
• Books from around this time tend to use “silly” as the optimum word to describe women.
• Of almost parallel importance to the portrait came the "yellow book" Dorian received from Lord Henry in chapter X.

Gothic elements

• Dorian’s paranoia of people finding out about the painting, e.g. “It was a horrible thing to have a spy in one’s house” (p119) but as far as we know, Dorian’s servant was never the wiser to it.
• Basil talking about the portrait: “the thing is impossible” (p150). Indicating some sort of magical element or entity not of this world.
• Talk of sins and punishment, especially when Basil sees the painting again (p151).
• Much of chapter XII shows the derogative influence of Dorian on others.
• Vocabulary used: blood, bolts, creaking, creeping, cruelty, evil, grinning, grotesque, hideous, loathsome, monstrous, passion, poisonous, terrible, twisted body, withered.
• The mention of “devil’s work” (p161) & “devil’s bargain” (p180).
• The use of fog and gas-lamps flickering.
• Locked rooms and attics.
• Death, murder and suicide.
• Drug dens, mainly opium.
• Theme of “the soul”.
• There is a lot of activity at night, not just from Dorian but also Lord Henry and other minor characters.

Dorian: the character

• When the pubs closed, he went out. (p124&176)
• Dorian was born into a romantic start: “The mother snatched away by death, the boy left to solitude and the tyranny of an old and loveless man” (p37).
• Original description by Lord Henry: “There was something in his face that made one trust him at once. All the candour of youth was there, as well as all youth’s passionate purity.” (p19)
• Dorian uses the word ‘never’ a lot, and sometimes without any real significance to him. “He would never again tempt” (p211), “I can never sit to you again” (p108), he will “never” let Basil see the picture again (p112), Lord Harry must “never” lend the book to anyone else (p208).
• He was the height of fashion, the one all young gentlemen looked upon to imitate in appearance (p125), and although he wanted to be more than this figure head, he did keep up appearances to the very end.
• Throughout the book people seem to take an interest in any era but their own, Dorian, however, took pride in the thought of being something in his own time (p125).
• More than anything Dorian believed in living life, although he passionately wanted to study the senses, his study was to never “accept any theory or system that would involve the sacrifice of any mode of passionate experience” (p126).
• He knew no limits, not when experimenting and not in consequence, he even brought down Lord Henry’s sister (p145).
• Dorian was at his peak when he went to show Basil the painting after so many years, and once Dorian killed him, his happiness was on a landslide.
• Even though Dorian was born into a wealthy and titled family, he actually died with no other title than Mr. Gray.
• Although Dorian left Sibyl in such a disgraceful way, it did show what type of man he was, he wanted more than just a pretty face for a wife, he wanted someone that moved him (chapter VII). It showed Dorian was not a shallow character but how in touch he was with his emotions, indicating how he could fill the role he played his entire life, so dedicated to the senses.
• Dorian’s behaviour meant that “men would whisper to each other in corners,” (p136) causing a confusion of gender roles in the novel, as this behaviour is usually assigned to women.
• Dorian never stopped himself from doing anything even when he knew it was awful, it isn’t impulsive behaviour, he simply just does it anyway. For example, when he was persuading Alan Campbell into destroying Basil’s corpse: “The two men’s eyes met. In Dorian’s there was infinite pity. He knew that what he was going to do was dreadful” (p160).
• Dorian is a character that regularly needs saving from himself, first there was Sibyl, then Basil and eventually Alan Campbell who Dorian claims is “the one man who is able to save [him]” (p160).
• The reader knows that at least as far as chapter XVI (of XX) is concerned, Dorian still wanted to live, although he looked to forget more and more, he did not wish to die. This is seen when James Vane tries to strangle Dorian and he “struggled madly for life” (p181). It can also be argued that in the end Dorian’s suicide was an accident, so although he was becoming tired of his life, he still wished to remain living it.
• When Dorian took Basil’s life he almost fainted awaiting the arrival of Alan Campbell (p162), but when his own life was in danger he actually fainted (p190). This shows how important his own life is to him, even when only under threat, and how those of others are, at best, of slight importance.

