Lord Fermor ("Uncle George") - Lord Henry's uncle provides background information on Dorian Gray.

Margaret Devereux - Dorian's deceased mother is remembered in an account by Lord Fermor.

Duchess of Harley - a lady of admirable good-nature and good temper, much liked by every one who knew her, and of those ample architectural proportions that in women who are not duchesses are described by contemporary historians as stoutness

Sir Thomas Burdon - a Radical member of Parliament, who followed his leader in public life and in private life followed the best cooks, dining with the Tories and thinking with the Liberals, in accordance with a wise and well-known rule.

Mr. Erskine of Treadley - an old gentleman of considerable charm and culture, who had fallen, however, into bad habits of silence, having, as he explained once to Lady Agatha, said everything that he had to say before he was thirty.

Mrs. Vandeleur - a perfect saint amongst women, but so dreadfully dowdy that she reminded one of a badly bound hymn-book.

Lord Faudel - a most intelligent middle-aged mediocrity, as bald as a ministerial statement in the House of Commons, with whom she was conversing in that intensely earnest manner which is the one unpardonable error, as he remarked once himself, that all really good people fall into, and from which none of them ever quite escape.

Why lord henry wanted to know Dorians background

"I always like to know everything about my new friends, and nothing about my old ones."

Inordinate - unusually or disproportionately large; excessive

Taint - a trace of a bad or undesirable substance or quality

Humbug - deceptive or false talk or behaviour

Lucrative - producing a great deal of profit

Travail - work especially of a painful or laborious nature

Dwelt - live in or at a specified place

Facile - ignoring the true complexities of an issue

Stoutness - the quality of being fat or of heavy build

Plaintively - sounding sad and mournful

Astray - away from the correct path or direction

Timidly - in a manner that shows a lack of courage or confidence

Seething - filled with or characterized by intense but unexpressed anger

Expound - explain the meaning

"Humanity takes itself too seriously. It is the world's original sin. If the cave-man had known how to laugh, History would have been different." Chapter 3, pg. 46

Lord Henry is referring to the seriousness that the nobility have when it comes to solving problems. He is constantly questioning the Victorian society that he lives in. He suggests that they appeal to science in order to set everything straight, because emotion does nothing except lead you off course. He believes that advancing technology will relieve the emotional debts that society has put on them.

Lady Victoria Wotten - Lord Henry's wife.

Picturesque - (of language) unusual and vivid. (of a place or building) visually attractive, especially in a quaint or charming way.

Abstruse - difficult to understand; obscure

Esprit - the quality of being lively, vivacious, or witty

Servility - an excessive willingness to serve or please others

Lethargy - a lack of energy and enthusiasm

Munificent - characterized by or displaying great generosity

Misshapen - not having the normal or natural shape or form

Turbid - (of a liquid) cloudy, opaque, or thick with suspended matter. Confused or obscure in meaning or effect.

describe it (chap 4 pirma nodala)

Clodian - Claude Michel, lived in France (1738-1814) sculptor, his work represented rococo style

Clovis Eve (1565-1634) lived in france, was an artist bus mainly was a bookbinder

Louis Quatorze (1643-1715)  king of France (The Sun king)

Victoria tried to look picturesque, but only succeeded in being untidy, silly laugh

straw coloured hair - (blonde)

Henry (“My dear boy, no woman is a genius. Women are a decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly. Women represent the triumph of matter over mind, just as men represent the triumph of mind over morals.”)

(there are only two kinds of women, the plain and the coloured. The plain women are very useful. If you want to gain a reputation for respectability, you have merely to take them down to supper. The other women are very charming. They commit one mistake, however. They paint in order to try and look young. )

Mr Isaacs - described in flagrantly racist terms

anti-Semitism was thriwing in 19th century England as well as in much in the rest of the Europe

Dorian says about Sybil: “Well, I can’t help going to see Sibyl play,” he cried, “even if it is only for a single act. I get hungry for her presence; and when I think of the wonderful soul that is hidden away in that little ivory body, I am filled with awe.”

Henry: Certainly few people had ever interested him so much as Dorian Gray, and yet the lad’s mad adoration of some one else caused him not the slightest pang of annoyance or jealousy. He was pleased by it. It made him a more interesting study. He had been always enthralled by the methods of natural science, but the ordinary subject-matter of that science had seemed to him trivial and of no import. And so he had begun by vivisecting himself, as he had ended by vivisecting others. Human life—that appeared to him the one thing worth investigating.

How Henry defines Dorians love - His sudden mad love for Sibyl Vane was a psychological phenomenon of no small interest.

CHh 1-3 Lord Henry was the center of attention, but in Ch 4 Dorian begins to take over, Dorian starts acting independently on Lord Henry, but he is still much under Henrys influence.

Dorian has fallen in love with Sybil's performances

Dorian's ambition is not to build a relationship, but to develop a star, if Dorian has learned nothing else from Lord Henry, he has learned the joy of manipulation. He wants to become Sybil Vanes' agent, not her husband.

Dorian's first love is so flawed with selfishness and manipulation - which indicates the emerging dark side of his nature.

