How Lord Henry Impacts Dorian Gray The philosophical fiction “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde is a unique gothic novel written about Dorian Gray and his disastrous life. Surrounded by this novel, Lord Henry influences the main character Dorian Gray. The relationship between Henry and Dorian commences within the beginning of the novel, as a result of both characters mutually knowing Basil. Henry is a selfish, middle-aged man who attracts Dorian as his follower all the way though the novel. The reasoning behind Henry's urge to influence Dorian is for the reason that he is obsessed with Dorian’s physical appearance and innocence. “There is no such thing as a good influence, Mr. Gray…because to influence a person is to give him one’s …show more content…
“Some day when you are old and wrinkled and ugly, when thought has seared your forehead with its lines, and passion branded your lips with its hideous fires, you will feel it, you will feel terribly…Beauty is a form of Genius” (16). While Dorian considers that youth and beauty is the most significant fixation, the contemplation is gradually impairing his life. Dorian comes across at the painting and realizes how much he is actually altering. His soul remains dark, while his appearance remains young. Initially, he was appreciative for remaining young, until he awaits the suffering of guilt, for not being the equivalent person he was before he had met Lord Henry. When Sibyl Vane commits suicide, it is the turning point for Dorian. The explanation that Sibyl kills herself is because Dorian is too much for her to handle. He went from being madly infatuated with a beautiful innocent girl, to being all about decorative sex to convincing by Henry that he was not the cause of her death. “We kissed each other. I can’t describe to you what I felt in that moment. It seemed to me that all my life had been narrowed to one perfect point of rose-coloured joy”