Key quotes on Lord Henry characterisation

Question 1

‘beauty, real beauty, ends where an intellectual expression begins’

Answer 1

Juxtaposition between ‘beauty’ and ‘intellect’:
Basil becomes worried that too much of himself is in his art.
Henry shows how intellect could never be real beauty.
Reveals Henry’s shallow nature and how he values beauty over anything else.
Foreshadows the fate of Dorian.
Links to ‘brainless, beautiful creature’

Question 2

‘he is some brainless, beautiful creature’

Answer 2

Noun ‘creature’:
Dorian is not seen as a human being, emphasises the domineering and manipulative nature of Henry as he simply sees him as a puppet throughout the novel.
Connotations of being feral and wild, foreshadows Dorian’s corruption into an immoral monster and a predator to Sibyl.
Alliteration of ‘brainless’ and ‘beautiful’:
Presents beauty as superficial.
Implies Dorian is easy to place an impression on.