Mrs. Vane's attitude is more realistic and down-to-earth. She wants her daughter to think of her career. The situation is complicated by the fact that the Vanes owe Mr. Isaacs fifty pounds, a good deal of money, as Mrs. Vane points out. On the other hand, Mrs. Vane is willing to consider marriage for Sibyl if it turns out that Dorian is wealthy.

Sibyl has all the idealistic enthusiasm of an innocent seven-teen-year-old. In one of Wilde's more effective metaphors, he says that the "joy of a caged bird was in her voice." Sibyl does not want to hear about Mr. Isaacs or money. What is money compared to love? She wonders only what "Prince Charming" sees in her. The Vanes still do not even know Dorian's name.

Sibyl's sixteen-year-old brother, James, who is about to sail for Australia, enters the room. He is very angry — toward London, toward England's class system, toward the life that he lives.

Mrs. Vane feels ill at ease around her son, fearing that he might suspect some secret that she keeps. Sibyl, however, is even more girlish, sweet, and innocent around her brother. Lovingly calling him "a dreadful old bear," she is delighted that he will go for a walk with her in the park on his last afternoon at home. For his part, James is very protective of Sibyl and repeatedly warns his mother to watch over the girl in his absence.

During their walk in the park, James is brooding and angry; Sibyl dreams of "Prince Charming" and fantasizes aloud, in a somewhat childlike manner, about the great success that her brother is to be.

James hates the "young dandy" who is courting his sister, hates him the more because he is a "gentleman." He warns his sister that the man wants to enslave her and repeatedly threatens to kill the "gentleman" if he does Sibyl any wrong. James is especially angry when Dorian suddenly passes through the park in an open carriage, but only Sibyl actually sees him. James is also angry with his mother. At the theatre one night, months before, he had heard "a whispered sneer" about her.

After James and Sibyl return from their walk, he confronts his mother. He wants to know if she and his father were actually married.

The crude situation reminds the melodramatic Mrs. Vane of a bad rehearsal. She simply says, "No." James accuses the father of being a scoundrel. Mrs. Vane defends the man, now dead. She knew that he was "not free" when she got involved with him. He would have taken care of her and the children had he lived. He was, after all, a "gentleman." James insists that Sibyl never be told about the father and notes that his sister's suitor is another "gentleman." He repeats that he will track down Sibyl's "gentleman" caller and "kill him like a dog" if he wrongs the girl, a threat that becomes very important later in the book.

Mrs. Vane - A woman with a secret past, she considers the practical side of her daughter Sibyl's relationship with "Prince Charming." Has bismuth-whitened hands, faded, tired-looking woman.

Sybil Vane - "joy of a caged bird was in her voice." Sibyl does not want to hear about Mr. Isaacs or money. What is money compared to love? She wonders only what "Prince Charming" sees in her.

James Vane - Sibyl's large and brash brother is very protective of her. He vows to kill anyone who harms Sibyl. ( Young lad with rough brown hair, he was thick-set of figure, and his hands and feet were large and somewhat clumsy in movement, he was not so finely bred as his sister.

The difference between youth and age is made clear and vivid in this passage. Youth is innocent and happy, while age is difficult and unyielding. The sense that life is repeating itself and especially its tragedies—as hammered home by the vague tragedy involved in Sybil's parent's attachment—taints the whole scene with a tone of coming tragedy.

Appearances create the dynamic of the family. Sybil is protected because of her pale, innocent beauty and Jim is made to feel self-conscious. As visual descriptions rule, so does the need for art, and Mrs. Vane curates her home like a stage, removing the reality and the maternal atmosphere.

Mrs. Vane’s unease around her son Jim is strangely unexplained, leaving their relationship and the scenes where they are alone together quite ominous. Jim’s sense of the danger Sybil could be in and strong desire to protect her establishes him as someone to be reckoned with, and also sets up the expectation that somehow Dorian will end up on Jim's bad side. It's interesting to note that the Vanes are the only family portrayed in the novel, and they are somewhat of a disconnected and dysfunctional bunch.

Sybil is the picture of innocence as she walks along, blindly devoted to Dorian whom she barely knows. A link is made between beauty and innocence. Sybil, young and beautiful, is contrasted vividly with her plain, more grounded brother, who seems to have more experience of life’s trials.

Sybil is open, not hiding anything, she has become the symbol of purity that Dorian used to be. In a way represents everything that Dorian covets, youth and eternal life, which she achieves through in her roles on stage. Art gives a kind of immortality.

The near sighting of Dorian only serves to increase the anticipation surrounding him and the importance of his visual appearance. Jim's threats of violence continue to raise the stakes should anything go wrong between Dorian and Sybil. Sybil sees love as making her experienced, but Jim shows his experience in his cynicism about it working out.

