DG: Pg. 151-165

“‘Dorian, with your pure, bright, innocent face, and your marvelous, untroubled youth – I can’t believe anything against you’” (154).

It is not surprising that Basil refuses to believe anything wrongly said about Dorian. It has been made clear countless times that Basil is very much in love with Dorian. However, his reasons behind why he doesn’t believe these things are surprising. The only reasons he listed why were solely about his physical appearance. One’s physical appearance seems to tell a person a lot about them, according to this text. Out of all these simple-minded people, you would think Basil would not yield to this idea, however he has. It is very disappointing and it was ultimately foreshadowing his imminent loss.

“‘You [Basil] are the one man in the world who is entitled to know everything about me. You have had more to do with my life than you think’” (159).

Dorian is correct in his first statement, Basil has EVERY right to know the answers to the many questions he has asked him. However, he is somewhat incorrect in his second statement. Basil has had a little bit of involvement in Dorian’s life but it is Lord Henry who has had the most to do with how Dorian has turned out. All Basil did was paint his portrait; it was Lord Henry who forced him to believe that beauty is the only thing he must hold onto. Because he has yielded to Lord Henry, he fails to see that it is not necessarily Basil’s fault for the way things turned out. It is unclear whether Dorian will ever learn that or not.