Windmills & Giants

So, how's the reading going? We will begin discussing the first eight chapters of Wilde's novel (The Picture of Dorian Gray, remember?) on Monday. If you did your reading at the beginning of the break, it would be a good idea to skim over it so it's fresh in your mind.
As you read (or re-read), refer to Wilde's aphorisms from the preface. How do these aphorisms apply to the characters, specifically Dorian, Lord Henry, and Basil Hallward? And what's the deal with Dorian's reaction to Miss Vane's death/suicide?
Wilde's final pithy statement in the prologue:

We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he
does not admire it.  The only excuse for making a useless
thing is that one admires it intensely.
   All art is quite useless