The Picture of Dorian Gray, written by Oscar Wilde, portrays the theme of good vs. evil. At the opening of the novel, Dorian Gray exists as something of an ideal: he is the of male youth and beauty. As such, he captures the imagination of Basil Hallward, a painter, and Lord Henry Wotton, a nobleman who imagines fashioning the impressionable Dorian into a relentless pleasure-seeker. Dorian is exceptionally vain and becomes convinced, in the course of a brief conversation with Lord Henry, that his most outstanding characteristics, his youth and physical attractiveness, are ever weakening. The thought of waking one day without these attributes sends Dorian into a tailspin; he curses his fate and pledges his soul if only he could live without bearing the physical burdens of aging and sinning. He longs to be as youthful and lovely as the masterpiece that Basil has painted of him, and he wishes that the portrait could age instead. His vulnerability and insecurity in these moments make him excellent clay for Lord Henry's willing hands. In the end, evil will conquer all throughout the events of the of Sibyl Vane, the of Basil Hallward, and the final destruction of the portrait.
             The ruin of Dorian Gray begins with the engagement of Sibyl Vane, an actress who plays Shakespeare's es in a substandard London theater. Dorian's romance with Sibyl represents the possibility that he will not accept Lord Henry's philosophy and will instead learn to prize human beings and emotions over art. His love for her allows him to resist Lord Henry's seductive words. But just as Lord Henry appreciates Dorian as a work of art rather than as a human being, what Dorian values most about Sibyl is her talent as an actress, her ability to portray an ideal, not her true self. The extent of Lord Henry's influence is painfully clear as Dorian heartlessly humiliates Sibyl, who claims that her real love ...