Basil Hallward And Lord Henry Wotton And The Picture Of Dorian Gray

In contrast, The Picture of Dorian Gray, first published in July 1890 in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine, focusses on social dimensions rather than scientific ideas. Thus, Wilde’s work differs from the two other novels.
The novel tells the story of Dorian Gray, a young man who, in a moment of vanity, expresses the desire to stay young while his portrait should age instead of him. Until he discovers changes within the picture Dorian is not aware of any consequences of his wish.
Basil Hallward and Lord Henry Wotton are Dorian Gray’s creators, though both have quite different positions. While Basil Hallward portrayed Dorian, Lord Henry manipulated Dorian. In comparison to the other novels, Dorian Gray is not ‘created’ in an original sense as he himself is a person with a free will. Accordingly, one may argue that he is responsible for his own fate.
Hallward crafted the portrait of Dorian Gray and creates this beautiful subject. He himself explains that he cannot exhibit it as he “put too much of [himself] into it” (Wilde 6). Thus, Hallward himself claims to be the creator and simultaneously presents the risks of creators to leave faint hints of oneself in the creation.
Furthermore, Lord Henry Wotton can be considered as creator closely related to Jekyll and Frankenstein, as he builds the character of Dorian through manipulation. His process of creation is more on a social and philosophical basis, rather than scientific as in Frankenstein or Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.