The Picture of Dorian Gray #1

When the reader meets Harry and Basil in the first chapter of The Picture of Dorian Gray, the two men are foils as they see beauty in opposite ways. This is evident in the way both men speak of Dorian Gray. Basil sees beauty as strictly physical, particularly that of Dorian. Basil's view correlates with the fact that the first time Dorian's name is mentioned, it is Basil who refers to his "good looks" (3). Basil most values beauty as a physical property, and it appears to be the attribute that he values most in Dorian.  In contrast, Harry knows Dorian only by his "beautiful nature" and does not even expect Dorian to have physical beauty at first (10). Harry sees beauty as an attribute of character rather than one of the body, the opposite of the opinion of his painter companion. The two ways in which these men see Dorian's beauty represent the two schools of thought regarding beauty that Wilde presents in the first chapter of his novel.