The portrait

• No matter how much Dorian surrounded himself with luxuries, it never covered up the ugliness of the portrait, even when he literally covered it with “a large purple satin coverlet heavily embroidered with gold, a splendid piece of late seventeenth-century Venetian work” (p115).
• It seems that originally Dorian thought the situation was eternal and without limitations, thinking no matter what he did “the thing would still live on” (p115).
• In this same sense of "living on", if Lord Henry and Basil had have let Dorian be, then at least the portrait would still have been beautiful, and one of them would have endured within their own lifetime's. However, both Basil and Dorian died only knowing ugly versions of Dorian (the painting's appearance, and Dorian's inner self).
• It is possible that not all of the ugliness was transferred to the portrait, as at one point Dorian (the person) showed “a curl of contempt in his lips” (p147) towards Basil.
• The portrait is the key to Dorian living his lifestyle as it absorbes the consequesces of his actions, without which his adventures would have been short lived, or his life very different.
• It’s funny how in the last lines we realise that anyone could have got into the ‘locked room’ via the roof but were never even curious enough to bother. In the end he had all those bars on the door for nothing, showing just how self centred his life had been. The portrait was his own paranoia, a topic that he said no one would believe even if they saw it (p135), so why was he always so afraid?

Lord Henry: the character

• Lord Henry is to a certain extent, the instigator of this story. He makes Dorian aware of his own beauty, and the tragedy he will face loosing it; he imparts all of his theories in an enticing manner to make Dorian want to experiment with them; and he also gives Dorian the "yellow book" which in Dorian's words "poisoned him" (p208).
• All of his master manipulation comes at no expense to Lord Henry. He is able to live all of these theories through Dorian, whilst maintaining an upright reputation himself.
• Although we see Lord Henry's affection for Dorian lasting over the years, or maybe it's captivation, he does somewhat take advantage of an orphan boy and his lack of guardianship, corrupting him in the most terrible way. Dorian had already lived a life with little parental guidance for the ways of the world, and it seems he fell victim to this seemingly wise man's words, a man who looked out for Dorian, although his advice was always to afterwards keep away from the scandalous chatter.
• His theories as described by Dorian: “Your wrong, fascinating, poisonous, delightful theories” (p75).
• Basil to Lord Henry: “You never say a moral thing, and you never do a wrong thing” (p8). Basil is one of the two characters that we see who really knows Lord Henry, the other being his wife, and he quite correctly points out that as much as Lord Henry talks of these ideas, we have no evidence that he actually ever follows them himself, other than a line at the end which reads “I have sorrows, Dorian, of my own, that even you know nothing of” (p206). So where he is indicating that he does have secrets, we do not know if these are sorrows which spring from say his divorce, or if he is secretly in as much trouble as Dorian for carrying out certain theories. However, this does seem unlikely, as there is no indication of other characters cutting Lord Henry off due to inappropriate behaviour.
• It is also worth mentioning that Lord Henry uses drugs that have been known throughout history to enhance one’s mental perception. He may have been able to come up with these theories due to his opium drug use.

Basil: the character

• Basil was the most dependable character of all to appear in the novel, he never appeared to say something that didn’t remain true throughout e.g. “As long as I live, the personality of Dorian Gray will dominate me” (p15). He does, however, admittedly wonder if he was foolish to believe that his own feelings were represented in the portrait, after originally not wanting to exhibit it for this very reason (p111).
• It would seem that Basil was only destined to paint one masterpiece, as he did have another “great picture” in his head (p142) but was prevented from painting it when Dorian killed him.

Themes

• Beauty is only skin deep.
• The connection between inner beauty and your soul.
• The lack of responsibility taken for actions in the upper class.
• "man" vs. time.
• Corruption and destruction.
• Redemption.
• The dark side of human nature.
• Life and death.
• The concept of ugly.
• The dangers of obsession.
• Women.
• Marriage.
• Pleasure.
• Hypocrisy in society.
• Class differences, do they actually exist or are all of them corrupt?
• The power of beauty.
• The power of words.
• The power of manipulation.
• The artist.
• The insignificance of art / the power of art.
• Youth.
• Lost childhood.
• Orphans. Would this have been possible if Dorian had a strong family unit?
• The complicated relationship of an artist and his muse.
• The idol upper class.
• What money can buy.
• Action and consequence.
• Love or lust.
• Friendship.
• Stereotypes.
• Religion.
• Family bonds ( especially James Vane).
• Suicide.

