Influence & Detachment in the Picture of Dorian Gray

In Oscar Wildes save novel The give of Dorian Gray, many moulds are at play throughout the book. The relationships between the characters are all nearly the form they have on each others life history. However, out of them all, angiotensin-converting enzyme of the characters stands out as a more detached figure who has mastered the art of influencing without being influenced by others himself Lord henry Wotton.To study the different forms of influences in the book, we shall first focus on the link between art and influence before turning to the study of the influence of Lord henry and sweet basil on Dorian, to finally demonstrate the effect of all the influences on Dorian and debate over whether Dorian can be considered as an evil character at the end of the book. The first character who embodies the link between art and influence is Sybil. From the start, Sybil is a character that is only depicted through her art.She is an actress and all her life is devoted to acting to th e item that the frontier between her life and her act is not always truly clear to her and to the reader. She even makes her flooring with Dorian sounds like a fairy tale depicting him as a prince, Prince Charming, approach shot to rescue them from Mr. Isaacs to whom they owe money We dont loss him any more, Mother. Prince Charming rules life for us now. Just like Dorian, Sybil is a sort of creation which accounts for her suggestibility. She is what her mother and Mr.Isaacs made her. Her mother does not deprivation her to think of anything but her acting and because she ignores everything about real life, she lives the roles she plays as real life which is precisely what makes her much(prenominal) a great actress. And it is her talent as an actress that arouses Dorians interest. Yet, by enabling Sybil to discover the chest of drawers of acting through her discovery of real love, Dorian ruins Sybils talent. And by ruining her talent he ruins his interest in her which leads h im to despise her and leave her.Clearly, Dorians influence on Sybils life and art is crucial but she is not the only character influenced by Dorian. Dorians depiction is expound in the book as Basils masterpiece and it is so because Basil had never been as inspired by a subject before. The first time Basil saw Dorian he tried to avoid meeting him and justifies his doing so by saying that he did not want any external influence in his life. This sheds light on the fact that he already knew before even talking to Dorian that his influence on him and his art would be so great.And it is the very influence of Dorian that enabled Basil to reach a new level in his creation. Not only has Dorian allowed Basil to achieve the best thing he has ever done according to Lord Henry in painting Dorians portrait but he has also inspired him in every piece of art he has painted since he met Dorian, as shown in this extract slightly subtle influence passed from him to me, and for the first time in my life I saw in the distinct woodland the wonder I had always looked for, and always missed. It is clear that meeting Dorian is a real turning point in Basils artistic life. However Dorian cannot be described as a mere source of extravagance to Basil he is his muse who involves more than inspiration but also adoration and idolatry. The extent of Dorians influence on Basils art and life is made obvious when Basil does not want to expose the portrait and says I have put too much of myself into it.When Lord Henry asks Basil more details on how he met Dorian and how it changed dramatically his life as an artist, it becomes clearer and clearer that Basil feelings for Dorian are feelings of love. And those feelings bring Basil to contradict himself on what he thinks art should be. After being so eloquent on Dorians influence on his art, he seems to regret the way he felt and thought and explains that he was foolish of thinking so Even now I cannot help feeling that it is a shift to th ink that the passion one feels in creation is ever really shown in the work one creates. After adopting that way of thinking, Basils painting gradually goes off as Henry afterward says It seemed to me to have lost something (). When you and he ceased to be great friends, he ceased to be a great artist. If Dorians portrait is Basils masterpiece, the portraits role in the story is not limited to being a great piece of art and the picture can be considered as a character in its own right.