Dorian has done some questionable
things in his life including his treatment of Sibyl Vane and the savage murder
of Basil Hallward. His actions have led
to unflattering rumors being spread about him and people forming opinions of
him that are not ideal. To cope with the
consequences of his actions Dorian has had to become quite cunning; he knows
that if people find out the truth about what he has done his reputation and
life will be destroyed. After killing
Basil, Dorian knew that he could not let people tie him to the murder; one of
the first things he did was establish a rock-solid alibi for himself. Dorian knew that there was no evidence
against him because “Basil Hallward had left the house at eleven. No one had seen him come in again. Most of the servants were at Selby
Royal. His valet had gone to bed” (Wilde
164). He then proceeded to leave and
re-enter the house by waking up his valet and creating the story that he forgot
his key. Dorian knows that if he can
deceive the public with a solid alibi and destroy the evidence there will be
know way to tie him to the murder, and his life and what is left of his
reputation will be saved.
The other example of Dorian’s
cunningness comes when James Vane confronts him in an alley in the middle of
the night. James, Sibyl’s brother, has
made Dorian from the nickname, Prince Charming.
James knew nothing about Dorian except this nickname but he knew that he
vowed to kill this man since it was Dorian’s fault that Sibyl is dead. Dorian certainly would have been murdered if
it wasn’t for his quick thinking that made James believe that he had the wrong
man. Dorian asks James, “How long ago is it since your sister did” (195) to
make James realize that there is no way that Dorian could be Sibyl’s Prince
Charming because he looks to young.
Dorian’s deceit has saved him on multiple occasions; without it he would
most certainly be dead if he was not in prison.
No comments:
Post a Comment