Dorian Gray Persuasion

Lord Henry is essentially the incarnation of the devil but in the form of a man who uses his eloquence of words to persuade people. He speaks of bad morals and believes in that friends are ones with looks and enemies with intelligence, “I always choose my friends for their good looks and my enemies for their good intellects” (Henry). On the other hand, Basil Hallward is the direct opposite; he speaks of virtue and wisdom. He sees Henry as a man unscrupulous and ultimately not fair. “He has a bad influence over his friends, with the single exception of myself” (Basil). Unfortunately, Dorian Gray does not keep this advice in the back of his mind; Dorian Gray is a man open to principles, ethical or not. Dorian Gray is easily influenced by others. For example, Henry tells him that a man should live out his life while he is young. “If it were I who was always to be
Henry had put many twisted principles into Dorian Gray and many others head. When Henry finds out Dorian had died, he asks the Lord for forgiveness of his ignorance and influencing evil.
Dorian’s quote, “I would give anything to stay young,” could be the slogan of today’s culture because once college passes, there is generally a lot less free time. Also, as in any day and age, getting older means less activities you can do. Young people, especially students, get to enjoy the most of life. That’s why Dorian’s words could be the slogan of today’s culture.

The song, “Goodbye, Little Yellow Bird” is sung by Sybil Vane. The analogy in the song is that she would not want to be in cage of gold. Instead, she would rather be free. Sybil Vane is a woman who is below one or several classes of Dorian, so she represents the free being outside of the golden cage. Dorian represents the yellow bird surrounded by a cage of gold; he is surrounded by riches but does not use his freedom to explore