Was Dorian Gray an easily influenced person? That is the question. Influence can overpower a person's conscience and make them do things that they wouldn't normally do.
Dorian was a very wealthy, intelligent, man with a very high status. On the other hand, he was quite blinded and somewhat nave when it came to making decisions in his life. He knew the influential and rich people in his town such as Lord Henry and Basil. Unfortunately, Dorian was a very easily influenced person.
Lord Henry Wotton had a massive impact on Dorian. The influence was such that Dorian felt the need to tell Lord Henry everything that happened. "You could not have helped telling me, Dorian. All through your life you will tell me everything you do."" Dorian proceeds to say, "Yes Harry, I believe that is true. I cannot help telling you things. You have a curious influence over me."" Lord Henry, although not being evil himself, gave a more evil insight on life to poor Dorian. He (Dorian) has no real concept of how much power Lord Henry has over him.
Basil, the painter of the portrait, influenced Dorian in more of a good, honest way. "Don't spoil him. Don't try to influence him. Your (Lord Henry) influence would be bad. The world is wide, and has many marvelous people in it. Don't take away from me the one person who gives to my art whatever charm it possesses: my life as an artist depends on him."" Basil saw what Lord Henry was doing to Dorian, especially after Sibyl's death. "You talk as if you had no heart, no pity in you. It is all Henry's influence. I see that." Basil never really realized that if it weren't for him, Lord Henry and Dorian wouldn't have met and Dorian wouldn't have ended up the way he did.
When Sibyl is in the picture, Henry's influence came to a mere halt. Dorian was in love with her beauty and her brilliant acting skills. Loving Sibyl Vane provided Dorian protection from Henry's influence. Although Henry's influence overpowers Dorian's conscience, his love for Sibyl overpowered both Henry's influence and Dorian's conscience.
