Quotation: “You look exactly the same wonderful boy who, day after day, used to come down to my studio to sit for his picture. But you were simple, natural, and affectionate then. You were the most unspoiled creature in the whole world. Now, I don’t know what had come over you. You talk as if you had no heart, no pity in you. It is all Harry’s influence, I see that.” (Wilde, 122)

Comment: This quote comes from chapter 9 by Basil. He speaks to Dorian, who has undergone many changes in personality ever since he realized that his portrait would grow old instead of his physical body. This quotation made me think of Basil’s relationship with Dorian. The two start as friends, Basil stating that Dorian would make a wonderful model for a portrait. Through this, the two become closer and it seems that through painting his portrait, Basil has come to know Dorian better than he knows himself. While the sins and moral decline of Dorian are of his own accord, I can’t help but think of the saying “you can’t separate the art from the artist” or vice versa. If the first statement is true, that one can’t separate art from the artist, what does this mean for Basil and Harry? We, as readers, are led to believe that Basil is the “moral” one, almost like the angel on Dorian’s shoulder, while Harry acts as the devil on his shoulder. If Basil is the artist of Dorian’s portrait, his most innocent and moral version of himself, then does this mean that Harry is the artist of Dorian’s soul? Basil has captured the good in Dorian through the portrait, but shouldn’t that mean that the portrait would remain the same? I think originally this was the case, but once Harry began “painting” Dorian’s moral decline, the portrait changed to reflect not only Dorian (the art), but Harry (the artist) as well. 

Question: I’m curious as to what would happen if Harry, the “evil” influence in Dorian’s life, was the one who painted the portrait and Basil, the “good” influence, was the one who spent more time with Dorian. Would the portrait stay the same while Dorian aged and showed his sins?