The homoerotic bonds between men play a large role in structuring the novel. Basil’s painting
depends upon his adoration of Dorian’s beauty; similarly, Lord Henry is overcome with the
desire to seduce Dorian and mold him into the realization of a type. This camaraderie between
men fits into Wilde’s larger aesthetic values, for it returns him to antiquity, where an
appreciation of youth and beauty was not only fundamental to culture but was also expressed as
a physical relationship between men. As a homosexual living in an intolerant society, Wilde
asserted this philosophy partially in an attempt to justify his own lifestyle. For Wilde,
homosexuality was not a sordid vice but rather a sign of refined culture. As he claimed rather
romantically during his trial for “gross indecency” between men, the affection between an older
and younger man places one in the tradition of Plato, Michelangelo, and Shakespeare.
The color “white” appearing through the story represents in first instance the purity of Dorian
while, as story goes forward, white represents the pale aspect of the close death.
Symbols
Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or
concepts.
The Opium Dens
The opium dens, located in a remote and derelict section of London, represent the
sordid state of Dorian’s mind. He flees to them at a crucial moment. After killing Basil,
Dorian seeks to forget the awfulness of his crimes by losing consciousness in a drug-
induced stupor. Although he has a canister of opium in his home, he leaves the safety of
his neat and proper parlor to travel to the dark dens that reflect the degradation of his
soul.
James Vane
James Vane is less a believable character than an embodiment of Dorian’s tortured
conscience. As Sibyl’s brother, he is a rather flat caricature of the avenging relative.
Still, Wilde saw him as essential to the story, adding his character during his revision of
1891. Appearing at the dock and later at Dorian’s country estate, James has an almost
spectral quality. Like the ghost of Jacob Marley in Charles Dickens’s A Christmas
Carol, who warns Scrooge of the sins he will have to face, James appears with his face
“like a white handkerchief” to goad Dorian into accepting responsibility for the crimes
he has committed.
The Yellow Book
Lord Henry gives Dorian a copy of the yellow book as a gift. Although he never gives
the title, Wilde describes the book as a French novel that charts the outrageous
experiences of its pleasure-seeking protagonist (we can fairly assume that the book in
question is Joris-Karl Huysman’s decadent nineteenth-century novel À Rebours,
translated as “Against the Grain” or “Against Nature”). The book becomes like holy
scripture to Dorian, who buys nearly a dozen copies and bases his life and actions on it.
The book represents the profound and damaging influence that art can have over an
individual and serves as a warning to those who would surrender themselves so
completely to such an influence.