SOURCE: Nassaar, Christopher S. “Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray and Lady Windermere's Fan.” Explicator 54, no. 1 (fall 1995): 20-24.

In the following essay, Nassaar views the four male characters in Lady Windermere's Fan as versions of the protagonist of The Picture of Dorian Gray.

In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian develops from childlike innocence to a state of serious depravity in four states. The first stage is when he is still twenty and posing for Basil Hallward. Here he is the innocent young man who has not yet come in contact with evil. The second is when he is in love with Sibyl Vane. At this state evil has entered his life, but he is still largely innocent. The third is what might be called the “limited corruption” stage. Basil and Wotton become the opposing forces within him. Although he clearly leans toward Wotton, he is still balanced...