I am perfectly happy now… It is the divinest thing in us. Don’t sneer at it, Harry… I want to be good. I can’t bear the idea of my soul being hideous.
After the first shock of consequence, Dorian tries to pivot toward goodness. The word “soul” suddenly matters; the portrait has made the invisible visible. His wish to be “good” is earnest, but it’s still tied to appearance—he hates ugliness more than he loves virtue. Wilde lets him reach for reform without the hard steps of truth-telling or repair. The line’s softness makes the coming relapse hurt more. Symbolically, beauty and goodness have traded places: the face hides, the picture speaks. Most of us have felt this moment—the desire to change without changing much.