Question 5 - Lord Henry and the next dinner party

After the ending what would you expect Lord Henry to say at the next dinner party?

"Strange what occurred at Dorian's home, isn't it? By the way, have any of you seen Dorian Gray?"
belva

I suspect he wouldn't mention it because by becoming both ugly and dead, Dorian ceased to be of interest to him. Not a collectable, no longer corruptable.

I suppose that would depend on how the authorities and media were spinning it. If they claimed it was Dorian, or some mysterious unknown man.

If it was Dorian that was dead, he probably wouldn't speak of him, as NeverStopTrying stated. Think of Basil, and how there was 1-2 sentences exchanged between Dorian and himself. However, he may become obsessed, as he does, with how he retained his youth and then lost it at death.

If it was a mysterious unknown man lying on Dorian floor with Dorian missing, then he might ponder it more publicly for a short time--when asked. Again, it would be like Basil, and just a curious incident that just is.

Later, I think he might use Dorian's fame and exploits as stories to gain new 'friends' and entertain them/corrupt them/amuse himself.

I suppose it all depends on whether he knew exactly what had happened. How far did the story spread? What were the rumours? What did the police do? I can envisage #2 and #3 depending on the circumstances, but it's hard to imagine how things would have played out.

For some reason, when reading the book, I had the feeling that Harry was the devil incarnate and that he knew everything all along. So at the next party he might just be on the lookout for the next victim.
--BJ

I like your thinking billiejean. I don't think Henry would bother to mention it in any more than a passing way - he'd have much more exciting things to talk about and more beauties to corrupt.

I don't know if any of you have seen the movie Ghost Ship, but the basic premise is that the souls of people who do sinful things are collected to be given to the devil. Henry reminds me of the character that collects the souls, he does everything in his power to corrupt people all so he can get what he wants.

I like your thinking too, billiejean. He might mention the curious tableau found in Dorian's attic, but mainly in passing, as an item of gossip already yesterday's news. I can picture him looking for his next victim, too.