- First Publication of The Portrait of Dorian Gray - Adasta, in the public domain
Through Lord Henry Wotton, a main character in The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde displays a wit and penchant for masterful dialogue that are equalled by few. Wotton's hedonistic ideology and Old Testament Satan-like questioning of conventional or moral views are the impetuses behind Dorian Gray's sordid evolution and the novel's "scandalous" reception. Without Wotton, The Picture of Dorian Gray loses much of its appeal. He is the Devil on Gray's shoulder, the bug in his ear, the influence Gray wishes he never had.
The Unconventional Philosophies of Lord Henry Wotton in The Picture of Dorian Gray
Lord Henry Wotton shares his name with the early 17th century British poet, Sir Henry Wotton, although the similarities seemingly end there. The fictional character is at first a fascinating and enticing wit. He has a world view sometimes enviable but most times indulgent or deviant.
For Dorian Gray, acceptance of Wotton's influence is his downfall. This acceptance is confounding in that Wotton does not practice what he preaches — his philosophies are entirely egocentric and immoral, while his life remains boringly sedate. However, his own reserved nature does not stop him from promoting his selfish ideals in others. And Dorian Gray is weak-minded and highly impressionable when they meet.
What initially is fascinating about Wotton remains interesting but eventually becomes ignorant. In the end, Wotton’s views seem irrational and in all ways wrong. His intellect become presumptuous and blinds him to the disenchanting reality of his own life and the ugly effects his influence has had upon Gray.
In the end the reader wonders if his counterpart, Basil Hallward, was correct about Wotton all along - that he doesn't believe his own twisted logic and is, too, a victim of it. Hallward, the ill-fated painter of Gray's infamous portrait, is loyal, moral, and certainly more conforming to societal norms. His love for Gray makes him blind to Gray's debauchery. Once all is revealed, he is stalwart in his devotion, and his concern for Gray's salvation, unselfish and real, vindicates Hallward as the novel's lone but tragic hero.
Yet, convention is boring. It is Wilde's words, mouthed through his wanton Henry Wotton, that provoke intellectual debate and reaffirm Wilde's gifts for wit and dialogue.
Lord Henry Wotton's Best Quotes Lend Themselves to Repetition
With his critical view of the Victorian era, Wotton undermines most facets of it. Several famous quotes are attributable to the character. Some are sexist, others are comedic, but all are well-crafted. Here are some of the best lines, most of which can be reviewed at AllGreatQuotes.com, said by Lord Henry Wotton in The Picture of Dorian Gray:
- "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about."
- "Those who are faithful know only the trivial side of love; it is the faithless who know love's tragedies."
- "The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it."
- "Young men want to be faithful, and are not; old men want to be faithless, and cannot."
- "I always like to know everything about my new friends, and nothing about my old ones."
- "Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one's mistakes."
- "Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing."
- "Men marry because they are tired; women, because they are curious: both are disappointed."
- "The people who love only once in their lives are really the shallow people. What they call their loyalty, and their fidelity, I call either the lethargy of custom or their lack of imagination. Faithfulness is to the emotional life what consistency is to the life of the intellect - simply a confession of failure."
- "Women love us for our defects. If we have enough of them, they will forgive us everything, even our intellects."
- "It is perfectly monstrous the way people go about nowadays saying things against one behind one's back that are absolutely and entirely true."
- "Difference of object does not alter singleness of passion. It merely intensifies it. We can have in life but one great experience at best, and the secret of life is to reproduce that experience as often as possible."
- "To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable."
- "The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame."
Jason Parent - Jason Parent earned his Bachelor's Degree in English in 2000 and his Juris Doctorate in 2006. He currently works as an attorney with a ...
