From a psychological perspective, Dorian Gray is a brilliant exploration of the divided self. It predates Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche but maps onto it beautifully. Dorian represents the ego, trying to maintain a respectable social face. Lord Henry acts as the id, urging him to indulge every dark desire. The portrait is the super-ego, bearing the heavy, disfiguring weight of guilt, shame, and moral consequence.