Relationships between characters

• Basil says the relationship between him and Dorian is purely artistic (p111/12), however, we get the feeling there is something more on Basil’s side, even after all of his explanations (p110/11).
• Although Dorian and Basil drifted from each other's company over time, Dorian still thinks Basil is "the one man in the world who is entitled to know everything about [him. He has] had more to do with [his] life than [he] thinks" (p148).
• There are many possibilities as to why Dorian and Basil went their separate ways with time: the inspiration Dorian provided as an artistic muse was gone from Basil (p112); Dorian grew and made more acquaintances; Basil paled in excitement to other people and vices, as Dorian was always looking for new sensations.
• Lord Henry believed in the experimental method (p58) and Dorian was his subject. To some degree Dorian was just an experiment to an idle man.
• Lord Henry and the Duchess of Monmouth: In chapter XVII we see Lord Henry in the most intellectually equal-sided discussion of the entire novel, where he is not simply talking to someone in awe of him. The two are also shown to be similar as he always arrives late to places, and she tells a story of how her maid constantly gets annoyed with her when she “comes in at ten minutes to nine and tell[s] her that [she] must be dressed by half-past eight.” (p188). She is someone that can add concise theories to those Lord Henry has already compiled and shows that just because what he says is captivating, it does not mean that they are the only theories out there which are true.
• Basil describes what he fears Sibyl will be like, but actually describes Lord Henry who he is talking to at the time, saying: “I don’t want to see Dorian tied to some vile creature, who might degrade his nature and ruin his intellect.” (p72)
• Basil is sure from the beginning that he will one day regret all the praise he gave Dorian (p14), however, the consequences were more extreme than he could ever have imagined.
• Dorian originally seems to blame “his choice” on “life” (p102), but he later goes on to lay the blame on two other characters: firstly, Sibyl, who he said could have saved him had she not killed herself (p97); and then Basil, for revealing to him the wonder of beauty (p150). The closest he ever gets to taking responsibility for his search of senses and sensations, is when he admits it’s also his own “infinite curiosity about life” (p102) that helps drive him to the decision.
• Lord Henry said: “It is only the intellectually lost who ever argue” (p14). In the following chapter, Dorian has his temper tantrum about how the picture would stay young forever, and Basil says: “I can’t quarrel with my two best friends at once.” (p29). Not only proving Lord Henry’s theory, but also that they were “intellectually lost” throughout Dorian’s rant.
• Fate plays an important role in the story: when Basil met Dorian, when Dorian met Sibyl, when it was chance that Lord Henry met Dorian.
• Throughout the novel Dorian says to both Lord Henry and Basil individually, that if he were ever in trouble, he would go to them for help (p51&112). However, when James Vane shows up at Dorian’s house to shoot him, he explains none of it to Lord Henry. Given that Lord Henry knew all about the situation with Sibyl, what reason did Dorian have for keeping it to himself?
• Lord Henry (divorced) and Dorian (bachelor) with time developed a magnificently co-dependent relationship that meant neither were really in need of a wife. This can be seen when Dorian has people visiting and asks Lord Henry “to entertain his guests in his absence” (p197).
• The main connexion that Dorian and Hetty shared was that she was “wonderfully like Sibyl Vane,” (p201) “she knew nothing, but she had everything that he had lost” (p209). She brings yet another area of Dorian’s life full circle, where he not only got to experience innocent love again but managed to find some peace in the anonymity he formed with her (p209). He was also able to right a terrible wrong from his past, this time ending things with the girl in a dignified manner, and without leaving a trail of destruction behind.

