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1.) plaintive - (adj.) expressing sorrow or melancholy (dictionary.com)

"'But must we really see Chicago in order to be educated?' asked Mr. Erksine, plaintively." (Wilde 42)

2.) paradox - (n.) a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth (dictionary.com)

"'Paradoxes are all very well in their way....' rejoined the Baronet." (43)

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1.) "'I can sympathize with everything, except suffering,' said Lord Henry, shrugging his shoulders" (43).

This relates to Lord Henry's general outlook on life. Overall, he promotes a hedonistic lifestyle. In the first two chapters, he tells Dorian Gray to live his life to the fullest while he is young and beautiful. In this passage, he denounces his aunt's philanthropic efforts. After Lord Henry says the above passage, he says that suffering is too ugly for him, and that he prefers to live to enjoy life's beauties. In having these views, Lord Henry is quite mistaken. Wherever he goes, there will always be the ugliness of poverty and disease and starvation. If he wants to truly live a life where he does not have to see any ugliness, he should contribute to help exorcise it while he has money. Otherwise, visions of the ugly will continue to stand out as he sees them, and will meddle with his contentedness.

2.) "'Humanity takes itself too seriously. It is the world's original sin. If the caveman had known how to laugh, History would have been different'" (43-44).

This quote is a continuation of Lord Henry's views. His aunt said that it was the responsibility of the wealthy to contribute some of their money for the betterment of society. The above quote was Lord Henry's response. He is basically saying that people burden themselves more than they need to and are making themselves feel responsible for things they did not cause. That is a rather liberal view to take, since he is saying that the problems of society lay in how the cavemen dealt with them. Yet, Lord Henry is missing the boat once again. In their time, cavemen did not have these kinds of problems such as poverty, disease, or starvation. They did not mind such things, anyway, since they lived their lives trying to provide for themselves. Though they promoted the "survival of the fittest" way of life that would eventually cause the problems of the future, the cavemen had no control over it. They did not have the intelligence to see into the future to see what their actions mat amount to in the long run either.