Dorian Gray
Dorian Gray was a self- absorbed man with absolutely no appreciation for what he had.
Dorian Gray was beyond beautiful and Lord Henry made him aware of this: “You are a wonderful creation. […] The gods have been good to you” (23-24). Instead of feeling grateful that he was gifted with such beauty, Dorian acted in a selfish manner and wished to stay young forever. Another instance of Dorian’s selfish attitude was during his love affair with Sibyl Vane. Dorian should have taken Sibyl’s explanation for her poor performance as a compliment instead of throwing a fit about it. Dorian avoided feeling remorse by finding unreasonable justification as to why he had the complete right to yell at Sibyl: "During the three terrible hours that the play had lasted he had lived centuries of pain" (95). Dorian did not need to sit in the audience, he chose to, so he should not be complaining. If Dorian really loved Sibyl, then he would have appreciated her for her devotion and gratitude towards him. Dorian should have also appreciated Basil instead of killing him. Basil was the only friend Dorian had who still had faith in him and wanted the best for him. Basil adored Dorian and "worship[ed]" (117) him. All Dorian did in return was feel a "terrible joy [...] that the man […] was to be burdened for the rest of his life" (157) when he was about to reveal the portrait to Basil.
Dorian is to Lord Henry as an experiment is to a scientist. Lord Henry simply uses Dorian as an experiment that he can test his ideas on. It does not matter to him whether Dorian’s life is at stake, or if the experiment will harm him. Likewise, a scientist is eager to test things they want to try out. Once they are gifted with the opportunity to test their ideas out, nothing else matters. The object being tested is simply an object being tested.
Dorian is like a little girl, who complains if he does not get what he wants.
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