Dorian’s and Sibyl’s fairytale

• Dorian does not think he will marry because he is “too much in love” (p47). So he never had any intention of marrying Sibyl?
• Both Sibyl’s mother and brother knew it was wrong for her to marry Dorian (p60&66)
• Their love started and evolved as a play might, it only seems fit it should have ended like one.
• Sibyl’s death helps Lord Henry “believe in the reality of the things we all play with, such as romance, passion, and love” (p99) making for some interesting theories about love after this point.
• Dorian always knew their love was somewhat romanticised, he says: “I have been right, Basil, haven’t I, to take my love out of poetry, and find my wife in Shakespeare’s plays?” (p74). Their love seems destined to take on a tragic Shakespearean ending, as this would never have resulted in a happy marriage. As much as Dorian talks of his big plans for Sibyl’s career (p55), Lord Henry does point out he probably won’t want his wife to act (p82), so it would seem Dorian has not thought through the reality of marriage.
• It is not clear to what point Dorian thought of Sibyl as another human being, worthy of his name. We know that he did not really think of her as ‘Sibyl’, but rather the characters she played on stage, but he also made reference to the need to pay off the previous man she was “bound to”, her employer (p55). Of course this is a work situation, but there is to some degree money for possession involved.

Basil's Murder

There is doubt behind the exact logic of Dorian killing Basil in chapter XIII, some possible reasons have been listed below.

• Dorian was extremely immature in nature and was known to stomp his foot like a child (p146), it is not impossible in his peculiar situation to have taken a temper tantrum too far, as he always gets away with his crimes.
• His whole premise in life is to look for new sensations, it is possible he saw an opportunity.
• He may have had a desire to see how much he could truly get away with in life, and this was the ultimate crime.
• Basil pushing him to his limit with honesty, which Dorian warned him to stop (p145), could have layed the foundation.
• Basil wanting him to be pure (end of chapter XII) may have antagonised Dorian, who had suddenly lost his friend's admiration because he could not meet the challenge, and was no longer idolised for who he was. He was now, no longer good enough.
• Basil wanting to pray like they were taught in boyhood, hit a nerve with Dorian. We know Dorian didn’t have the happiest childhood, and we also know he was just a boy when the portrait was painted. So although he cries for his lost innocence and is not sure if he regrets the switch or not, he would certainly not want to go back to boyhood memories and pray like he used to. He has power now that he doesn’t want to relinquish but he is miserable, which he blames on Basil. But Basil’s reference to the “accursed thing”, once the pride of his life, struck a primordial nerve in Dorian (p151). Where there used to be two beautiful Dorians, there are now none. Believing he couldn’t go back to his innocent self, and having once prayed to God (even if it was the devil who answered), he could not piece enough pieces of himself together for a positive outcome.
• At this point, it could be as simple as "because he could", which is not strong enough motivation in itself, but a large contributing factor.
• Dorian was rather experienced in life by this point, and perhaps from having tried everything else, this seemed like the next logical leap.
• Basil's death may also act as a sort of "trophy" situation, where as he collects his experiences in life, here is another to add to the collection.
• There is no doubt that part of the crime came from wanting to punish Basil and seek revenge for painting the portrait, as he claims Basil is the one responsible for all of the misery in his life (p152). Not only did Basil make the situation possible through his artistic ability, but he was also the one to introduce Dorian to Lord Henry (p146, 150).
• There is also an air of Dorian showing off when he tells Basil to come look at the portrait, which would seem quite logical as Dorian was all about appearances.
• Shock value, it seems he liked scandalising people. However, once he had deverstated Basil, he knew it would bring a new and different negativity to his life, one he was most likely not looking for.
• Maybe a part of him wanted to prove himself, changing his presence from beautiful but ordinary according to Lord Henry's original evaluation (p7), to having character and being interesting, redifining himself to the person who originally painted him bland.
• Dorian found "joy" in the process leading to the murder (p146). This emotion connected to a new circumstance, most likely tied back to the idea of looking for new sensations, which was second nature to him at this point, and he wouldn't have known how to stop.
• Maybe a part of him didn't actually want to burden his friend like he previously said (p146), and never thought to let the situation go beyond that night.
• He could have seen the pity Basil felt for him (p146), and after a lifetime of being pittied as the poor orphan boy, he despised the look and feeling.
• Although Dorian coaxed Basil into looking at the painting knowing he would be disgusted by it, it's not the same as actually seeing his poor reaction to the horror of it (p149).
• Maybe because Basil was so good and so quick to take his part of the blame (p151), Dorian envied him and his clarity, as Dorian was still not sure if he regretted the change or not (p150).
• It is possible that the hate which surged in Dorian right before, came from Basil looking at the painting and wanting to stop everything and fix it through God. He did not see the opportunity or beauty of it that Dorian did, who simply covered it and carried on.
• It is also possible that Dorian personified his misery in Basil, and hoped it would leave him by commiting this action. At the very least, it would bring him some closure or peace to think Basil was no longer in his life.

