Loss Of Innocence In The Picture Of Dorian Gray

In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde shows the rapid decline and loss of Dorian’s pure soul. But, Dorian seeks to fill the void that has been created by his loss of innocence. After he loses his innocence, Dorian seeks to gain it back by using beauty. Throughout The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian becomes aware of the loss of his innocence and tries to gain it back by finding, keeping, and experiencing beautiful things while getting rid of anything unpleasing.
From the moment Dorian meets Lord Henry, Dorian’s innocence is destined to fade away. Lord Henry treats Dorian as an experiment, trying to influence him and his actions. Lord Henry is an immoral man with hedonistic beliefs, and soon Dorian would also be “because to influence a person is to give him one’s own soul” (Wilde 18). Dorian is ignorant to the loss of his innocence until he tells Sibyl Vane she is not good enough. Once Dorian reflects upon himself after yelling at Sibyl, he has “a feeling of infinite regret [come] over him” (Wilde 81). He remembers how “callous” (Wilde 81) he had been towards Sibyl,

So, Dorian goes to extreme lengths to discard anything ugly and tainted. Anything unpleasant to Dorian “[is] to be driven out of [his] mind” (Wilde 142). Even in the portrait of himself, all he can see is “the foulness and ugliness on the face” (Wilde 124). He decides to hide it in a shed that has not been opened in years so he does not have to look at it. When Sibyl gives a terrible acting performance, Dorian is left “horribly disappointed” (Wilde 74). His previous mindset on Sibyl takes a complete 180 and he now thinks of her as “a complete failure” (Wilde 75) and “a third-rate actress” (Wilde 76). As soon as Sibyl had come into his life, Dorian leaves her just as fast. He wishes to never see her again because of how unpleasing she has become. Even if it means hurting people, Dorian will do anything for his innocence