Dorian Gray Blog 1

The character of Dorian Gray is one of an innocent and impressionable nature. His youth allows him to be not only open to the influences of those around him, but also gives him a vain sense of self. These two factors will ultimately allow those who know how to manipulate and flatter him, like Lord Henry come to have power over him. Dorian's vanity comes from his beauty, but it will ultimately become a downfall due to how much he cares for it, he is even "jealous of everything whose beauty does not die" (29). This focus on beauty has caused Dorian to be doted upon, but for the first time he has met someone who "has certainly not been paying (him) compliments"(22) in Lord Henry. This is Dorian's first intriguingly different acquaintance and his youthful curiosity draws him to want to hear more of what Lord Henry has to say. Dorian is at present, a young man on the brink of self discovery. Prior to meeting Lord Henry, he has lived a life of focus on beauty and the present, not thinking of how it will fade in the future. His new acquaintance has awakened him to the fact that "we never get back our youth" (25) which has ignited a new pining for self discovery that he previously had been numb to. The fact that Dorian has a new, ravenous hunger for thought coupled with the fact that Lord Henry finds there to be "something terribly enthralling in the exercise of influence" (39) lead one to the belief that Dorian will become a product of this influence. He has the want for more substance in life and he has the need for guidance, this leaves him perfectly open to the influence and radically realistic ideas of Lord Henry.