The women in the novel are caught between two extremes. They are, like Sybil’s mother, stuck in their social class, or like Henry’s friends, unhappily married and scorned for being too clever. The repetition of life’s hardships recalls Henry’s view that one should relive mistakes. It also forebodes further tragedy to follow as the cycle continues. Just when we see some sympathy and human connection between Mrs. Vane and her son, the preference for art and the drama of the moment transforms Mrs. Vane back into her stereotype.

to speak of espial - (espial-uncovering, the act of spying, spotting)

daubed - covered

tableau - scene

querulous / querulously - petulantly, crossly, angrily looking for a fight (querulous - strīdīgs)( querul - ķilda)

affluence - wealth, fortunate

morose - grumpy, depressed, unhappy or annoyed and unwilling to speak, smile, or be pleasant to people

content - willing to accept something; satisfied

placid - calm, quiet

stateliness - dignity, grandeur, a formal, impressive quality, style, or appearance, or a formal, slow movement, cēlums, cēli.

stern - serious, harsh, bargs, ass attieksmē

to be accustomed - to be used to, familiar with something and accept it as normal

heiress - a woman or girl who will receive or already has received fortune from another person, when that person dies, mantiniece

ill-fitting - baggy / clothes of the wrong size or shape for the person wearing it

inquisitive - nosy, questioning, curious

sulkily - gloomily, crossly, refusing to smile or be pleasant to people, usually because you are angry about something.

enthrall - captivate, charm, mesmerize, fascinate

nugget - a small chunk or lump of a substance

grotesqueness - odd or unnatural in shape, appearance, or character

frowning - showing disapproval, displeasure with eyebrows

hoarse - (of a person's voice) sounding rough and harsh

supercargo - a representative of the ship's owner on board a merchant ship, responsible for overseeing the cargo and its sale

withered - shrunken or wrinkled from age or disease

dandy - man who places particular importance upon physical appearance

furrow - a line or wrinkle on a person's face

lash - strike or beat with a whip or stick

sneer - a contemptuous or mocking smile, remark, or tone

enthrall - capture the fascinated attention of

sullenly -  in a way that shows irritation, ill humor, or gloom; morosely

surpass - exceed; be greater than

oppressed - subject to harsh and authoritarian treatment

panting - breathing with short, quick breaths; out of breath

shudder - shake, quake, tremble

shabby - in poor condition through long use or lack of care, (of behavior) mean and unfair

devouring - eating food or prey hungrily or quickly

tattered - old and torn; in poor condition

desolate - (of a place) uninhabited and giving an impression of bleak emptiness, feeling or showing great unhappiness or loneliness

drudge - a person made to do hard menial or dull work

James goes to Australia to work on the farm.

He wants to make money to take Sybil and his mom off the stage, he hates that they play in the theater.

The absence of Dorian and Lord Henry in this chapter.

This chapter has quite an important function because it introduces and describes characters and sets up events that will be developed later in the story.

Sybil's innocence; it is hard to find another character in the book as sweet or wholesome as Sybil, and she is no match for the sophisticated world of Dorian and Lord henry.

James is the adventurer, he's eager to see the world but at the same time has some kind of danger about his anger about class distinction and we can suspect that something is going to happen in the next chapters.

Mrs. Vane is the fallen woman, with a crusty exterior but a good heart, ill treated by a privileged white man.

Basil is genuinely upset by the news of Dorian's engagement. At first, he is incredulous, stating that Dorian is much too sensible to do such a foolish thing. Lord Henry, with a typically paradoxical aphorism, says, "Dorian is far too wise not to do foolish things now and then, dear Basil." He adds that Dorian is engaged, not married; that the girl apparently is beautiful, which Lord Henry views as one of the highest virtues, and that he himself does not approve or disapprove of this situation or any other. Lord Henry explains that life is not for making such judgments. Every experience is of some worth, he suggests, and Dorian may be more interesting even if he does marry — provided, of course, that he finds a good mistress in six months or so. The problem with marriage is that it often makes people unselfish, according to Lord Henry, and unselfish people lose their individuality. The purpose of life is to know oneself. Marriage may get in the way of that, but it does not have to.

When Dorian arrives, he is giddy with love. The previous night, Sibyl played Rosalind (in Shakespeare's As You Like It) and was mesmerizing as she transported Dorian from the dingy London theatre into the world of the play.

Backstage after the performance, the lovers unexpectedly kissed, and Sibyl, trembling, fell to her knees and kissed Dorian's hands. They are engaged — and will marry even if Dorian must wait until he is of legal age in less than a year. Significantly, Dorian ends his recollection by stating, almost boasting, that he has embraced Rosalind and "kissed Juliet on the mouth," repeating his identification of Sibyl with the characters that she plays.

Basil is overwhelmed. Lord Henry, on the other hand, behaves like a shrewd lawyer and asks at what specific point the word "marriage" was mentioned. It is his contention that women usually introduce the term, however subtly, when things get sufficiently cozy. In short, women propose to men even though the man may not realize it.

In this case, apparently he is right. Dorian is upset at the insinuation and asserts that it was not a "business transaction." True, there had been no formal proposal. He told the girl that he loved her, and she responded that she was "not worthy to be my wife." To Sibyl, the situation was tantamount to a proposal to her. Dorian goes so far as to state that he regrets everything that Lord Henry has taught him. Certainly Lord Henry's cynical, egocentric world is no place for Sibyl. In a statement of one of the major themes of the novel, Lord Henry submits that being in harmony with oneself is a key to life, echoing the tenet of Aestheticism that calls for the individual to make of his own life a work of art.

