Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumCharacter Relationships and Dynamics

Read the following passage from Chapter 2 of Oscar Wilde’s 1890 novel *The Picture of Dorian Gray* carefully before answering the question.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Dorian. You are not a bit like Basil. You are much more charming.”

“But you really must not think that I am not serious, Lord Henry. I am very serious. You make me feel that I have done something wrong, or that I am about to do something wrong. I don't know which.”

“Influence is a very bad thing, Dorian. Scientifically speaking, it is a bad thing.”

“Why?”

“Because to influence a person is to give him one's own soul. He does not think his natural thoughts, or burn with his natural passions. His virtues are not real to him. His sins, if there are such things as sins, are borrowed. He becomes an echo of another music, an actor of a part that has not been written for him. The aim of life is self-development. To realize one's nature perfectly—that is what each of us is here for. People are afraid of themselves, nowadays. They have forgotten the highest of all duties, the duty that one owes to one's self. Of course they are charitable. They feed the hungry, and clothe the beggar. But their own souls starve, and are naked.”

Dorian Gray listened, open-mouthed and wondering. He was conscious of entirely new impulses stealing through him, and they seemed to him to have come really from himself.

In the passage, the dialogue and Dorian’s reaction to Lord Henry’s remarks on influence primarily serve to establish a relationship dynamic characterized by which of the following?

  1. A
    A balanced and overt clash of moral philosophies, with each speaker remaining resolute in their original convictions.
  2. B
    A mutual alliance formed to challenge the conventional artistic values of their mutual friend, Basil Hallward.
  3. A subtle asymmetry in power where one character's philosophical assertions reshape the self-perception and impulses of the other.Answer
  4. D
    A static partnership in which Lord Henry merely describes Dorian’s existing personality traits rather than actively altering his worldview.
  5. E
    A narrative deception where Lord Henry’s statements are intended by the author to be read as a straightforward, sincere lecture on altruism.

Answer

The correct answer is the option describing the subtle asymmetry in power where one character's philosophical assertions reshape the self-perception and impulses of the other.
The passage depicts Lord Henry delivering a monologue on the corrupting nature of influence, which paradoxically exerts a powerful influence over Dorian. Dorian’s reaction—feeling 'entirely new impulses' that he believes are his own—demonstrates that Lord Henry is shaping Dorian's self-perception. This establishes a dynamic of unequal power where one character's ideas actively reconstruct the other's consciousness.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the content of Lord Henry's monologue on influence.
Lord Henry claims that to influence someone is to take away their soul and make them an echo of another, while simultaneously advocating for individual self-development.
This establishes the thematic tension of the passage, where the speaker is actively doing what he warns against.
2
Examine Dorian's reaction to Lord Henry's speech.
Dorian listens with wonder and experiences 'entirely new impulses stealing through him' which he believes are his own.
This reveals the psychological effect of Lord Henry's words, demonstrating that the influence is active and transformative.
3
Synthesize the interaction to determine the overarching dynamic.
The dynamic is one of unequal influence: Lord Henry acts as a catalyst, and Dorian is the receptive subject whose self-perception is actively being reshaped.
This matches the definition of a relationship dynamic characterized by subtle asymmetry in power and influence.

Key Concept

Analyzing character relationships and dynamics through dialogue and psychological response in longer fiction.
Rate this question

Topics

Character Relationships and Dynamics

More questions from this topic