Dorian Grey

Throughout The Picture of Dorian Gray Dorian Gray is manipulated by the mere words of Lord Henry. Lord Henry's thoughts on Dorian's life eventually consume him, and by allowing Henry's views consume Dorian felt as though he was unstoppable. You see this through his rather rash decisions towards the end of the novel. In the end it is simply words that seduce Dorian into his fatal bargain, tempt him to explore all sensual experiences and delude him into his attempt to evade the consequences of his hedonistic indulgence. In a way Mr. Gray was docile. Dorian took the criticism of Lord Henry extremely tough. Even though Dorian has everything going for him he fails to see what he has. Instead he has a rather narrow outlook; Mr. Gray is only looking into the future only looking for ways to preserve his youth rather than live in the moment. A major reason for this is Lord Henry. After Henry and the painter, Basil finish conversing in the garden they instead inside where Basil would create a master piece. This "masterpiece" creates a beautiful picture capturing Dorian Gray in his twenties in perfect youth. However, Lord Henry says "The pulse of joy that beats in us at twenty becomes sluggish. Our limbs fail, our senses rot. We degenerate into hideous puppets, haunted by the memory of the passions of which we were too much afraid, and the exquisite temptations that we had not the courage to yield to." (Wilde 16) Henry points out that youth is something cherish ,because you cannot be young forever. This frustrates Dorian; he become extremely angry that this picture will be young forever, but he will grow old. Lord Henry's mere words shape Dorian's perspective on his future. Mr. Gray allowed mere words to drain him. He let Henry's outlook on life and society affect who he was. In youth Henry glamorized Dorian; Dorian felt as though nothing would stand in his way. If Dorian fancied for anything he would complete any number of task to peruse what he desired. These