Basil also used morality as a guise by emphasizing his morals above his other qualities. Keefe says “he is merely society’s representative” (Keefe 67). This shows that society viewed Basil as a moral standard. In other ways, Basil uses his morals to hide his true admiration for Dorian. Basil claims that he “idolizes” Dorian and thus, dismisses it as a sinful inclination that must be ignored (Liebman 306). Thus, using his elevated sense of standard as an excuse. When Basil goes to see Dorian for the last time, he uses his moral inclination as a front. He tries not to admit his true feelings for Dorian and uses his morality as an excuse. Mary King says his morals precipitate his murder (King 16). This implies that his own moral inclination…show more content… This reflects on the Victorian society because they had disagreements on religion and moral values (Briggs 1). Wilde uses his Victorian background to impute his view that there is true corruption behind moral disagreement. Thus, Basil hides behind his moral standards instead of facing the challenges in front of him. For example, instead of accepting Dorian Gray as he truly was, he believes the façade of youth. Although what Basil believes to be benefiting him, leads to his sentence into eternity and shows the falsities of the Victorian Era. The murderer, Dorian Gray, uses his youth to obtain his desires in life. Although Dorian doesn’t have the chastity of Basil, he becomes very influential in those around him. His youthful appearance becomes his source of influence. Lady Gwendolyn, Sir Henry Ashton, Adrian Singleton, Lord Kent’s son, the Duke of Perth and many others all become victims of Dorian’s influence (Leibman 306). These people saw Dorian’s social mask of youth and were unsuspecting of the actual state of his soul. Although sin was unmarked on his face, his spiritual character was full of corruption and stained with sin. In chapter 12, Basil says “But you, Dorian, with your pure,
