She was very strict with him, leading him to run away from home on at least one occasion, but was subsequently found and brought back home. He also took to keeping a journal, using it to confess his deepest feelings.īy 1879, at the age of sixteen, Dorian's aunt and uncle hired a governess, Constance Harker, to watch over him and Isadora. This forced Dorian to create his own imaginary friend, Brennan Doyle.
His was a very lonely childhood, with no friends and very little human interaction outside of his family. Shortly after Isadora's birth, Dorian's father died, the grief of his death causing his mother to suffer a mental breakdown.įollowing her commitment to an asylum, Dorian and Isadora were adopted and raised by their aunt and uncle in the family estate in Kew, London. One of Dorian's resounding childhood memories was of his mother playing Schumann's The Prophet Bird on the piano. ( The Prime of Deacon Brodie) By the time he was ten years old, his mother gave birth to his sister, Isadora Gray. Born on the 10th of November 1862, Dorian was raised by his mother and father.
