Basil's Studio - Analysis

In the first part of the chapter, Wilde introduces the setting: there is the studio filled with floral scents and some dominate the others. It is a deep bound with the outside, that looks static, even if a light wind moves the trees of the garden.

Only in the second part of the first chapter, Wilde introduces two of the major characters of the book: the first one is Basil, an artist of apparently independent means. He is secretive, and Wilde even mentions that Basil has disappeared without notice in the past causing public excitement. In addition, the distinctive toss of his head, the one that "used to make his friends laugh at him at Oxford," characterizes Basil as someone who is thought of as an odd fellow.

Although Basil claims to be independent, he is instantly overpowered by Dorian upon meeting him, becoming dependent on Dorian immediately as his muse. Basil's attraction to Dorian seems to be both professional and personal. Dorian inspires Basil to a new vision of art, combining Greek perfection with Romantic passion. However, there is every implication of something more personal in the attraction. Basil is also a jealous person, wanting to keep Dorian from Lord Henry so that he can have Dorian all to himself.

The other main character introduced is Lord Henry Wotton, an intelligent, confident and manipulative man. He decadently smokes opium-tainted cigarettes. He also has a commanding presence, no matter where he is or whom he socializes with. He is very judgmental and enjoys sounding profound, as the writer writes down Lord Henry's judgement of Japanese art ("making him think of those pallid, jade-faced painters of tokyo who, through the medium of an art that is necessarily immobile, seek to convey the sense of swiftness and motion.")

Although it may seem strange to categorize a painting as a character, Basil's portrait of Dorian plays such an important role in the chapter that the reader is actually introduced to the painting as if it were a character before meeting Dorian himself: the intelligent reader understands that Wilde is indicating that Dorian's reputation for physical beauty precedes him and it is more important to his character than any other attribute. In any case, the presence of the portrait in the chapter, instead of Dorian himself, allows the reader to hear something about Dorian before his character appears in the novel. Basil speaks about his relationship with Dorian, stating that he is charming through his insistence to not send the picture to any place and Basil's intense and 'ecstatic' moment dreaming of Dorian in some unknown dream.

Wilde underlines that Lord Henry represented his public image but he actually was more like Basil and yearned to be more like Dorian. While the reader must always take care in accepting Wilde's comments at face value, he was like Basil in that he was a creative artist and privately perhaps less secure than his public image. He certainly admired youth and beauty, which Dorian possesses. Still, Lord Henry is one of the most important of Wilde's character in the novel: bright, witty, and controlling: when he laughs and stretches himself, Wilde highlights him as a manipulator, a man who want to put his will to everything.