Transcription
[Music] In Chapter three of The Picture of Dorian Gray, it's the following day, and Lord Henry visits George Fermer, his uncle, to learn more about Dorian Gray's background, especially his upbringing.
Lord George explains that Dorian's mother, the beautiful Lady Margaret Devereux, ran off with a poor suitor years ago. When her husband was killed not long after, Lady Margaret also died shortly after giving birth to Dorian. Dorian is actually quite wealthy.
Henry returns to his Aunt Agatha's, thinking about the tragic yet romantic story of Dorian's parentage and of his great beauty. At lunch, Henry joins a collection of important people, politicians and aristocrats, as they talk and cleverly banter. Dorian's name comes up, and Henry lays claim to him, hoping Dorian will play piano for him. The conversation covers both larger topics like social change and politics, and more personal ones.
In Chapter three, Wilde employs a deus ex machina, a term applied to classical Greek drama where an omnipotent god figure shows up to resolve difficult plot points. In the form of Henry's uncle, Lord George, he appears in this chapter and never again. Lord George is a useful, if somewhat unlikely, fountain of information about Dorian's background. On the one hand, it makes sense that an older aristocrat wouldn't know the gossip of his class. On the other hand, if Dorian is so beautiful and this scandal is so extreme, hadn't Henry known about this before?
Dorian's romantic background contributes to the fairy tale nature of the plot. He's an orphan and has a history that's extremely dramatic, and he's also rich. The second half of the chapter, when Henry goes to his aunt's for lunch, serves several functions. It further establishes Henry's character and the breadth of his knowledge, as he can dispense persuasive comments on any topic introduced. It reinforces his cynicism and his role as an active combatant in the war of the sexes. Henry becomes aware of Dorian watching him and wants to fascinate Dorian. This shows Dorian's power in general and the novel's homoerotic tendencies. And Henry's advice to the Duchess on how to become young again sets the stage for the metaphysical action of the novel. Dorian can do whatever he wants precisely because he doesn't age. Because only his portrait ages, he is free to make the same mistake over and over.
Henry engages in an extended private contemplation about influence and its meaning. This long paragraph serves as a bridge between the two portions of this chapter. Henry has just recently spoken to Dorian about influence being undesirable because it is unnatural and displaces the originality of the person influenced. However, in this section, Henry paints quite a different portrait of influence. He compares it to playing a violin and makes it clear it is a satisfying art form in and of itself.