Scott Pero
AP English—Mr. George
Dorian Gray
Dorian Gray is a narcissistic hedonist whose portrait ages for him after he is cursed with eternal youth.
Dorian is young and naïve, and on top of that, incredibly handsome. His beauty inspires his friend and artist Basil Hallward to paint Dorian’s portrait. While Basil is painting the portrait, Basil’s friend Lord Henry infects Dorian with his ideologies and witticisms, one of which is the importance and beauty and how it is fleeting. When Dorian sees the painting, he is angered that it will never age, while he does age. Dorian is obsessed with beauty, and, stemming from that, obsessed with pleasure. He would give his soul if the portrait aged while he did not, and, as he soon finds out, he got his wish: "Eternal youth, infinite passion, pleasures subtle and secret, wild joys and wilder sins--he was to have all these things. The portrait was to bear the burden of his shame" (109). Dorian sins excessively in order to attain pleasure and is not affected by any of it. His portrait, however, decays as he would normally. Dorian is also incredibly narcissistic and proud. He knows he is beautiful, and only cares about something if it pertains to him.
Dorian is like a marionette puppet. Basil acts as his maker, and Lord Henry is the puppeteer. Lord Henry leads Dorian around by his strings, telling him what to do and what to think. Dorian, the helpless puppet that he is, cannot do a thing about it except blindly accept and do what he is told. Meanwhile, Basil has had his puppet taken from him and used for a puppet show he was never intended to perform in.
Dorian and Narcissus of Greek Mythology: both are so obsessed with their looks that they lose their humanity in pursuit of it.
Scott Pero
AP English—Mr. George
Basil Hallward
Basil Hallward is an introverted artist who cares for a person that only lives to use him.
Basil Hallward is the artist that painted Dorian Gray’s portrait. He is very shy and quiet, and only seems to talk honestly with his two friends, Lord Henry and Dorian Gray. He is great friends with Dorian, and cares for him more than anything: “Of course I flatter him dreadfully. I find a strange pleasure in saying things to him that I know I shall be sorry for having said. As a rule, he is charming to me […] Now and then, however, he is horribly thoughtless, and seems to take a real delight in giving me pain” (13-14). Basil can never think anything bad about Dorian, and always wants the best for him even if Basil is hurt in the process. The only thing that matters to Basil more than his art is Dorian, because he is “the one person who gives to [Basil’s] art whatever charm it possesses: [Basil’s] life as an artist depends on him” (16). Dorian is the ultimate muse for Basil, and as such, Basil worships him. Dorian, on the other hand, could really care less for Basil after he met Lord Henry. Still, though, Basil persists until his untimely death at the hands of the very person he cared for, perhaps even loved.
Basil is like a parent caring for a young child. The parent would do anything to make sure that their child is safe from harm, and that they make the right choices. The child, however, feels that the parent is being to obsessive and becomes rebellious, lashing out at the caring parent.
Basil and Ray from The Princess and the Frog are a lot alike: they both care deeply for something that does not reciprocate; for Basil it is Dorian, for Ray, it is a star.
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