Metaphors and symbols

• Dorian Gray – he lives in the gray area of life. Although his theories support a more black and white lifestyle, he was able to reach his conclusions by living a variation of situations outside the parameters of “good” and “bad”.
• Sibyl Vane – she was extremely susceptible to change. She managed to play a different Shakespearean character exquisitely each night, making her a fantastic actress. Then when she fell in love with Dorian, she realised what true love was and became bad at acting. In general, Sibyl was a bit of a flat character, as the only personality she revealed was from the characters she played when performing. Dorian says that her view of life comes from knowing nothing of it (p53).
• The story is full of many typical metaphors about the weather, such as the ending of chapter IV to represent a character, and other moments (sometimes with reference to lighting) to represent mood such as the beginning of chapter XII.
• On the way to the opium den in chapter XVI, a line reads: “The moon hung low in the sky like a yellow skull” (p176), representing a rather ominous scene with death-like features.
• Lilacs: Lord Henry’s last line was: “I don’t think there have been such lilacs since the year I met you,” (p208) which brings the story full circle from Dorian’s initiation into life to his death.
• Stabbing: There are three significant moments with stabbings: firstly, when the exchange takes place between Dorian and the portrait (p27); secondly, when Dorian stabs Basil; thirdly, when Dorian stabs the portrait. These signify the beginning of Dorian’s new life, the end of pleasure in his life as he never seems to fully recoup from this, and finally his death.

Characters obsessed

• In Basil's confession to Dorian (p110/11), he says how he was so absorbed by Dorian that he was jealous of anyone he spoke to and always had him in his thoughts. It produced his most marvolous art work, but ultimately caused both of their destruction.
• Dorian and his obsession with youth and beauty, but also with "new sensasions" which honestly translates to sinful actions.
• Lord Henry's need to articulate all his thoughts but be too sensible to put them into action himself, causing Dorian's destruction.
• Sybil's obsession with her love for Dorian, which not only compromised her love of the stage, but ultimately lead to her suicide.
• James Vane's brotherly love for Sybil, and vengence for her death. Not only did he waste his life away in hate for Dorian but also got himself shot and killed.
• All of Dorian's acquaintences (p144-46), who through his guidence, fell into disrepute for the theory of "always be searching for new sensations" (p25).

