Vain about Vane: Vanity in Dorian Gray

When reading through The Picture of Dorian Gray this time around, and although I knew this was a major part of the text, I was still struck by the sheer vanity of Dorian especially when it came to the life and eventual death of Sybil Vane. As he views the portrait of himself when it takes on the cruel sneer after he has denied and dismissed Sybil the evening before, all he can truly think of is himself and how that then made him look, rather than what it is he has done to her, “here was an ever-present sign of the ruin men brought upon their souls” (104). Instead of worrying of the souls of others, Dorian merely fears for himself, and what this scandal would mean for his own life, but as Wilde points out, humanity as a whole is vain in this sense, as even when looking for forgiveness, “There is a luxury in self-reproach. When we blame ourselves we feel that no one else has a right to blame us” (104). Wilde masterfully pinpoints the things in his characters that people may try to ignore in themselves, presenting that humans are truly vain and when it comes down to it merely worry for themselves first and foremost above others, although maybe not to the extreme extent of Dorian. And although Dorian could try and blame this on the influence of Henry, another natural reaction when one is confronted with one's faults, which he then certainly does, Wilde has shown that his vanity is present even before that original encounter, “Then I feel, Harry, that I have given away my whole soul to someone who treats it as if it were a flower to put in his coat, a bit of decoration to charm his vanity…”(16). This then sort of leads to the question of whether or not Wilde truly wants humans to just accept this fact about themselves and live the decadent life of one who revels in their vanity, pursuing things as they want them and thinking of themselves, or rather if it is a warning, something he never quite makes clear as we as readers hear his thoughts throughout the various characters, but can never quite determine which of the Wildes or ideas to believe.