Dorian is introduced through Basil Hallward, a painter who has developed an obsession with Dorian’s perfect appearance and its power in revealing a way of thinking and creating art that he had never before imagined. Through observing Dorian and utilizing him as a sitter for his paintings, Basil claims to have unconsciously discovered how to express “the harmony of soul and body” through his art, a breakthrough that has yet to be discovered by any painter (11). In Basil’s bold claims, Dorian is revealed to be a man of influential appearance that has the power to inspire one to discover oneself; however, it is this seemingly positive trait that proves fatal for Dorian.
Dorian’s major change occurs shortly after, when he meets Basil’s friend, Lord Henry, who imparts to him a harsh reality that he “only has a few years in which to live really, perfectly and fully” (25). Dorian had never cared too much about his looks before, but listening “open-eyed and wondering,” his gullibility allows Lord Henry’s influential words to illicit a vanity in him that awakens “the real Dorian Gray” (30). Evidently, Lord Henry is to Dorian what Dorian is to Basil: an influential figure that sparks inner change. Because of Dorian’s new view on the importance of his few years of youth, Dorian feels “the sense of his own beauty [come to] him like a revelation” after seeing Basil’s post-influenced painting of him (28). This realisation of his fleeting youth, foreshadows his unrealistic desire to preserve it that would haunt Dorian for the rest of his life. After observing the painting a while longer, Dorian “felt as if a hand of ice had been laid on his heart;” he truly resents how the perfection and beauty of his portrait will last forever while his beauty will soon be lost with age (29). Ridden with jealousy, Dorian wishes that “the picture could change and [he] could be always as [he] is now” (30). He sees himself so much in the painting that when Basil attempts to destroy it, Dorian cries “don’t, Basil, don’t...It would be murder!” (31). Again, the unrealistic desire that Dorian has with maintaining the youth that is captured in Basil’s painting signifies his vanity and bitter unrest that will only continue until he gets his wish.
Dorian’s growing desire to obtain his wish to trade places with the “him” in his painting and remain forever youthful is bordering insanity, and causes me to predict that he will get his wish. However, a brief history of his mother and one of Lord Henry’s ominous theories foreshadow that pursuing his desire will only prove fatal. Dorian’s mother, Margaret, decided to follow her heart and ignore the conventions of society around her; she ran away with a “penniless young fellow” even though she was gorgeous and the most handsome man at the time “went on his knees to her” (37–38). Unfortunately, her father being against this outrageous decision had the young fellow killed and Margaret dies a year later. Combined with Lord Henry’s theory that “to get back one’s youth, one has merely to repeat one’s follies,” Dorian’s future appears bleak (46). Lord Henry’s theory suggests that most mistakes are made in one’s youth; therefore, Dorian will remain susceptible to the follies of youth that killed his mother. In acting rashly in the direction of his illogical desire and despite remaining young forever, I predict that Dorian’s displeasure will not be resolved. He will only be haunted by the aging face in the portrait and realize the terrible feeling of remaining young while all those he loves age and pass away. Although Lord Henry influenced Dorian to change with his words of warning, he had meant for Dorian to take advantage of his youth to the best of his ability, not to succumb to the vain desire of remaining in his youth forever. It is difficult to feel sympathy for such an erratic character that would go to such lengths for vanity.
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