Influence, Corruption and Conscience in The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde's novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, explores the themes of influence, corruption and of consciousness. “Lord Henry's obvious influence on Dorian shows how one can corrupt another to such an extent that one's conscience withers and dies” (Weintraub 116). Basil Hallward, a painter, knows the corrupting influence Lord Henry can impose on his model, Dorian Gray. Basil doesn't want Lord Henry to even meet Dorian because he is afraid that Dorian will be influenced and ruined. Basil implores Henry, saying, "Don't spoil him. Don't try to influence him. Your influence would be bad. The world is wide and contains many wonderful people. Don't take away from me the one person who gives my art all the charm it possesses: from him my life as an artist depends on it" (Wilde 10). From the beginning Wilde begins to show what kind of person Lord Henry is. Lord Henry's influences pose a threat to Dorian. Basil knows this well. Through Basil Hallward, Wilde implies that Dorian can be easily corrupted. However, Dorian tries to assure Basil that he is not being influenced. She states that Lord Henry "certainly paid me no compliments. Perhaps that is why I believe nothing he has told me" (Wilde 15). The only reason Dorian doesn't believe Lord Henry is because Lord Henry doesn't complete him. Wilde deduces that if this is the only reason Dorian doubts Henry, Dorian may therefore be influenced in some other way. Overall, Wilde shows how a person can deny the warning signs of being influenced. Lord Henry slowly begins to influence Dorian, intentionally allowing his corruptor... middle of paper... the duality of every relationship. This is true of any relationship, in any society, “because even the most obvious case of corruption or the most direct relationship carries with it more than the eye can see” (Woodcock 49). Works Cited Belford, Barbara. Oscar Wilde. New York; Random House, 2000Freidman, Jonathan (ed.). Oscar Wilde: A Collection of Critical Essays. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1996.Pearson, Hesketh (ed.). Essays by Oscar Wilde. New York: Books For Libraries Press, 1972. Weintraub, Stanley (ed.). Literary criticism of Oscar Wilde. Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1968. Woodcock, George. Oscar Wilde's paradox. London-New York: TV Boardman and Co., Ltd., 1950. Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Oxford University Press, New York. 1994"Pink Monkey". www.pinkmonkey.com January 15th. 2001