Dorian Gray 14-16

Dorian Gray has completely enveloped in a life of crime. He appears to be a charming, young aristocrat to everyone he meets in public however, within the confines of his home he murders, blackmails and lies. Dorian does not have to deal with the guilt that comes with the horrible choices that he has made because the painting wears his sins. When he he begins to feel haunted by regret and shame he remembers what Lord Henry told him: "'to cure the soul by means of the senses and the senses by the means of the soul'" (Wilde 135). Dorian decides on visiting an opium den as a means to curing his soul through his senses. Although this may seem like a cure to the evil deeds he has done, he is only temporarily escaping from his problems. By slipping into a sedated and detached state, he is able to fill the void in his soul created by the horrendous crimes he has committed... but only for so long.