The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The Bible states that bad company corrupts good morals (Proverbs 4:14-15). Do you believe that this is true, or do you believe that people look for friends who reflect and accept their inappropriate desires (i.e. they are already corrupt)? How do you justify your stance? Where do you think that Dorian Gray sits on the spectrum when he meets Lord Henry? Is he innocent, or is he looking for a reason to become corrupt? What contextual evidence makes you think this?

I think that both views have some credit to them. I think that bad company does corrupt good morals, but I think that people look for friends that reflect, accept or demonstrate their inappropriate desires. I think a person can have good morals and want to be a good person, but still seek out those that make them feel "comfortable". 

I believe that we are fallen in nature. I believe that our fallen nature means that we do not make "right" choices without some effort. We naturally want to put ourselves first, love ourselves and take the easy way out. Making the conscious choice to do good and live a life that is acceptable in the eyes of our creator is not easy. So, when we get around those that are taking the easy way out and living according to their selfish nature we want to follow them. It's harder to survive by good moral while swimming in immorality.

Dorian is a hard character to pin down because we see two different versions of him. We see the beautiful and pure version that Basil tells us about. We also see the selfishness and darkness that Lord Henry points out in Basil's descriptions. Basil paid Dorian great praise and Dorian soaked it up. I think that Dorian was preying off of Basil's good intentions and feeding his selfish pride from the very beginning. So, in my honest opinion, I think that Dorian is just like every living human. He is trapped by his fallen nature. He wants to be good, wants to be pure (as Basil tells him he is), but the seduction of the easy life is always nipping at his heels. Lord Henry is just persuasive enough to slow Dorian down and let the selfishness catch up.