Chapter 1.

"Upon my word, Basil, I didn't know you were so vain; and I really can't see any resemblance between you, with your rugged, strong face and your coal-black hair, and this young Adonis, who looks as if he were made of ivory and rose-leaves  Why , my dear Basil, he is a Narcissus, and you-well, of course, you have an intellectual expression, and all that.  But beauty, real beauty, ends where an intellectual expression begins.  Intellect is in itself a mode of exaggeration, and destroys the harmony of any face.  The moment one sits down to think, one becomes all nose, or all forehead, or something horrid... Your mysterious young friend, whose name you have never told me, but whose picture really fascinates me, never thinks.  I feel quite sure of that.  He is some brainless, beautiful creature, who should be always here in winter when we have no flowers to look at, and always here in summer when we want something to chill our intelligence.  Don't flatter yourself, Basil; you are not in the least like him."

This passage is key because of the great characterizations it leaves the reader with.  Harry, the speaker, juxtaposes Basil and Dorian Gray.  Basil is associated with ruggedness and Intellect while Dorian Gray is associated with rose-leaves and Beauty. Harry explicitly states in his lines that Beauty ends when Intellect comes in.  The idea that two cannot exist together serve as a foreshadow and lead the reader to believe one of the two, Beauty and Intellect, has to give in. 

Characterization of Harry is achieved as well.  We see through the syntactical structure of Harry's words and his biased diction, the kind of person he is.  For instance, when he is describing Basil's intellect he says, "Why , my dear Basil, he is a Narcissus, and you-well, of course, you have an intellectual expression, and all that."  Placing the additional "and all that" at the end of the line shows Harry's almost-contempt for intellect.  Harry also describes Intellect as "an exaggeration" that "destroys," and leaves "horrid" things.  This kind of negative diction differs greatly from the flattering diction Harry uses to describe Beauty like "harmony" and "flowers." Even in describing the dull Dorian Gray, Harry's respect for Beauty is shown in his calling Dorian Gray, a "beautiful brainless creature."  There is a nice "b" consonance here. Also, his repetition in the line, "But Beauty, real Beauty" and his including mythological allusions like "Adonis" and "Narcissus" express his thoughtfulness and reverence of the concept of Beauty.  We see that Harry sees Beauty as higher than Intellect, and we also see his honest and blunt nature through his easily insulting a close friend.  The reader can infer that Harry might be a good character to depend on for characterizations and truth.

Besides characterizations, the passage also brings up the flower motif.  Throughout this first chapter, various kinds of flowers are mentioned frequently, and in this passage alone, "rose-leaves" and "flowers" are brought up; both times they are used portray a delicate and beautiful Dorian Gray.  I believe the significance of using flowers as a symbol for Dorian Gray is the fact that flowers are so ephemeral, they do not last.  This is supported by the way Oscar Wilde frequently has Harry plucking daisies in between lines, has him say that flowers are only present in the summer, and has Basil mention that a flower is an easy decoration when tucked in a coat.  Something that adds to the flower motif, is the name Basil.  It's quite fitting that Basil, who represents Intellect, has a name with the denotation: an herb or vegetable, and Dorian Gray, Beauty, is symbolized is by a flower.  In terms of beauty, herbs tend to pale beside flowers, and if the two types of vegetation had brains, I would imagine herbs to be the smarter of the two.