Dorian Gray Ch3

"Yes, [Henry] would try to be to Dorian Gray what, without knowing it, the lad was to the painter who had fashioned the wonderful portrait. He would seek to dominate him- had already, indeed, half done so. He would make that wonderful spirit his own. There was something fascinating in this son of Love and Death" (Wilde 40).

Lord Henry can truly be reckless; in this simple thought we can see h is true nature and disregard for others shine through. He has not thought about at all about what this attempt at dominance over Dorian will do to him. Perhaps he will lose Dorian as a friend, or perhaps Dorian will become more dependent on him. As we see at the end of this chapter, Dorian begs Henry: "I feel I must come with you" (47). It is only the third chapter and already we see Dorian begging Henry to preach his nonsensical "wisdom" to his always.

"[Henry] played with the idea, and grew wilful; tossed it into the air and transformed it; let it escape and recaptured it; made it iridescent with fancy, and winged it with paradox" (44).

This perfectly describe Henry's thought-process. You will notice at no point does he filter was he says so as to not influence any of those around him. He just says what he means, but does not mean what he says. When he speaks, the colorfulness of his diction enchants any who hear him, and their enchantment leads them from rationality. They believe that what Henry says is absolute truth, and follow it as law. Even though Henry himself does not follow what he says; he know that the words that come for his mouth are mere silly fancy. And those who know him best, Basil, knows to pay him no mind when he goes on a tangent.