It is time to leave for the theatre. Lord Henry and Dorian leave together, as they did at the end of Chapter 2; Basil follows them separately in another carriage. The artist feels that Dorian will never be the same to him again.

Isolation, selfishness and the refusal of a traditional lifestyle are the messages of Henry’s speech. Henry’s care is for the spectacle of Dorian’s marriage, whether happy or not. He is making a show of Dorian’s life.

The layers of costume covering the real Sybil and Dorian’s affections is almost confusing. Dorian is attracted to the romance of Shakespeare. There is an unreality to the scene between him and Sybil. Again, art provides an ideal and not a reality. And through Sybil, Dorian feels himself kissing art.

Dorian’s happiness is mocked and undermined by Henry, but it is impossible to tell Henry off, because he doesn’t believe in morality in the same way as the other characters. Life and riches and trips to the theatre have given Henry a well-developed sense of good taste..

to retain - continue to have (something); keep possession of

contempt - disregard, despise, a strong feeling of disliking and having no respect for someone or something

to be of age - adult and legally responsible for one's actions

orchard - a planting of fruit trees, nut trees, or sugar maples

meditative - philosophical, deep in thought, giving your attention to one thing as a religious activity or to relax

incorrigible - not able to be changed or reformed

discord - conflict, disagreement between people

a prig - a person who is arrogant, overly precise, smug

highwayman - a thief who robs travelers

jerkin - a sleeveless jacket

flaunt - display (something) ostentatiously, especially in order to provoke envy or admiration or to show defiance

irrevocable - not able to be changed, reversed, or recovered; final

brougham - a horse-drawn carriage with a roof, four wheels, and an open driver's seat in front

The reason we all like to think so well of others is that we are all afraid for ourselves. The basis of optimism is sheer terror. We think that we are generous because we credit our neighbor with the possession of those virtues that are likely to be a benefit to us.

Discord is to be forced to be in harmony with others. One’s own life—that is the important thing. As for the lives of one’s neighbors, if one wishes to be a prig or a Puritan, one can flaunt one’s moral views about them, but they are not one’s concern.

The painter was silent and preoccupied. There was a gloom over him. He could not bear this marriage, and yet it seemed to him to be better than many other things that might have happened.

A strange sense of loss came over him. He felt that Dorian Gray would never again be to him all that he had been in the past. Life had come between them…. His eyes darkened, and the crowded, flaring streets became blurred to his eyes. When the cab drew up at the theatre, it seemed to him that he had grown years older.

Basil about sybil

Basil: "I hope the girl is good, Harry. I don't want to see Dorian tied to some vile creature, who might degrade his nature and ruin his intellect.

Basil about Dorian's affair with Sybil

Basil: "It would be absurd for him to marry so much beneath him.

It is some silly infatuation.

Henry about marriage Laulība kā sabiedrības atspoguļošana stenda ref

The real drawback to marriage is that it makes one unselfish. And unselfish people are colourless. They lack individuality. Still, there are certain temperaments that marriage makes more complex. They retain their egotism, and add to it many other egos. They are forced to have more than one life. They become more highly organized, and to be highly organized is, I should fancy, the object of man’s existence. Besides, every experience is of value, and, whatever one may say against marriage, it is certainly an experience.

Dorian about marriage

My dear Harry, I did not treat it as a business transaction, and I did not make any formal proposal. I told her that I loved her, and she said she was not worthy to be my wife. Not worthy! Why, the whole world is nothing to me compared with her.’

An irrevocable vow.

Dorian about Sybil

When she came on in her boy’s clothes she was perfectly wonderful. She wore a moss-coloured velvet jerkin with cinnamon sleeves, slim brown cross-gartered hose, a dainty little green cap with a hawk’s feather caught in a jewel, and a hooded cloak lined with dull red. She had never seemed to me more exquisite. She had all the delicate grace of that Tanagra figurine that you have in your studio, Basil. Her hair clustered round her face like dark leaves round a pale rose.

Sybil is simply a born artist.

When you see Sibyl Vane you will feel that the man who could wrong her would be a beast, a beast without a heart.

Basil about Dorian's attitude to marriage

He is not like other men. He would never bring misery upon any one. His nature is too fine for that.’

Henry about women ( basically hates women)

Women, inspire us with the desire to do masterpieces, and always prevent us from carrying them out.’

Dorian about women

They create Love in our natures. They have a right to demand it back.

Women give to me men the very gold of their lives.

Henry's opinion on pleasure.

Pleasure is Nature’s test, her sign of approval. When we are happy we are always good, but when we are good we are not always happy.

Dorian is more disgusted than embarrassed by Sybil's acting. Lord Henry and Basil leave, as does half the audience, but Dorian sits through the entire play.

In the greenroom after the play is finished, Sibyl seems overjoyed at her dismal performance and expects Dorian to understand that she can no longer act because she has found true love in real life. She intended to be outstanding, she says, but because Dorian has taught her "what reality really is," she no longer can believe in the fake world of plays. She asks Dorian to take her away so that they might begin their life together.

Dorian's response is cold and filled with disgust: "You have killed my love," he mutters. He loved her because she was a great performer, he says. Now he finds her "shallow and stupid" and can barely stand her.

