(no subject)
[Character Name] Dorian Gray
[Canon] The Picture of Dorian Gray
[Point Taken from Canon] After Chapter 14
[Age] 38, looks 20 though.
[Gender] Male
[Sexual Orientation] Pansexual
[Eye Color] Blue
[Hair Color] Gold (plz to be ignoring the movie PB)
[Height] Slightly under 6ft?
[Other] Has no scars at all. Is physically perfect.
[Clothing] Typical Victorian England dandy.
[Background]
Dorian's story began like a fairy tale, albeit one set in fin-de-siecle Victorian London. His mother, the late Lady Margaret Devereux was a beautiful woman. Born to Lord Kelso, she had everything that a woman of those days could possibly want, beauty and a grand dowry. But all that she had thrown away when she fell in love with a penniless young fellow, leaving her past behind to elope with the man. A few months after their marriage, however, the husband was killed in a duel. Some rumoured that Lord Kelso (Dorian's grandfather) had a part to play in arranging the duel. But nothing had ever been proven. Kelso took his daughter home, and she soon passed away, few months after giving birth to her only son.
As a child, Dorian was hated by his grandfather, reminding the old man both of his beautiful mother and his working class father. Most of the time, Kelso had kept the boy locked up in the old schoolroom in the attic, hiding him away from the rest of the world like one would an ugly stain. Once the boy was old enough, he was sent away to the countryside, his guardians receiving an allowance every month from Lord Kelso to make sure that the child remained well fed, clothed and educated.
The novel started proper with the death of Lord Kelso. Dorian arrived in London from the countryside to inherit Kelso's property. His good looks and easygoing nature soon earned him the attentions from most of London's high society. He was invited to teas, played the piano at charity recitals; and it was during one of these occasions where he met Basil Hallward. To Basil, Dorian was his muse. He painted the boy in every period, every costume possible. But it was when he was working on a portrait of Dorian as himself, that his work was interrupted by the arrival of Lord Henry Wotton. Wotton too saw in Dorian what had drawn others to the boy, and he too was attracted. But unlike the rest, he was more interested in seeing how the boy could change. He prompted Dorian to take a good look at himself, to appreciate his own youth and beauty because they were only transient. His words, amazingly, had touched a nerve in Dorian, for later in that afternoon, after Basil had completed the portrait, Dorian made the one wish that would change his life forever.
If the portrait could grow old and ugly in his stead, he would give his soul.
In the meanwhile, Wotton took Dorian under his wing, feeding him with his own philosophy on life. Life, according to Wotton, should be a pursuit of pleasure. Naively, Dorian accepted all that as gospel truth. He began to drink, smoke, and wander about the darker parts of the city in search of new sensations. It was during one of these little excursions that he came across Sibyl Vane, an actress acting in a poor theatre in the London East End. For Dorian, it was love at first sight. He saw Sibyl as an artist, and fell in love with her ability to portray every Shakespearean heroine exquisitely. His love for her was like that of somebody for a piece of artwork. Mistaking that for true love, he proposed to her, and then invited Basil and Henry to watch her act.
Sibyl, on the other hand, did fall in love with Dorian sincerely, and having experienced love for what it was, she could no longer pretend to know what love was in plays. Her next performance was horrendous. To her, it was a triumph. It revealed to her how much she loved and how glorious love was. But Dorian was horrified. Disappointed, he broke off the engagement and returned home, only to notice that the portrait Basil had painted for him seemed to have changed. His painted lips seemed to have taken a cruel tinge to it. He reflected on his actions, and thought perhaps he had been cruel to Sibyl. The next day, Dorian spent his entire morning constructing a love letter for the girl, only to find out later that she had killed herself.
At first, Dorian was distraught, believing that he was the one responsible for her death. But Henry, typical of his worldview and in his desire to comfort his protege, told Dorian that he should take this romance as an experience. In fact, there was no need to grieve or to feel guilt because everything was an experience and experience was what made life meaningful. Dorian accepted that, and this put him on the path to damnation. Hiding the portrait in the old schoolroom where his grandfather had locked him in when he was young, Dorian proceeded to commit the worst debaucheries in the name of pleasure. Stories about him started, but nobody who had seen him, with the childlike innocence reflected on his beautiful face, could believe him capable of what they had heard. The portrait, of course, grew uglier each day, recording the sins that would not show up on Dorian's face. At the age of thirty-eight, he still looked no different from when he was twenty.
Finally, Basil, out of concern for his friend, confronted Dorian about those rumors before his trip to Paris. Dorian showed Basil his portrait and in his anger towards Basil's accusations, killed the man. The next morning, Dorian pleaded (blackmailed, rather) another acquaintance (and as the text implied, an ex-lover) Alan Campbell to help him get rid of the body with his knowledge of chemistry. Alan agreed, but later committed suicide out of guilt, without revealing what Dorian had made him do. Dorian's sins were once again hidden from the world.
[Personality]
It won't be inaccurate to say that Dorian always has a bit of a child in him, and I am not just referring to his looks. Like a child, he has no sense of what is right and what is wrong, which makes him very open to influence by Lord Wotton. At 38, he's less easily swayed, but some parts of his childlike temperament still stay. For example, Dorian is prone to moments of theatrics, i.e. crying, sulking, swooning etc. But he somehow has the ability to make all that appear charming rather than annoying.
Like most Wildean protagonists, such as Algernon from The Importance of Being Earnest, Dorian is also extremely witty, and enjoys a good banter like everyone else. What is signature to Dorian perhaps is that he is a hedonist through and through. True to Henry Wotton's teachings, Dorian devotes his entire life to pleasure. What this means is that he is open to all sorts of experience so long as it promises him pleasure in some form or another. After all, nothing he does have a lasting effect on his body. He no longer scars, he doesn't age, he doesn't fall sick either. So what is stopping him from trying out any and every known and unknown acts of deviance? Sexual or otherwise.
As mentioned before, a younger Dorian has no sense of what is right and what is wrong, like a blank slate. As an adult, Dorian becomes completely amoral. While he understands what society sees as acceptable and unacceptable, the same rules do not apply to his private life because he simply does not care. Of course, Dorian is neither stupid nor reckless enough to let everybody know anything that will get him put away and committed. He enjoys life, freedom and everything that comes along with it. Imprisonment or death is certainly not what he has in mind for himself.
[Specialties/Abilities]
Does not grow old, sick, or scars. Ever.
Plays rather decent piano.
Probably knows how to fence as well. You know, typical English gentleman stuff.
[Affection] Anything for pleasure.
[Fighting] He prefers not to.
[Other Permissions]
Just try not to mention the portrait in public? Or he will have to kill you.
[Other Facts] Will sleep with anything that's beautiful.