Criticism on English society

• Dorian: “What sort of lives do these people, who pose as being moral, lead themselves? My dear fellow, you forget that we are in the native land of the hypocrite.” (p 144/45)
• A clear case of hypocrisy was shown when Dorian told James Vane not to take vengeance into his own hands (p183), when he had already killed Basil for the same reason.
• In the last chapter, the portrait officially shows “in the mouth the curved wrinkle of the hypocrite” (p211).
• Lord Henry expresses his views of the lower classes, and although he somewhat understands them, he by no means thinks they should claim undignified behaviour as their own.“I quite sympathize with the rage of the English democracy against what they call the vices of the upper orders. The masses feel that drunkenness, stupidity, and immorality should be their own special property, and that if any one of us makes an ass of himself he is poaching on their preserves. When poor Southwark got into the Divorce Court, their indignation was quite magnificent. And yet I don’t suppose that ten per cent of the proletariat live correctly.” (p12)
• “If one puts forward an idea to a true Englishman – always a rash thing to do – he never dreams of considering whether the idea is right or wrong. The only thing he considers of any importance is whether one believes it oneself.”  (p12)
• “He pictured to himself with silent amusement the tedious luncheon that he had missed by staying so long with Basil.” (p15) As the upper class has so much free time, they bore easily, meaning they entertain themselves with little get-togethers. By describing this regular activity as “tedious”, one can assume this is how the upper class life in general was to be thought of.
• “[He] had set himself to the serious study of the great aristocratic art of doing absolutely nothing.” (p33)
• “If a man is a gentleman, he knows quite enough, and if he is not a gentleman, whatever he knows is bad for him.” (p34)
• “Half-past six! What an hour! It will be like having a meat-tea, or reading an English novel. It must be seven. No gentleman dines before seven.” (p55) Whatever one does, it must follow the established rules. Here, Lord Henry does not point out that he will not be hungry so early, but rather the thought of being unconventional is what he won’t allow.
• “So I have murdered Sibyl Vane […] murdered her as surely as if I had cut her little throat with a knife. […] And to-night I am to dine with you, and then go on to the Opera.” (p96) This shows how the upper class may get away with any level of corruption, especially at the expense of the lower classes, and then be left to carry on with their day with only slight remorse as their punishment.
• “His great wealth was a certain element of security. Society, civilized society at least, is never very ready to believe anything to the detriment of those who are both rich and fascinating. It feels instinctively that manners are of more importance than morals, and, in its opinion, the highest respectability is of much less value than the possession of a good chef. And, after all, it is a very poor consolation to be told that the man who has given one a bad dinner, or poor wine, is irreproachable in his private life.” (p136)
• “My dear boy, they have only been talking about it for six weeks, and the British public are really not equal to the mental strain of having more than one topic every three months.” (p202)
• “[He] had retired from the Diplomatic Service in a capricious moment of annoyance on not being offered the Embassy at Paris, a post to which he considered that he was fully entitled by reason of his birth, his indolence, the good English of his despatches, and his inordinate passion for pleasure.” (p33) This would be a privilege that only the upper class could permit, at the same time showing ‘the most civilised class’ as maybe not the most rational, as they were not, nor needed to be, above this type of behaviour.
• “Margaret Devereux […] made all the men frantic by running away with a penniless young fellow, a mere nobody.” (p35) This says a lot about the state of marriage at the time. Margaret was not supposed to marry for love, but rather social standing, much in the same way that the men were “frantic” because they wanted her for her beauty.
• “Sir Thomas Burdon, a Radical member of Parliament, who followed his leader in public life, and in private life followed the best cooks, dining with the Tories, and thinking with the liberals, in accordance with a wise and well-known rule.” (P38/9)
• “I should like to write a novel […] but there is no literary public in England for anything except newspapers, primers, and encyclopaedias. Of all people in the world the English have the least sense of the beauty of literature.” (p43)
• “[Mr Chapman] hoisted the Union Jack on the pinnacles of Thought. The inherited stupidity of the race – sound English common sense he jovially termed it – was shown to be the proper bulwark for Society.” (p172)
• “Only England could have produced him.” (p33) This comment referenced some of the more silly tendencies in characters, it feels like this quote is what it all comes down to: only in England could this level of pomp be instilled, independently of class.
• “Beer, the Bible, and the seven deadly virtues have made our England what she is.” (p186)
• When they were out hunting and ‘someone’ got shot, the head-keeper went to Dorian to say they had moved the body and were unsure of the identity. Dorian’s first instinct upon hearing someone wanted to talk to him though, was to “pull his check-book out” (p198), in a way that shows he thought he could solve everything with money.

The English vs. Americans

• “Talking about silly marriages, what is this humbug your father tells me about Dartmoor wanting to marry an American? Ain’t English girls good enough for him?” “It is rather fashionable to marry Americans just now” (p36).
• "I am told, on excellent authority, that her father keeps an American dry-goods store" "What are American dry-goods?" "American novels" (p39).
• "I wish to goodness [America] never had been discovered at all! Really, our girls have no chance nowadays. It is most unfair!" (p39)
• “I must confess that most of them are extremely pretty. And they dress well, too. They get all their dresses in Paris. I wish I could afford to do the same.” (p40)
• “I assure you that it is an education to visit [America]."
• “Marriage is hardly a thing that one can do now and then.” “Except in America.” (p71)

Social awareness

• Dorian constantly worried about what others would think of the truth, especially if they saw the picture, in the end people did respond in a negative way. It was a very clear bad reaction from the lower classes (p183), but the upper class was more divided when it came to reproaching him.