Sibyl is distraught. Apologizing for her bad performance, she pleads with Dorian to give her another chance. Sobbing, she falls to the floor and begs him not to leave her. As she cries hysterically, she begins to recount her brother's threat to kill anyone who harms her, but she shakes off the thought, reminding herself out loud that the threat was just a joke.

Dorian is annoyed with Sybil and tells her that he cannot see her anymore. Abruptly, he leaves. Dorian wanders the streets until near dawn and then returns home. Passing through his library toward his bedroom, he notices the portrait that Basil painted of him. He is startled and puzzled, but he goes on into his bedroom. He begins to undress but pauses and returns to the library to look at the portrait. To Dorian, the face in the portrait has slightly changed, taking on a look of cruelty around the mouth. Going to the window, he sees a bright dawn. He looks again at the painting. The "lines of cruelty round the mouth" are still there, even more clearly than before. Looking at his reflection in a mirror, Dorian looks fresh and youthful. Suddenly he recalls the wish he earlier made at Basil's studio, that he might remain the same while the picture took on the "lines of suffering and thought," the various signs of corruption and age that Dorian's life might bring him. He thinks that such a wish could never be fulfilled. Surely it is impossible.

Still, there are the cruel lines about the mouth in the portrait. Dorian begins to wonder if he really has been cruel to Sibyl. However, he convinces himself that he is not to blame for the situation. Sibyl is to blame because she disappointed him and made him endure the three painful hours of her terrible performance. Eventually, he convinces himself that Sibyl hadn't really loved him, and he concludes that he needn't be concerned about her at all.

Dorian is more concerned about the changed portrait than with Sibyl. It occurs to Dorian that every sin he commits will be reflected in the face on the canvas. He vows never to sin again so that the painting, like himself, will never change. He vows to use the portrait as his conscience; the danger of hurting the portrait will keep him from committing sins. He will refuse to see Lord Henry or at least will ignore Lord Henry's "subtle poisonous theories." He will return to Sibyl, apologize, and marry her. He pulls a screen in front of the painting and walks outside. The chapter ends as Dorian repeats Sibyl's name into the dawn.

Fawn - crawl, creep.

Bepaint - to paint; to cover

Elocution - the skill of clear and expressive speech

Shabbily - in a way that looks untidy and in poor condition

Ungainly - awkward; clumsy movement

Callous - showing or having an insensitive and cruel disregard for others

Conveyed - transported or carried

Unbecoming - not flattering

Interminable - endless or apparently endless

Titter - give a short, half-suppressed laugh; giggle

Profanation - saying or doing something terribly offensive

Sham - counterfeit, fake

Anodyne - a painkilling drug or medicine

Disdain - consider to be unworthy of one's consideration

Huddled - crowd together

Jest - speak in a joking way

Defiled - damage the purity or appearance of; mar or spoil

Disused - no longer being used

Draggled - dirty or wet

Piazza - a public square or marketplace

Portico - a structure consisting of a roof supported by columns at regular intervals

Trappings - a horse's ornamental harness

Untarnished - not spoiled or damaged

Aeon - an indefinite and very long period of time

Amends - make minor changes to (a text, piece of legislation, etc.) in order to make it fairer or more accurate, or to reflect changing circumstances.

Callousness - insensitive and cruel disregard for others

Fleck - a very small patch of colour or light

Loathe - to dislike greatly

Marred - impair the quality or appearance of; spoil

Wrought - made or fashioned in the specified way

Before play: Shy grace, startled eyes. When she acts you forget everything, beyond all living things.
2. She is quite beautiful, but she can’t act. (Thinks she’s ill)
3.Never to have an emotion that is unbecoming.
4. They are both simply forms of imitation. But Love is a more wonderful thing than Art.

Dorian's narrative supercedes all others in the novel and from now on it will be his story, not Lord Henry's

The novel becomes more dynamic because Dorian's character grows, it changes, while Henry's remains unchanged.

The change in Dorian's character is very dramatic.

When he met Sybil he was just like a dedicated lover, then in a few short pages he becomes a disgusted critic.

He is a heartless deserter, contrite sinner.

He is finally a lover rededicated to Sybil.

He fears hurting himself and the portrait, reason why he rededicates himself back to Sybil.

His honor is selfishness.

Chapter 7 introduces an element that will reoccur throughout the story. (The changing of the portrait)

Portrait symbolizes the state of Dorian's soul and spirit.

Faust theme arises again.

Find how Dorian characterizes Sybil's acting. 85

"When she acts, you will forget everything. These common rough people, with their coarse faces and brutal gestures, become quite different when she is on the stage. They sit silently and watch her. They weep and laugh as she wills them to do. She makes them as responsive as a violin. She spiritualizes them, and one feels that they are of the same flesh and blood as one’s self."

How did Sybil's acting seem to Dorian's friends? 87

Yet they felt that the true test of any Juliet is the balcony scene of the second act. They waited for that. If she failed there, there was nothing in her.

She looked charming as she came out in the moonlight. That could not be denied. But the staginess of her acting was unbearable, and grew worse as she went on. Her gestures became absurdly artificial. She overemphasized everything that she had to say.

