![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
narcasseSkimming over two versions of the text of The Picture of Dorian Gray at Project Gutenberg for a quote about expensive hats I ended up reading over the opening section which deals with Lord Henry and Basil’s conversation about Dorian Gray before his actually introduction. Basil talks about Dorian’s influence upon his art and being devoted to Dorian in that dubiously platonic fashion that could easily be read into. He says after all that he needs to see Dorian every day even if it’s only for a few minutes and how small things that Dorian says or does pain him greatly since they’re interpreted as slights. Basil then is quite plainly, if not entirely in love, at least absolutely besotted.
Interestingly, Basil doesn’t seem to require more an acknowledgement by Dorian and his presence to inspire great works of art. He conducts himself in a passionately devoted fashion all without crossing over any actual lines. He in fact behaves in the same way that the archetypical older man is required to behave when he stumbles upon that one occasion when he finds himself attracted to someone who is completely and utterly sacrosanct, usually due to age but possibly for any other number of reasons. It’s the sort of situation where the sheer limit of besotted devotion might be something like a weekly gift of some sort to commence a visit, advice on any topic that the object of affection might ask for advice upon and that deliberate observance of the sort of manner that makes the devotee sound an awful lot older than he actually is simply for the sake of propriety. In this sort of scenario while there might well be hints on the surface for someone to notice there is a line that is never crossed so that object of such affection will never look back and feel slighted by any uncouth conduct and the older devotee can look back on the matter with fondness both enjoying the memory of his ardour and the fact that he didn’t compromise anything through his actions.
With that in mind it finally occurs to me why Basil Hallward is a character that it’s taken me years to understand. I was around nineteen when I first read The Picture of Dorian Gray and so the nuances of much of the characterisation escaped me. I grasped the general idea but it took me quite some time to figure out various details. I’d dismissed Basil early on, not as an unnecessary character since his role was essential, but a figure that just didn’t pique my interest. I didn’t dislike him but I didn’t really care about his motivations or actions, beyond furthering the plot, either. Now at least I can say that I understand what he’s about, that I grasp the finer points of his motivation, for reasons which my above example probably makes pretty obvious.
Interestingly, Basil doesn’t seem to require more an acknowledgement by Dorian and his presence to inspire great works of art. He conducts himself in a passionately devoted fashion all without crossing over any actual lines. He in fact behaves in the same way that the archetypical older man is required to behave when he stumbles upon that one occasion when he finds himself attracted to someone who is completely and utterly sacrosanct, usually due to age but possibly for any other number of reasons. It’s the sort of situation where the sheer limit of besotted devotion might be something like a weekly gift of some sort to commence a visit, advice on any topic that the object of affection might ask for advice upon and that deliberate observance of the sort of manner that makes the devotee sound an awful lot older than he actually is simply for the sake of propriety. In this sort of scenario while there might well be hints on the surface for someone to notice there is a line that is never crossed so that object of such affection will never look back and feel slighted by any uncouth conduct and the older devotee can look back on the matter with fondness both enjoying the memory of his ardour and the fact that he didn’t compromise anything through his actions.
With that in mind it finally occurs to me why Basil Hallward is a character that it’s taken me years to understand. I was around nineteen when I first read The Picture of Dorian Gray and so the nuances of much of the characterisation escaped me. I grasped the general idea but it took me quite some time to figure out various details. I’d dismissed Basil early on, not as an unnecessary character since his role was essential, but a figure that just didn’t pique my interest. I didn’t dislike him but I didn’t really care about his motivations or actions, beyond furthering the plot, either. Now at least I can say that I understand what he’s about, that I grasp the finer points of his motivation, for reasons which my above example probably makes pretty obvious.
