PODG Character Analysis

Nathaniel Burns-Sarno
Advanced Placement English/Mr. George
March 31, 2010
Character Analysis: Dorian Gray

Dorian Gray is a beautiful man who was innocent until being corrupted by Lord Henry and selling his soul to a painting of himself in exchange for eternal youth.
When Dorian is first introduced, he does not think much about his beauty. That is, until Lord Henry, a silver-tongued hedonist who becomes Dorian’s closest friend, reminds him that he beauty will not last, and he will eventually turn old and decrepit. After reflecting on Lord Henry’s words, Dorian becomes jealous of a painting of himself, as it will retain its beauty even as he ages. Dorian becomes so full of envy that he wishes that the painting would age instead of him: “It it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old….I would give my soul for that!”(Wilde 28). Upon Dorian’s words, he stays forever young as the painting becomes a representation of his soul, appearing to be more and more abominable each time that Dorian sins. Dorian develops a fascination with Lord Henry and begins to live his life by Henry’s words. In pursuing his desire to be like Lord Henry, Dorian begins to influence others to ruin, causing all of his friends to distance themselves from him. Eventually, Dorian attempts to break free from his sin by the destroying the painting, only to kill himself in the process.
Dorian is like Pinocchio, and not only because they are both puppets. Dorian abandons the one person who actually cares for him in order to pursue that which he finds amusing, and in the process kills his conscience. He follows the influence of another simply because they are eloquent and ends up a tool for that person’s amusement.
A modern day Dorian Gray would be Joseph Brant, a copycat criminal who lived a lifestyle based off of a movie.

Nathaniel Burns-Sarno
Advanced Placement English/Mr. George
March 31, 2010
Character Analysis: Lord Henry

Lord Henry Wotton is a silver-tongued hedonist who delights in manipulating others through the use of eloquence and paradox.
Lord Henry has a desire for his voice to be heard by everyone, which causes him to share his opinion on every subject with anyone who will listen. Lord Henry’s style of speaking is oftentimes controversial. He speaks in such a manner to ensure that his listeners will reflect on his words and hopefully come to think the way that he does. He enjoys initiating others into his style of life, and thus uses his eloquence to control people. Such is the case with Dorian Gray, whom Henry vows to dominate: “He would seek to dominate him-had already, indeed, half done so. He would make that wonderful spirit his own”(Wilde 40). Lord Henry’s desire to control others stems from the fact that he does not practice what he preaches. Lord Henry has others live by his words rather than living by his words, himself. He enjoys a life of pleasure too much to risk his own happiness, so he risks the happiness of others. Lord Henry claims to be a hedonist, yet does not consider the harm that he causes Dorian. This shows that Lord Henry enjoy being a paradox just as much as he enjoys using them.
Lord Henry is like an automotive engineer who crafts a car for each of his beliefs. He is happy with the aesthetic appearance of each of his cars, but is unwilling to test them for fear that he might be harmed. To remedy the situation, he places the crash-test dummy that is Dorian into each of the cars and allows them to drive head-on into the wall.
A modern day Lord Henry would be Charles Manson, as they both used their influence to recruit other people into their lifestyle so that they could use those people to work for their twisted desires rather than taking direct action.