Lord Henry: “She is quite beautiful, Dorian,” he said, “but she can’t act. Let us go.”

Hallward: “My dear Dorian, I should think Miss Vane was ill,”

What is the secret of remaining young? 88

The secret of remaining young is never to have an emotion that is unbecoming.

What does Henry say about love and art? 88

Love is a more wonderful thing than art.

How would you illustrate the event's/action taking place in chapter 7? (Draw a picture)

(One of the wolfs is unhappy, one is amused)

Later, Dorian wonders if his portrait has really changed like he thought. Surely not, he thinks of the portrait, hidden behind a screen. Finally, when he builds up his courage and looks at the portrait, he sees that the portrait has changed, just as he remembered. He speculates on the cause, fearing a "terrible reason."

The altered portrait forces Dorian to acknowledge his cruelty to Sibyl Vane. It is a "symbol of the degradation of sin" and will serve as his guide, his conscience. He composes a long letter to Sibyl in which he accuses himself of madness and begs her forgiveness. As he finishes writing the letter, Dorian feels absolved of his cruelty to Sibyl.

Lord Henry knocks on the library door and insists on speaking to Dorian. Lord Henry seems unusually consoling but advises Dorian not to dwell on the situation concerning Sibyl, which he explains is "dreadful" but not Dorian's fault. He asks Dorian questions about the previous night: Did Dorian meet Sibyl backstage? Was there a scene? He is pleased when Dorian says that he is not sorry for what happened.

Dorian, however, continues. He is not sorry because the matter has taught him a lesson. He tells Lord Henry of his plans to make amends and marry Sibyl.

Lord Henry, quite agitated, interrupts and asks if Dorian received his letter. Dorian admits that the letter did arrive but that he has not opened it. Lord Henry then tells Dorian the contents of his letter: Sibyl Vane is dead.

Dorian is in shock but asks to hear the whole story. Lord Henry reports that the death was clearly not an accident. About half-past midnight, Sibyl and her mother were leaving the theatre. Sibyl excused herself, saying she had left something upstairs. When she did not return, the people at the theatre checked and found her on the floor of her dressing room, dead from ingesting poison.

Lord Henry is concerned with keeping Dorian out of the scandal. He asks Dorian to spend the evening with him at the opera so that the unpleasantness of the suicide does not get on Dorian's nerves.

Lord Henry need not be concerned for Dorian's nerves. Dorian admits that he murdered Sibyl, "murdered her as surely as if I had cut her little throat," but he continues to say, in a detached manner, that the whole affair seems too "wonderful for tears." Instead of feeling remorse over Sibyl's death, Dorian muses that his first love letter was written to a dead girl. Within only a few seconds, he concludes that Sibyl's suicide was very selfish of her; it leaves him without the guidance that marriage to her might have provided.

Lord Henry offers several glib comments on marriage and specifically on what a disaster this marriage would have been. Dorian wonders why he "cannot feel this tragedy" as much as he thinks he should and wonders if he is heartless. The death of Sibyl seems like "a wonderful ending to a wonderful play" to Dorian. Lord Henry, "who found an exquisite pleasure in playing on the lad's unconscious egotism," is pleased to extend the simile. He assures Dorian that he is not heartless; the experience has been like a brilliant play, and Dorian should regard the whole matter as if he were a spectator at the theater.

Lord Henry approves that he is living in a century when "such wonders" as Sibyl's death could happen. When Dorian interrupts that he was "terribly cruel" to Sibyl, Lord Henry assures him that women "appreciate cruelty, downright cruelty, more than anything else."

Dorian confesses that he has felt everything that Lord Henry has said but was afraid to admit it, even to himself. Assured by his mentor that his "extraordinary good looks" will present him with a rich life, Dorian thanks the older man and calls him his "best friend."

After Lord Henry leaves, Dorian checks the portrait, which has not changed since earlier in the day. Apparently the portrait registers events as they happen. Dorian wishes that he could actually observe it changing. For a moment, he feels remorse toward Sibyl, but he brushes the feeling away. Vowing to go on, seeking "eternal youth, infinite passion, pleasures subtle and secret, wild joys and wilder sins," he briefly considers praying that the spell of the portrait be broken. However, he rationalizes that the spell is not his to control. Besides, who would not want eternal youth? He decides to enjoy the situation: "Not one blossom of his loveliness would ever fade." He again covers the painting with the screen. Within an hour, he has joined Lord Henry at the opera.

gilt - cover thinly with gold, golf plated

chime - a melodious ringing sound, as produced by striking a bell

sanguine (labyrinth) - optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation

perplexed (amazement) - confused, very puzzled

inquest - a discussion or investigation into something that has happened, especially something undesirable

to be wretched - in a very unhappy or unfortunate state

eternity - infinite or unending time

asphodel - flower, lily family plant, symbolizes the dead, afterlife and the underworld.

