The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

What do you think of Lord Henry? Is he toying with Dorian, or is he wanting to be a real friend? What does he say to make you think this?

I am afraid that I must go with the idea that Lord Harry Henry is simply toying with Dorian. However, I'm not sure that I like the term "toying." Toying, to me, seems to imply that Lord Henry is manipulating Dorian to the point where Dorian has no say in the matter. I think of it as "playing with". Dorian has a mind of his own and chooses to let Henry manipulate him.

My feelings about Lord Henry and Dorian's relationship comes from early on in chapter 4. Lord Henry and Dorian are talking and Dorian exclaims to have seen the love of his life. Henry, in an off-handed manner, replies, "A grande passion is the privilege of people who have nothing to do. That is the one use of the idle classes of a country. Don't be afraid. There are exquisite things in store for you. This is merely the beginning" (Wilde, 53).

I think that Lord Henry is speaking from experience on the matter. Many of the claims and ideas that Harry throws around are from his life. He is one of the those people that have nothing to do, the "idle class". What is Harry doing with the time that he has free? He spends it with Dorian. I expect that Lord Henry "loves" Dorian as much as Basil does, but on a different level. Basil loves Dorian as an idol. Henry loves Dorian as a project.

I must go on to say that I think that Harry is leading Dorian down a path that will eventually make Dorian into a second "Lord Henry". Lord Henry "plays" with Dorian because he knows Dorian is just like him. The previous post I mentioned that people seek out those that project the things they want to do (or exhibit those bad habits to make oneself feel better). This is a prime example. Henry knows that there are "exquisite things" in the future and that it is "only the beginning" because he has gone through the same things.

In the end, I think that Dorian will be just as lonely as Henry. Though Henry is surrounded by people, it seems he is set apart or that he thinks of everyone else as lower than himself. Dorian will eventually pick up on that and Harry will fall into the category as no longer worthy of being around. Then, in a classic case of irony, Dorian will leave Lord Harry Henry behind for something more exquisite.