The true mutual relationship, though unstated and unofficial, is between Dorian and Lord Henry, who whisked him away from Basil with his fascinating ideals and philosophies about life and love. Wilde used the language of flowers, which though was fading during the Victorian era, was still vaguely known. The language of flowers describes the meaning of various flowers. During Lord Henry’s and Dorian’s first and last meeting, where they reminisce about their first, lilacs are present or brought up in conversation. Lilacs symbolize the first emotion of love (Hansen 1195). Thus, when they first meet, they experience the first emotion of love and as the novel progresses we see their relationship develop. At the end of the novel, since they are reminiscing, it symbolizes that Lord Henry has not experience a first love emotion since he had with Dorian, which spotlights the possibility that Dorian is his true love. Lord Henry often alludes to the pursuit of desire, regardless of how it…show more content… “The real moral of the story is that all excess, as well as a renunciation, brings its punishment (Carroll 300),” says Wilde when asked about the meaning of his novel. The Picture of Dorian Gray is also said to include a biographical aspect, with each of the three main male characters representing different views of Wilde. “Basil Hallward is what I think I am; Lord Henry is what the world thinks of me; Dorian, what I would like to be in other ages perhaps,” he explains. “Dorian is beautiful, but selfish, sensual, and cruel; Lord Henry is a worldly cynic incapable of register the moral horror that leads Dorian to murder and suicide; and that Basil is enthralled by Dorian’s beauty, but appalled at the moral quality of his life.” Wilde used his literature, like all authors do, to portray his own his own “sexual, social, moral, and intellectual character” (Carroll