"What you have told me is quite a romance, a romance of art one might call it, and the worst of having a romance of any kind is that it leaves one so unromantic"(Wilde 14).
Lord Henry is speaking to Basil about love. The way Basil speaks about his art is comparable to having a romantic relationship. Lord Henry prefers to take a cynical view when it comes to love. While one is in love, all that person can see or feel is love. They get caught up in it. However, when someone falls out of love, or love leaves them, they are left heartbroken. Having your heart broken leads one to blame love for what happened. This makes it harder to be accepting of love in the future and makes turns people to be unromantic.
"And Beauty if a form of Genius--is higher, indeed, than Genius, as it needs no explanation. It is of the great facts of the world, like sunlight, or springtime, or the reflection in dark waters of that silver shell we call the moon. It cannot be questioned. It has its divine right of sovereignty. It makes princes of those who have it"(24).
This is another quote from Lord Henry. He believes that Beauty is greater than intelligence and should be held higher than any other quality. Lord Henry says that Beauty is greater than even Genius because thoughts and ideas, especially highly intelligent ones, must be explained. However, Beauty does not need any explanation and in its simplicity, not needing an explanation is far greater than Genius needing to always be clarified. The smarter something is, the more it needs to be explained to the common man. However, Beauty is seen and understood by all. Lord Henry believes that since Beauty without clarification is revered by all it is a quality that is to be above the rest. Those who are beautiful receive all of the reverence thought of when Beauty comes to mind.
"I think that would be a rather nice excuse: it would have all the surprise of candor"(31).
Candor: The state or quality of being frank, open and sincere in speech or expression
"They rose up, and sauntered down the walk together"(26).
Saunter: To walk with a leisurely gate; to stroll
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