console - comfort (someone) at a time of grief or disappointment

to wear mauve - of a pale purple colour

conjugal felicity - a happy marriage

lurid - presented in vividly shocking, sharp or sensational terms

haggard - looking exhausted and unwell, especially from fatigue, worry, or suffering

cognizance - knowledge or awareness, izjūtas

winsome - charming, attractive or appealing in a fresh, innocent way

desecration - the act of treating something sacred or formal and dignified in a sacrilegious or disrespectful way

Courteously - in a polite way

Reparation - the action of repairing something

Lull - calm or send to sleep

Imploring - making an earnest or desperate appeal

Self-reproach - regret

Vanity - self-love

Incoherence - the quality of being illogical, inconsistent, or unclear

Stagnation - the state of not flowing or moving

Emancipate - to free from restraint, control, or the power of another

Felicity - intense happiness

Reed - a weak or impressionable person (or a tall grass family plant)

Wearily - with extreme tiredness

Enamoured - be filled with love for

Feigned - simulated or pretended; insincere

Loathsome - causing hatred or disgust; repulsive

Winsome - attractive or appealing in a fresh, innocent way

Leaden - dull, heavy, or slow.

Unison - simultaneously

But by the end of the chapter Dorian has dedicated himself entirely to the pursuit of pleasure and sin.

He throws away the last scraps of his conscience and becomes a completely selfish being.

Dorian goes to the opera with Lord Henry and he doesn't feel protective of the portrait.

Phrases used by Dorian concerning Sybil's death | Phrases used by Henry concerning Sybil's death
“So I have murdered Sibyl Vane,” said Dorian Gray, half to himself, “murdered her as surely as if I had cut her little throat with a knife. Yet the roses are not less lovely for all that. The birds sing just as happily in my garden. She had no right to kill herself. It was selfish of her. And yet I must admit that this thing that has happened does not affect me as it should. It seems to me to be simply like a wonderful ending to a wonderful play. It has all the terrible beauty of a Greek tragedy, a tragedy in which I took a great part, but by which I have not been wounded. He views the whole affair as a splendid artistic experience. Henry wants to protect Dorian's reputation and wants him to move on with his life." Don't let this thing get on your head." "I am glad I am living in a century when such wonders happen. They make one believe in the reality of the things we all play with, such as romance, passion, and love.""The girl never really lived, and so she has never really died. To you at least she was always a dream, a phantom that flitted through Shakespeare’s plays and left them lovelier for its presence, a reed through which Shakespeare’s music sounded richer and more full of joy."

Carefree attitudes that Dorian and Lord Henry display in this chapter caused many people to accuse Oscar Wilde of writing an immoral book when "Picture of Dorian Gray" was first published.

Henry has been referred to as Harry since chapter 7.

Harry in Greek mythology is the Devil.

What is Dorian's perception of conscience?

How does Dorian characterize himself acting during their final meeting with Sybil?

Then came that dreadful night—was it really only last night?— when she played so badly, and my heart almost broke. She explained it all to me. It was terribly pathetic. But I was not moved a bit. I thought her shallow.

What words does Dorian use to say about their whole affair?

According to Henry, what is the charm of the past?

The one charm of the past is that it is the past. But women never know when the curtain has fallen. They always want a sixth act, and as soon as the interest of the play is entirely over, they propose to continue it. If they were allowed their own way, every comedy would have a tragic ending, and every tragedy would culminate in a farce. They are charmingly artificial, but they have no sense of art.

Dorian is bored and indifferent about Sybil. He tells Basil that Sibyl's mother has a son but that he has no idea how the woman is faring. Beyond that, he wants no more talk of "horrid subjects." Instead, he asks about Basil's paintings.

Basil is astonished at Dorian's indifference. He asks Dorian how he could attend the opera while Sibyl Vane lay dead but not yet buried. Dorian tries to interrupt. Echoing his mentor, Lord Henry, he observes that a person who is "master of himself can end a sorrow as easily as he can invent a pleasure."

Basil continues, saying that Dorian's attitude is "horrible." He accuses Dorian of having no heart and blames the change in Dorian on Lord Henry's influence.

Dorian retorts that he owes "a great deal" to Lord Henry, more than he owes to Basil, who "only taught me to be vain." Basil sadly responds, "Well, I am punished for that, Dorian — or shall be some day," a major foreshadowing of events to come in the novel.

Basil is even more distraught when he learns that Sibyl's death was a suicide. Dorian, however, again echoes Lord Henry by calling Sibyl's death "one of the great romantic tragedies of the age." Besides, Dorian points out, he did grieve; however, he recalls, it soon passed. He repeats a self-serving anecdote about his own life and concedes that he has indeed changed. He admits that Basil may be "better" than Lord Henry, but the latter is stronger. Basil, he concludes, is too afraid of life.

The subject turns to art. Dorian asks Basil to make a drawing of Sibyl, and Basil agrees to try making the portrait. More importantly, he asks Dorian to sit for him again. That would be impossible, says Dorian. Basil then asks to see the portrait because he now plans to exhibit it in Paris.

Dorian is horrified that Basil wants to exhibit the portrait; he fears that his secret would be revealed to the whole world. Dorian reminds Basil of his promise never to exhibit the portrait and asks why he has changed his mind. Basil explains that he didn't want to exhibit the portrait for fear that others might see his feelings for Dorian in it. Since that time, he has come to the conclusion that "art conceals the artist far more completely than it ever reveals him," and that he doesn't fear others seeing the portrait. Basil finally agrees not to exhibit the portrait and leaves.

