How Does Lord Henry Change In The Picture Of Dorian Gray

Lord Henry serves as an artist and mastermind in the novel, manipulating Dorian in order to experience the life he preaches without punishment. From the start, Lord Henry is portrayed with a mysterious demur, making the reader unsure of his intentions and persona. It is only with further development in the novel, do Lord Henry’s true colors emerge. Lord Henry is a character who knows what he wants and who he is, and not easily swayed by the influence of others, unlike the other character in the novel, specifically Dorian Gray. With a quick wit and controversial philosophies, Lord Henry quickly makes a name for himself in the beginning of the novel. On the exterior, Lord Henry lives a life that calls for excessive indulgence in luxury and

The marriage and death of Sybil Vane is the first indication of success of Lord Henry’s work and Dorian’s transformation. Dorian’s falling in love highlights Dorian’s new perspective and desire for pleasure and the often unreachable. To Dorian, Sybil was a muse and a lover. She is everything that he hopes to be. Dorian’s idea “to place her on a pedestal of gold and to see the world worship” (ch.6) depicts how Sybil is more of an object that he admires, rather a person who he loves. Sybil’s ability to separate herself from the reality and transform into whom ever she desired, was subconsciously longed for by Dorian. The captivating play put on by Sybil demonstrates to Dorian that there is potential to transform one’s self. It is Dorian’s chase to become a fictional-like character, that made him fall in love with an actress. When Sybil could no longer posses the skill to transform into another character, Dorian losses interest because she was not able to fulfill the role of the muse she initially was sought out to be.
The resulting suicide of Sybil Vane, is an extremely tragic incident within the novel. Lord Henry’s ability, however, to convince Dorian that is it an insignificant and natural occurrence highlights the true dominance that Lord Henry has over Dorian. Dorian has successfully become a product of Lord Henry’s scheme. Sybil is truly an innocence character who never committed a sin that was worthy of suicide. Her innocence and vulnerability was no match for Dorian’s newly tainted mind, let alone Lord