Oscar Wilde's picture of Dorian Gray poses a sharp question about morality: can the senses be purified by means of the soul, and the soul through the senses? Dorian Gray experiences this epigram from Lord Henry in an attempt to justify a life of hedonism and over-objectification of beauty. Wilde presents Dorian as a young man whose beauty rivals the “invention of oil painting” itself (Wilde 7). Basil Hallward, the painter, claims that Dorian is "absolutely necessary" to him and showers him with compliments as he paints him in Greek and Roman idealizations (7). Lord Henry tells Dorian that when his “youth” and “beauty disappear,” he will find that there are “no more triumphs” for him (16). Due to his beauty, Dorian's self-esteem is inflated to the point where he believes he should "give everything away", even his "soul", in order to remain young and beautiful for the rest of his life (19). By sacrificing his soul for eternal beauty, Dorian shows at the beginning of the text how little importance he places on morality. In this Victorian era society, his beauty can excuse him from any bad deed and he takes advantage of it in his epicurean quest for pleasure. Beauty gives Dorian an excuse to forever ignore morality and consequences. Sibyl Vane's death marks the first consequence of Dorian's rejection of morality in favor of sensory experience. After Sibyl's new love for Dorian leads her to terrible acting, Dorian loses interest in the woman he previously claimed to be "divine beyond all things" (59). If she no longer knows how to act, she no longer pleases the senses of Dorian and his friends. He accuses her of having lost "her genius and her intellect" and of being "superficial and stupid" because she can... middle of paper ...... be sure of her life. His conscience will never stop him from sinning – on the contrary, it will fuel his addiction to pleasure and lock Dorian into a cycle of sin simply to savor the experience of remorse. Using evil as a source of pleasure is why Dorian is irredeemable and not simply someone who has lost his way. Early in the novel, Lord Henry convinces Dorian that he must purify his soul through the senses, and his senses through the soul (15). However, Dorian condemns himself to eternal sin by following this epigram because he cannot purify his soul through the sensation of evil while remaining a moral being. He is destined to remain immoral as long as he pursues pleasure alone. If Dorian Gray's consciousness presents a true conflict between good and evil, he simply relishes the pleasure of dissonance and continues to live as an amoral being..