Bad Relationships In Dorian Gray

Bad relationships make you feel more alone then when you really are alone. Sometimes people don’t realize when they are in a bad relationship. Dorian Gray is a young man of about twenty when the novel begins. He is exceptionally good-looking, but an innocent beauty. Dorian has a way with people that most people just don’t have. He uses his way with people and his good looks to manipulate and eventually destroy all his relationships especially with Sybil, Basil, and Alan.

Sybil Vane is just one of Dorian’s victims. She is a seventeen-year-old actress who plays leading roles in Shakespeare productions at a small theater in one of the rougher parts of London. Dorian falls in love with her because of her ability to bring great art to life. He is obsessed with her acting. He describes her as shy and gentle. "There is something of a child about [her]," he says. Dorian and Sybil become engaged. When Henry and Basil come to watch her perform, her beauty impresses Henry. When Sybil falls in love with Dorian, she loses interest in her acting. "Acting was the one reality of my life and now [he] has freed my soul from prison and [he] taught me what reality really is." She thinks real love is more important than the love that is presented in plays. Unfortunately, this makes Dorian lose all interest in her because he is only in love with her acting personality and he declares that he does not want to see her again. Sybil is so devastated that she commits suicide by drinking acid.

Basil Hallward is the person who Dorian really destroys. He is a well-known artist whose life is turned upside down when he meets Dorian. He is so taken by Dorian's beauty that he virtually falls in love with him. Dorian then serves as his artis...

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...r of life and death.” He appears to dislike his former friend. He is persuaded to do Dorian's chore of disposing the body when Dorian blackmails him, threatening to reveal some secrets from his past. Campbell does everything Dorian has asked him to do. Later, Campbell commits suicide by shooting himself.

Dorian, some way or another, made everyone do something for him. His beauty and persuasion can’t be stopped by anyone but himself. Dorian gains Sybil Vane’s love and then throws it away. Dorian uses his charm to make Basil Hallward fall in love with him and uses him only because Basil allows him to. Dorian makes Alan Campbell dispose of Basil’s dead body or else he will reveal one of Campbell’s secrets. All of these are examples of how Dorian destroys his relationships and causes the deaths of anyone who gets close to him. Sadly, Dorian doesn’t even care.