Dorian Gray 9-11 What Would Lord Henry Do?

Dorian is easily influenced by Lord Henry and that becomes very apparent when Basil visits Dorian in chapter nine. Dorian seems to show no emotion regarding Sibyl's death and that is shocking to Basil. All the passion that Dorian once had for Sibyl seems to have entirely vanished and left Dorian indifferent and hollow. Dorian's sentiments seem to very similar to the absurdist philosophy of life: "It is only shallow people who require years to get rid of an emotion. A man who is master of  himself can end sorrow as easily as he can invent pleasure. I don't was to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them and to dominate them" (Wilde 79). The philosophy of absurdism encourages people to embrace the physical realm and reject the emotional. Dorian's behavior seems to mimic this philosophy, Sibyl's death does not illicit the kind of emotion from Dorian that one might expect. The night that he found out that she has died, he is out enjoying an opera and talking to other girl's. He is taking part in fun and physically pleasing activities while disregarding his emotions. Although Dorian claims that Basil taught him to be vain, I believe that he has unconsciously become even more vain with Lord Henry's influence. Dorian's behavior is a direct result of Lord Henry's influence, he does everything to please Henry and acts with Henry in mind.