A Portrait of Dorian Gray :: A Portrait of Dorian Gray

A Portrait of Dorian Gray â€Å"He began to wonder whether we could ever make psychology so absolute a science that each little spring of life would be revealed to us†. Lord Henry spent many days merely philosophizing about the power of the mind and how it could be manipulated. Exercising his abilities of control and influence was what Harry lived for, and when Dorian uttered the fateful phrase wishing to trade places with the portrait, he was not striking a bargain with the Lord of Darkness, but rather one of his rogues. Lord Henry assumed the role of temptation and lured the naà ¯ve Dorian into a legacy of abominable deeds and sordid affairs. Dorian received the benefits of Harry’s charm, wit, and views. As for payment, Dorian surrendered any control he may have had over his own thoughts, decisions, or emotions. Harry was able to pursue his quest for mind control and perform his own psychological experiments as he willed. The matter of the portrait that had plagued Dorian for most of hi s adult life can easily be explained. The painting was merely his guilt that had manifested and displaced itself as figment of his imagination. For although he had traded his self control for superficial characteristics, he still remained the owner of his soul. Harry slowly exerts control over Dorian in two simple ways. First he implants ideas and reactions into Dorian’s sub-conscience leading him to believe that the thoughts that are flowing from his head are his own, not Lord Henry’s. After Sybil’s death, Harry consoles Dorian, or at least that is how Dorian sees the encounter. â€Å"You have explained me to myself, Harry†¦I felt all that you have said, but somehow I was afraid of it, and I could not express it to myself. How well you know me!†. It is not that Harry knows Dorian so well, but that Lord Henry has influenced and molded Dorian’s coping mechanisms. The young man will now follow this pattern of denial each time he is faced with remorse, guilt, or sadness. Henry himself admits to the fact that he is experimenting with Dorian, â€Å"It was clear to him that the experimental method was the only method by which one could arrive at any scientific analysis of the passions: and certainly Dori an Gray was a subject made to his hand, and seemed to promise rich and fruitful results†.