Dorian and Lord Henry meet as Basil Hallward, a subtle artist, is painting a portrait of the ever-beautiful Dorian Gray. Harry (Lord Henry) is an excessively opinionated man who is an enthusiastic supporter of Hedonism. Hedonism is the ethical theory that pleasure, in the sense of the satisfaction of desires, is the highest good and proper aim of human life. After learning about Harry's philosophy on life, Dorian then solely focuses on his beauty, which is his true pleasure in life. Dorian wishes the painting of himself would age rather than his own body. .
Focusing solely on one thing such as Dorian Gray did, his looks and youthfulness, is extremely damaging to all other aspects in life. It is seen throughout humanity and not just in the Gothic. In modern society, we see coaches, inventors, CEO's have a singular focus that causes them to lose track of their morals, ethics, and/or families. As for Dorian Gray his narcissistic views on his aesthetic appeal lead him to lose grasp of his internal ethics. Dorian's avid fixation on pleasure through his own beauty is the root of his future evil and destruction. The relationship between aesthetics and ethics is a delicate yet simple balance. If much emphasis is placed on one, the importance of the other will equally decrease. Dorian placed all his attention onto his beauty and there became no room in his life for proper ethics and morals. Granted people all grow up in different areas, families, and religions, which can result in a change in ethics as well as aesthetics. But in Dorian's place and time its safe to say that the civilized Western culture in which he lived carried societal views that prevented individuals from narcissistic thought and encouraged selflessness and natural fulfillment. Dorian was the antithesis of what the civilized Western culture's ethics represented. His narcissistic concentrations on his own superficial and materialistic qualities, coupled with the lack of ethics are part of the cause of his evil and destruction (Gillespie, Ethics and Aesthetics in The Picture of Dorian Gray).
