Wicked Henry and His Sharp Words

Abstract： As one of the main characters in the bookThe Picture of Dorian Gray， Lord Henry is well known for his charming but poisonous words. This paper analyzes his words from two aspects and tries to dig out the deep meaning and significance of these words and the author’s thought behind them.

Key Words：The Picture of Dorian Gray; Lord Henry; Oscar Wilde

Lord Henry was estimated in the book “the Picture of Dorian Gray”as dreadful， wicked and horrified. Though they knew Henry was wicked， people still loved him and could not help listen to his words. However， he never made any errors， compared with Dorian who sold his soul to the devil and died， or Basil who devoted himself to the greatest art work but were killed by his best friend. Lord Henry， who should have been responsible for all these tragedy， was still living comfortably. As a bystander， he only regarded all the people and their living around him as an experiment of his wicked theories.He was similar to the serpent in the Garden of Eden， who tempted Aden and Eve to eat the Forbidden fruit and to be kept away from Eden. He told Dorian to treasure his youth and beauty， and abet him to abandon himself in the physical temptation at the moment.

The author might not simply want to shape him as a negative characteras a bad guy. As part of the representationof him in the book， Henry’s words were as bitter as his， hiding his thoughts which were not concord with the common valueat his age， a pursuit of the pure art， and a criticismof the cruel reality.

1. The Pursuit of the Pure Art

As the leading figure of Aestheticism movement， Oscar Wilde explicated his thought of art and beauty through Henry’s month. In the 19 centuries of his age， industry revolution and capitalism rapidly promoted the advance of technology. At that time， it became a common practice for people to pursue wealth and celebrity.Materialism has become popular. To against this trend， Wilde put forward a point of view -- Art for art's sake. And he explained it through Henry’s words： And beauty is a form of genius--is higher， indeed， than genius， as it needs no explanation. It is of the great facts of the world.（chapter4）

Wilde’s writing style was totally different from that of some realistic novelists at the same age. A majority ofhis story was fantasy. For instance， the love ofSibil and Dorian was based on their imagination of drama. When Dorian first introduced his sweet heartSibil to Henry， he said： “she is all the great heroines of the world in one. She is more than an individual.” In fact， what he really loved was not Sibil ， but the character she acted and the romantic atmosphere the plays created.Sibilcalled Dorian Prince Charming and decided to engage with him without knowing anything about him， even his true name. She killed herself to escape from the pain of breaking up， but in Henry’s words， her death had become a realistic tragedy. Like Ophelia in Shakespeare's drama， she died for the destruction of her love， creating a miracle that could never happen in the vulgar nineteenth century.

2. The Critics of the Cruel Reality

Besides， Wilde also described the dilemma artists faced in that era. Before those days， artists， such as court painters， were usually funded by royals and aristocrats. But in 19th centuries， the promotion of industrialization changed the social hierarchy and construction， so the artists could not depend on the nobility anymore. To earn a living， they had to open up to the public to seek some other’sappreciation for patron. At the beginning of the novel， it was through a party that Basil met Dorian. However， the rising bourgeois could only appreciate the popular literature and art， thus the high art formsbecame unacceptable. Maybe the death of Basil also symbolized the doom of pure art in that era.

The second characteristic of his ideawas the pursuit of pleasure. As one of his main idea， Hedonism has been mentioned many times in this book. It appears that the human nature was distorted. Campbell， Sybil’s death and Basel’s disappearance were just the topics of conversation of the upper class. On the contrary， at the dark side of the society， there were the sailor who struggled to revenge for her sister， the old woman who lost her son and daughter， the prostitute who was mistakenly tempted to smoke opium， creating a conflict of the destination of people from different classes.

In conclusion， Henry’s acrid words to some extent uncovered Wilde’s thought， though absurd and cruel. Henry wasso horrified that his words actually pointed out the wicked desire buried in people’s heart. His existence might not be welcomed， but must be crucial， which reminds us of the secular temptation and warns us to concerning them and fight against them.

參考文獻：

[1]奧斯卡·王爾德.道林格雷的畫像[M].北京：世界圖書出版公司，2012.

作者簡介：唐思為，單位：南京師范大學，研究方向：學科教學英語。