Yes; he would try to be to Dorian Gray what, without knowing it, the lad was to the painter who had fashioned the wonderful portrait. He would seek to dominate him – had already, indeed, half done so. He would make that wonderful spirit his own. There was something fascinating in this son of Love and Death.
– Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Chapter 3. Lord Henry has learned of the tragic fate of Dorian’s parents – his beautiful mother eloped with a penniless man who was lured into a duel and killed, his mother dying a year later. With Dorian’s lack of family, Henry decides to step in and mold and shape him into someone of his making, just like Basil turned Dorian’s physical beauty into a work of art.