At the end of the chapter, Dorian marvels at how he was spared from telling his own secret and, instead, managed to manipulate his friend into telling his secret. He vows to keep the portrait hidden away forever.

Dorian - manipulative (doesn't admit his secret to Basil, feels pleasure at having manipulated the situation)

Sorrow - sadness, grief, mourning

Divinely - by God or a god / beautifully

Sordid lodging - dirty or filthy room rented out, apartment.

To console; consolation - comfort (someone), mierināiums

Ennui - boredom, fatigue (apnikums)

Martyrdom - exaggerate, pretend suffering in order to get sympathy (martyr - moceklis)

Crude - simple, clumsy, primitive

Varnish - resin dissolved in a liquid for applying on materials (laka)

Beads of perspiration - covered with small drops of sweat

To be on the brink of (something) - you are just about to do it or experience it (būt uz kaut kā robežas)

Peril - serious and immediate danger, hazard, risk.

The character development of:

Dorian | Basil
Dorian doesn't want to bring back bad memories.He wants to forget or to see the tragedy from an artistic point of view.Basil about Dorian: "You were the most unspoiled creature in the whole world. Now, I don't know what has come over you. You talk as if you had no heart, no pity in you."Dorian about Sibyl: "Her death has all the pathetic uselessness of martyrdom, all its wasted beauty."Dorian threatens his and Basil's friendship."I'm a man now" ~ DorianHe shows himself to be fully immersed in his new life of selfishness and manipulation.Is simply pleased to be adored by Basil.His decision to hide the painting reveals his commitment to a life of vanity and self gratification.Can't fully enjoy his life, because he fears that his painting will be discovered. | Basil feels miserable not being able to find Dorian.Expresses his sorrows towards Sibyl's mother.

From Mrs. Leaf, Dorian wants the key to his old schoolroom, a spacious attic area. Mrs. Leaf wants to clean the schoolroom before Dorian sees it; Dorian finally secures the key and sends Mrs. Leaf away. Dorian locates a piece of richly-colored fabric with which to cover the portrait. Ironically, the fabric previously had been used to cover coffins, and Dorian contemplates that it will now conceal the death and degeneration of the portrait. For a moment, he wonders if he should have confessed his secret to Basil after all and asked his assistance in escaping Lord Henry's influence. He realizes that Basil could have saved him from the sins he will surely commit, but he decides that it is "too late now." The future looks inevitably bleak to Dorian.

Dorian covers it just before Victor returns with the movers. Dorian is suspicious of Victor, worried that he may discover the secret of the portrait and blackmail him. He sends the servant on another errand to get him out of the house, carrying a note to Lord Henry requesting reading material and reminding his mentor of dinner plans that evening. Mr. Hubbard arrives with a rugged-looking assistant, and the two men carry the painting up the stairs to the schoolroom.

When Dorian reaches the attic, he is flooded with childhood memories and regrets having to leave the portrait there to decay. However, the attic is the most secure and private place for it because Dorian has the only key to the room. He briefly considers that his nature might improve and that the evil already lurking in his soul may pass. Even so, the portrait will age, and Dorian hates the hideousness of growing old. He continues with his plans to conceal the portrait.

After the movers leave, Dorian locks the door to the schoolroom and goes down to the library. Victor has already returned, leaving Dorian's tea and, from Lord Henry, a note, a well-worn book bound in yellow paper, and a newspaper. In the newspaper, Lord Henry has marked an article regarding the inquest into the death of Sibyl Vane. Dorian finds the article about Sibyl's death horribly ugly, and he frets that ugliness makes things seem too real. He is annoyed with Lord Henry for marking the article, which Victor may have noticed. Still, he reasons that he shouldn't worry about Victor reading the article because he did not kill the girl.

Dorian finds the book more interesting. He begins reading, and in a short time he is engrossed by it. The book tells a story in which the sins of the world seem to be passing in review before him. Fascinated by this novel with no plot and only one character, he reads until Victor reminds him of his appointment with Lord Henry. Finally, Dorian dresses for dinner.

When Dorian meets Lord Henry at the club, Lord Henry seems quietly pleased — and not at all surprised — that Dorian should like the book that he sent to him.

Art vs. Life.

garrulous - talkative

coverlet - bedspread, blanket

embroidered - decorated with patterns sewed (izšūts)

defile - damage purity or appearance

inveterate - habitual, firmly established by long persistence (nelabojams)

bestial - cruel

impecuniosity - having very little or no money usually habitually : penniless

bulky - taking up much space

sodden - wet

malady - a disease or disorder of the body or mind

flaccid - soft and hanging loosely or limply

cadence - a modulation of the voice, beat (tonis)

existence - objective reality, a way of living

"It was the strangest book that he had ever read. It seemed to him that in exquisite raiment, and to the delicate sound of flutes, the sins of the world were passing in dumb show before him. Things that he had dimly dreamed of were suddenly made real to him. Things of which he had never dreamed were gradually revealed."