PoDG Ch. 4

1.) "'There is always something infinitely mean about other people's tragedies'" (Wilde 58).

I simply cannot fathom Henry. Not only do I find him to be a careless pompous ass, but he contradicts himself at every turn. Sure, he is only arguing the opposite of what he argues because no one but Basil can argue back, but it just does not seem right. Here, he talks about the mean things in others' tragedies, but in the last chapter he contradicted himself: "It posed the lad, made him more perfect as it were. Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic" (39). Here, Henry wanted to learn about Dorian's past and tragedies, yet twenty pages later, he tells Dorian that it was a good thing he did not ask to learn more about the tragedies of Sibyl Vane. The contradictions continue, as Henry says, "'You always come dreadfully late'" (58). Here, Henry comments on Dorian always arriving late to their arrangements, but earlier on in the same chapter, Dorian himself stated that Henry is always late: "He was always late on principle, his principle being that punctuality is the thief of time" (48). Why is Henry commenting on Dorian's faults when he himself exhibits the exact same ones? Perhaps, however, there is a deeper motive than the hypocrisy we see at first glance. Henry loves experimenting on Dorian, and morphing Dorian into a replica of himself. Henry himself comments on the nature of experimentation on others: "It often happened that when we thought we were experimenting on others, we were really experimenting on ourselves" (63). Possibly, then, by experimenting on Dorian, what Henry is really doing is tampering with how to make a new version of himself. Perhaps he is trying to rectify the faults he sees in himself in Dorian, to see what he could possibly be like if he did not have them.

2.) Human life--that appeared to him the one thing worth investigating. [...] And yet what a great reward one received! [...] To note the curious hard logic of passion, and the emotional colored life of the intellect [...] What matter what the cost was? One could never pay too high a price for any sensation" (61).

This grapples with the entire concept of the novel: Is the entire world worth one's soul? If it were possible to give up our soul and receive the entire world in return, would we do it? It is a very intriguing question. There are things we tell ourselves we would do anything for--a car, getting into a good college, the requited love of that special someone. Those are just some of things we wish for so vehemently, but would we be willing to give up our soul for it? Our soul is the very thing that makes us human. It gives us life, and it makes us who we are. So, the question is, should we give up who we are in order to obtain what we desire most? So far, Dorian has accepted this. He would readily give up his soul to remain eternally beautiful. It is what he wants more than anything. We see Henry's influence again, as in the quote on page 61, Henry himself says there is no cost too high for any sensation. Both of them feel this way, and I believe this will ultimately be their demise. To sell your soul is to give up yourself. What good is something if, when you receive it, you aren't the same person as when you wished for it? It is a cursed life. Selling your soul is much like Proctor's obsession with his name. A soul is the same way. You can only have one soul. Once it is lost, it is lost forever. You can not get it back. How do we know we even want the world? It may not be what we expect. The car could break down within its first few miles and never start again. You may get into a good college, but fail out or lose interest. That one person may love you back, but could turn on you in a minute. We are unsure of the outcome, just like Dorian and Henry. There certainly is a limit on the price of the world, because a soul, like a name, is the one thing that is truly our own. If we sell it, we would have really nothing left.