Lord Henry’s theories

• “I am afraid I cannot claim my theory as my own. It belongs to Nature.” (p76) He believes that his theories are the ultimate truth, as he feels they are Nature’s own.
• “It is simply expression that gives reality to things.” (p104). This would seem to be true as the switch between Dorian and the picture was produced from him expressively pleading; also the picture provides graphic expression for Dorian’s actions, which without seeing the picture, you would never know of his crimes.
• Lord Henry states that nobody should ever influence somebody else (p20) but on his first encounter with Dorian he says: “There was so much in you that charmed me that I felt I must tell you something about yourself.” (p25)
• A common theory shared between Lord Henry and Basil is: “Knowledge would be fatal. It is the uncertainty that charms one. A mist makes things wonderful” (p196), which is much like Basil’s: “The commonest thing is delightful if one only hides it” (p7).
• It would appear that Dorian followed Lord Henry’s theory that one should leave scandal for later on in life (p.95), given that this is when he kills Basil. However, he does seem to be getting quite desperate towards the end for new sensations (seen when he "saves" Hetty, and when he tried to “kill the painter’s work” (p212) but ultimately experiences his death). He most likely would never have been this reckless earlier on in life, so it is debatable whether he did these things to follow the theory or simply out of desperation for new experiences.

Insignificance and “experience”

• With enough persuasion things as big as Sibyl’s death can be just another experience (p101).
• Both Lord Henry and Dorian say “that is all” quite frequently, it is as though saying this is enough to make anything inconsequential, no matter the reality of its severity.

Original intentions

• Originally Dorian said he wanted to dominate the senses (p126) but by the end he was a nervous wreck which was mainly caused by the consequences of his actions (James Vane being the main one). However, the actual attempt to dominate the senses continued to be pleasurable to him until his death. This is proved by moments such as when he was tired of everyone knowing his name but never stopped the process, he merely went where no one knew him and found Hetty to tap into new emotions (p209).
• Basil knew Lord Henry would change Dorian’s character and begged him not to (p16), but Lord Henry shrugged it off as “nonsense” (p17) later admitting he could fashion Dorian into a “marvellous type” (p37).
• From very early on Dorian does not like the stereotypical people around him (p51), it is by exploring London that he finds the lower classes that were more unpredictable and interesting to him.
• In the beginning at least, Dorian never questions what Lord Henry says, he is only eager to learn more (p44).
• Dorian’s thoughts on the exchange between him and the portrait were that he could live a life that others wouldn’t. However, the book received from Lord Henry seems as though it “contains the story of [Dorian’s] own life, written before he had lived it” (p123). Therefore, it appears that the only truly unique feature of Dorian’s life is that the consequences do not mar his own body directly, as the actual life experience already exists.

Religion in the novel

• Dorian realises that the picture is somewhat all knowing, and could reflect the emotional equivalent of his actions (p101) e.g. cunning, cruelty. He sees it as if it were connected to God, describing it as “what holiness is to some, and conscience to others, and the fear of God to us all.” (p93)
• Dorian’s part in the novel, which is essentially the main plot, came about “in answer to a prayer” (p102) he had made, Christianity is therefore at the foundation of the novel, although as with everything else, Dorian does question if the exchange isn’t scientific (p103).
• It is possible that prayer changed Dorian’s life (p102), but if this is not so, then it is likely that “they” were right and he had sold his soul to the Devil (p183). However, it would seem that Dorian in fact said nothing to no one when the change happened as he simply felt “a sharp pang struck through him like a knife” (p. 27) which mirrors how the exchange ended. But given that on the following page he says he “would give [his] soul” (p28) for eternal youth, it would still seem that he struck some sort of deal with the Devil.
• Sin: Dorian often went to the picture because he wanted to learn the new effects of the sins he had been committing (p124). Although the novel doesn’t go into great detail, the concept of ‘sinful acts’, when they are finally divulged (mainly chapter XII), coincides with Christian tradition.
• When Basil finds out about Dorian’s secret, his first instinct is to pray, but it turns out neither of them know a single prayer (p151). This not only shows the prominence of Christianity in English culture, but also the lack of its practise, which begs the question: why was this his go to action? Clearly neither of them ever prayed, so was it simply a reaction to Basil believing he was looking at Dorian’s soul?
• There is a clear moment when the reader knows Dorian has lost God from his sight but had possibly believed in him previously, it is when Basil finds out about the portrait and goes to pray that Dorian responds “those words mean nothing to me now” (p151).

