The Picture of Dorian Gray Questions: Chapter 3 (Lord Henry’s Philosophies)

Lord Henry] thought for a moment. “Can you remember any great error that you committed in your early days, Duchess?” he asked, looking at her across the table. “A great many, I fear,” she cried. “Then commit them over again,” he said gravely. To get back one’s youth, one has merely to repeat one’s follies.” (p38) Discuss the truth or fallacy of this comment by looking at Dorian’s life. What code or set of beliefs does Lord Henry live by? How does he view conventional morality and in what ways does he challenge it? Why, for instance, does he believe it is futile and wrong for the individual to resist temptation?