What Is The Evil In The Picture Of Dorian Gray

Everyone has a moral compass in them from common thieves to even the Pope, but even a paragon of society has some evil lurking in them. In The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, Dorian tells Basil after he reveals his altered painting, ”Each of us has heaven and hell in him, Basil,” (Wilde, 122). The statement functions as a recurring theme in the novel whereas the righteousness, represented by Basil Hallward, struggles with immorality, represented by Lord Henry Wotton, for dominance. Although there are many characters that can relate to the statement, the three main characters that strengthen the theme as a whole are Dorian Gray, Basil Hallward, along with lord Henry Wotton. Dorian Gray is a prime example of the statement because he is as easily manipulated as a child is. He acts as a good Christian child at the beginning of the novel, but turns to a life of immorality and ecstasy. Mr. Gray’s two main influences are Basil Hallward and Lord Henry Wotton. He is praised and guided through life as a sitter for Mr. Hallward’s artistic
mind. That is, until Lord Henry arrives to manipulate Dorian in a most sinister way. He poisons his mind with selfishness for one’s youth. The rest of Dorian’s life is affected by his wish and indirectly by Lord Henry’s words of wisdom. The portrait gains mystical properties that sway Dorian’s life decisions. He cannot take responsibility for his sins, at least not outside of his circle of friends. The painting becomes a third manipulator to Dorian’s moral compass. Meanwhile, Basil Hallward is unable to persuade Dorian to change which ultimately leads to Basil’s demise. Dorian Gray gets sucked further into the rabbit hole as he leaves for the countryside along with his new morally questionable friends. He evades answering for his crimes again when James Vane attacks him, but questions the appropriate age of his target. It is only until much later, after he returns back home when he feels the necessity to amend his character. His portrait indicates that it is too late, however, and that he does not really wish to change. As Dorian goes for a last ditch effort to erase the evidence of his hideous character, he himself is killed. Basil Hallward is the person responsible for slightly maintaining Dorian’s good intentioned character. He is irrational in his praising of Dorian but he makes Dorian feel like a very fortunate person. He tries multiple times to reverse Lord Henry’s influence, but to no avail. His influence is negligible as he never really changes Dorian’s mind, but delays the inevitable. Basil loses his credibility as a savior for Dorian, because he was unable to stop Dorian once he started down a slippery slope. Once this happens, Basil is quickly cast away by the author and Dorian as he kills Mr. Hallward in a fit of rage.
The ill-boding Lord Henry Wotton causes a number of conflicts in the story.
He corrupts Dorian from the start and leads as an objectionable dastardly example for Dorian to follow. Lord Henry explores the world’s society through careless psychological experiments that bother, and sometimes change the object of the experiment in a negative way. He can be argued as an untraditional villain as he does not act wicked, but he does indirectly ruin society. Michael Caine once said, “...Some men just want to watch the world burn.” Lord Henry did not influence Dorian because he could get something out of it. He influenced Dorian because he could watch it tear him down. The psychological power that Lord Henry Wotton has over Basil Hallward is phenomenal. Dorian’s true defence against Lord Henry is his unconditional love for Sibyl Vane. His feelings were the only thing that kept him on a good path despite Lord Henry’s
teachings.
The moral conclusion is that, there is always some manifestation of good and evil in everyone, but the one true mistake that people need to realize is that even if their soul is pitch black, there is still a chance to change. The theme prevails through the story, being strengthened by Dorian Gray, Basil Hallward, and Lord Henry Wotton.