Sin

• “There were opium-dens, where one could buy oblivion, dens of horror where the memory of old sins could be destroyed by the madness of sins that were new.” This is a habit Dorian learnt from Lord Henry who in the first chapter smoked a “heavy opium-tainted cigarette” (p6). But where Lord Henry smokes them out in the open, Dorian felt the need to hide, as we know Dorian needed “oblivion” due to his actions. So, it is reasonable to think that Lord Henry only used them to loosen himself up for theory? Or could he also have smoked for oblivion, as we see him at the end say: “I have sorrows, Dorian, of my own, that even you know nothing of” (p206).
• Lord Henry points out at the end that Dorian “will soon be going about like the converted, […] warning people against all the sins of which [he has] grown tired” (p208). A very true statement as it’s the fact that Dorian has committed these crimes that they are out of his system, not because he wouldn’t do them again if he hadn’t already.
• In the end, Dorian seemed quite convinced he wanted to redeem himself (p211), but was this even possible? There is no indication of what happened to his soul after dying, but if he had made a deal with the devil, there would be nothing to do when he came to collect.

Science in the novel

• When Dorian first saw the altered picture he wondered at it “with a feeling of almost scientific interest” (p93).
• When Dorian is asking to have Basil’s corpse destroyed, he told Alan Campbell to “look at the matter purely from the scientific point of view” (p162), probably as something he had learned from Lord Henry’s theory: “the advantage of Science is that it is not emotional” (p41).

Conscience

• Basil and Lord Henry embody the good vs. evil of the conscience which can be clearly seen at moments such as Basil’s very opposite view of Sibyl’s death to Lord Henry’s (chapters XIII-IX).
• Lord Henry never wants to talk matters over like Basil does because it makes things tedious, and as Lord Henry says it’s expression that gives reality to things (p104).
• On p112 the mutual loss of artistic relationship between Dorian and Basil is shown with the line “It was a confession. Now that I have made it, something seems to have gone out of me.” This gives their relationship some closure, as they remain friends but are not like they once were.
• Dorian supposedly realises that Sibyl “must have suffered more than he had,” (p89) when he sees the first subtle changes to the painting’s lips. This is information that people do not usually get to know about their actions, as you can only really follow your own beliefs. But here, Dorian has a direct line to his soul and what his actions truly mean, suggesting he has a direct connection with God. Unless, of course, you believe that it is his own definitions and subconscious that alter the painting, not universal meanings, which Dorian ponders on p101.
• When Sibyl’s brother James had Dorian at gun point, he allowed him “one minute to make his peace” (p182), which is extremely generous given he had hunted him for 18 years.
• Dorian in reaction to cheating James out of revenge responded: “You have been on the brink of committing a terrible crime, my man. […] Let this be a warning to you not to take vengeance into your own hands” (p182/3). This is perhaps the most hypocritical thing Dorian does in the entire novel as he not only regularly commits crimes (p136) but also killed Basil out of vengeance (p151).
• To be able to lead the life Lord Henry and Dorian live, you have to be somewhat free from conscience. Both confront the issue similarly, where Dorian asks Basil if it’s his fault what his friends do? (p144) and Lord Henry says “the world goes to the altar of its own accord” (p195). They are both of the attitude that people must take the blame for their own actions, whether they take responsibility for them or not, i.e. Dorian admits to killing Basil, but doesn’t want to be hanged for it (p162).

Senses and sensations Dorian experienced (those directly mentioned)

• Afraid
• Aging (in the portrait)
• Anguish
• Being mocked
• Broken hearted (non-romantic)
• Callousness
• Conscience
• Contempt
• Convincingly lying
• Corruption & crime
• Cruelty
• Cunning
• Curiosity
• Delight
• Desire
• Evil influence
• Fear
• Freedom
• Gratification
• Happiness
• Hatred
• Horror
• Hypocrite
• Imprisoned (in thought)
• Indifference
• Insincerity
• Joyousness
• Loathing
• Longing
• Love
• Luxury
• Madness
• Morality
• Murder
• Pain
• Passion of the spectator
• Penalty/ punishment
• Pity
• Pleasure: watching the painting change / what he might become to London / tracing the thoughts and passions of men / double life
• Pride
• Purity of appearance
• Regret
• Romance
• Sadness
• Selfishness
• Terror
• Tired of life
• Triumph
• Vanity
• Vengeance
• Wild excitement
• Wild regret

Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Penguin Classics, 2009.