Was Lord Henry Wotton in The Picture of Dorian Gray moral, immoral or amoral?

In a sense, this is as much a question concerning definition of terms as concerning the novel. First, the basic distinction among the terms is:

• Moral: means acting in accordance with one's own moral code or the moral codes of one's culture


• Immoral: means having a moral code or acknowledging the existence of moral norms but deliberately choosing to violate them


• Amoral: means simply not having, grasping, or acknowledging moral codes

Thus, although we might...

In a sense, this is as much a question concerning definition of terms as concerning the novel. First, the basic distinction among the terms is:

• Moral: means acting in accordance with one's own moral code or the moral codes of one's culture


• Immoral: means having a moral code or acknowledging the existence of moral norms but deliberately choosing to violate them


• Amoral: means simply not having, grasping, or acknowledging moral codes

Thus, although we might view a psychopath as immoral, in fact a psychopath would be, from his own perspective, amoral, because he would not have an internalized moral code. Lord Henry Wotton almost fits in this category.

At the start of the novel, Lord Henry Wotton proudly proclaims himself to be amoral and insists that his values are purely aesthetic, as in his aphorism:

"There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.”

In the end, however, for all its wit and charm, the novel shows that Lord Henry Wotton's amorality is in fact immoral. The monstrous Dorian Gray is not a work of art but someone who destroys the genuine great artist of the story, Basil Hallward.