Lord Henry: Love him or hate him?
I think he's a thoroughly disgusting, slimy dandy of a man. I don't care if he's witty, he messed up Dorian entirely. Though perhaps that's the whole point to the story.
Lord Henry: Love him or hate him?
I think he's a thoroughly disgusting, slimy dandy of a man. I don't care if he's witty, he messed up Dorian entirely. Though perhaps that's the whole point to the story.
"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."
I like Lord Henry, he's a very interesting character. He did not, by any means, 'mess up' Dorian: he was simply influential in opening the eyes of the naive boy, and is not to be held to blame for the consequences of their friendship. Dorian sold his soul by his own accord, subsequent to Henry's beauty over matter theory. That we can attribute to Dorian's boyish eagerness for experiment. Yes, this was nurtured by Lord Henry, but that is poles-apart from 'messing up'; presuming by "mess up" you mean drive him to opium dens and murder. What do you suggest Lord Henry did to provoke these crimes Dorian commits? I, for one, believe these were educed by his nature, and inability to cope with changes: this is evident in the way he reacts to Sibyl Vayne's bad acting, and the gradual transformation of his portrait from beautiful to grotesque. Essentially, he is a naive young man, who doesn't know, exactly, who he is.
I agree with Prometheus. Although he does use Dorian as a guinea pig to see whether he can corrupt an innocent young guy, he's not to blame for Dorian's crimes.
As a character in a book, I love Henry Wotton. On the other hand, if he was a real life person, I'd totally agree with you andave!
In real life I'd be really annoyed by them.:
I found a lot of myself in Lord Henry. Enough that I will likely to to read the book again now that I'm finished.
Maybe not so much in our actual views/opinions, but in the method of expressing them. Not sure if that makes sense.
I will say that the scenes with Lord Henry were by far my favorite parts of the book. Did he once say that all influences are evil? Yet he constantly attempts to influence those around him.
I found Lord Henry's cynicism tedious and predictable and thought Dorian Gray a much more interesting character. He had done some terrible things and even to the last he was trying to justify the murder of Basil but I couldn't dislike him and even felt some sympathy for him.
"...You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?..." E. A. Poe
I think Lord Henry is wonderful and would be interesting to meet in real life. Really there are so many dull people around who talk of nothing but work that he would make a wonderful alternative.
Neely - completely agree w you. Lord Henry is very much interesting, and it is not his fault Dorian turns the way he is. But people always did blame other people for the misdemeanor of apparently innocent, young lads. Dorian WANTS to be like lord Henry! or even worse...
I'm not done reading yet, but I do think that Lord Henry, although clever and amusing, is a sad-tired individual. Bored from his leisure and self-absorption, he needs to find other outlets to amuse himself by corrupting/seducing simple minded folks.
Lord Henry is gay, and a representation of Wilde's darker aspect.
Sure, Lord Henry may be dapper and witty and fantastically clever, but he's also narcissistic, pretentious, and utterly heartless. The fact that he doesn't condones Dorian's abandonment of Sybil and doesn't care about Basil, one of his "friends", lying dead in the gutter sealed the deal for me.
Perhaps he wasn't completely responsible for Dorian's corruption, but he was a huge factor. The responsibility for Dorian's soul cannot lie completely with Dorian if he changed so much only after meeting Lord Henry.
Even though The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of my favorite novels, I won't try to romanticize Lord Henry in the least.
Ecce quam bonum et jocundum, habitares libros in unum!
~Robert Greene, Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay
The brief Decadent Movement in fin-de-siècle literature morphed into the Symbolist Movement after Wilde's criminal conviction.
I am not done reading yet, but I thought he might be.Originally Posted by Sebas. Melmoth
Wilde's real-life relationship with John Gray (1866-1934) parallels Lord Henry's fictional relationships with Basil and Dorian.
See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gray_(poet)
*SPOILERS*
Yet despite all of that I still like him - it doesn't put me off him for some reason. And in fact he actively encouraged Dorian's abandonment of Sybil so it puts him in a even worse light really, but it doesn't seem matter for me. I heartlessly seem to side with Henry's assessment of her as something that didn't exist, as something less than art. The thing is though he doesn't cause any of those things and disagrees with crime's vulgarity so maybe people are being a little harsh with old Henry. I mean how long should he be expected to mourn for the likes of Sybil and Basil? Isn't that something he preached to Dorian; the ability to separate such emotions from life's actions?Sure, Lord Henry may be dapper and witty and fantastically clever, but he's also narcissistic, pretentious, and utterly heartless. The fact that he doesn't condones Dorian's abandonment of Sybil and doesn't care about Basil, one of his "friends", lying dead in the gutter sealed the deal for me.
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