PoDG Character Analyses

Scott Pero

AP English—Mr. George

March 30, 2010

Dorian Gray

Dorian Gray is a narcissistic hedonist whose portrait ages for him after he is cursed with eternal youth.

Dorian is young and naïve, and on top of that, incredibly handsome. His beauty inspires his friend and artist Basil Hallward to paint Dorian’s portrait. While Basil is painting the portrait, Basil’s friend Lord Henry infects Dorian with his ideologies and witticisms, one of which is the importance and beauty and how it is fleeting. When Dorian sees the painting, he is angered that it will never age, while he does age. Dorian is obsessed with beauty, and, stemming from that, obsessed with pleasure. He would give his soul if the portrait aged while he did not, and, as he soon finds out, he got his wish: "Eternal youth, infinite passion, pleasures subtle and secret, wild joys and wilder sins--he was to have all these things. The portrait was to bear the burden of his shame" (109). Dorian sins excessively in order to attain pleasure and is not affected by any of it. His portrait, however, decays as he would normally. Dorian is also incredibly narcissistic and proud. He knows he is beautiful, and only cares about something if it pertains to him.

Dorian is like a marionette puppet. Basil acts as his maker, and Lord Henry is the puppeteer. Lord Henry leads Dorian around by his strings, telling him what to do and what to think. Dorian, the helpless puppet that he is, cannot do a thing about it except blindly accept and do what he is told. Meanwhile, Basil has had his puppet taken from him and used for a puppet show he was never intended to perform in.

Dorian and Narcissus of Greek Mythology: both are so obsessed with their looks that they lose their humanity in pursuit of it.

Scott Pero

AP English—Mr. George

March 30, 2010

Basil Hallward

Basil Hallward is an introverted artist who cares for a person that only lives to use him.

Basil Hallward is the artist that painted Dorian Gray’s portrait. He is very shy and quiet, and only seems to talk honestly with his two friends, Lord Henry and Dorian Gray. He is great friends with Dorian, and cares for him more than anything: “Of course I flatter him dreadfully. I find a strange pleasure in saying things to him that I know I shall be sorry for having said. As a rule, he is charming to me […] Now and then, however, he is horribly thoughtless, and seems to take a real delight in giving me pain” (13-14). Basil can never think anything bad about Dorian, and always wants the best for him even if Basil is hurt in the process. The only thing that matters to Basil more than his art is Dorian, because he is “the one person who gives to [Basil’s] art whatever charm it possesses: [Basil’s] life as an artist depends on him” (16). Dorian is the ultimate muse for Basil, and as such, Basil worships him. Dorian, on the other hand, could really care less for Basil after he met Lord Henry. Still, though, Basil persists until his untimely death at the hands of the very person he cared for, perhaps even loved.

Basil is like a parent caring for a young child. The parent would do anything to make sure that their child is safe from harm, and that they make the right choices. The child, however, feels that the parent is being to obsessive and becomes rebellious, lashing out at the caring parent.

Basil and Ray from The Princess and the Frog are a lot alike: they both care deeply for something that does not reciprocate; for Basil it is Dorian, for Ray, it is a star.

PoDG Witticisms

Scott Pero
AP English--Mr. George
March 29, 2010
Witticisms

"Women are like rivers one must wade through. The only trouble with water is that it cannot decide whether to tempestuously bombard you one moment or refreshingly soothe you the next."

"Art is simply a masquerade, a pretty picture masking the empty air behind it."

"Mirrors are always such a let-down. Mine always show someone I do not know."

"Rainy days are my best friends. They encourage me to catch up on sleep and keep me safe from the people I would otherwise be forced to see in the sunshine."

"A smart man looks at a paper and knows it is paper, while a genius man looks at it and knows the myriad of things he can do with it."

"To hate is to worship with reason. To love is to worship without it."

"Emotions are to the soul what muscles are to the body—their means of strength."

"Religion is simply a rule book for those who do not have their own."

"Music is the drug of the intellectual, and literature their alcohol. Society is their means of sobriety."

"Friends are the enemies you enjoy fighting with."

PoDG End of the Book

1.) "Yet it was his duty to confess, to suffer public shame, and to make public atonement. There was a God who called upon men to tell their sins to earth as well as to heaven. Nothing that he could do would cleanse him till he had told his own sin" (Wilde 228).

Throughout the entire novel, we see Dorian has concealed his sin from the world. No one knew of his monstrous portrait, and the few who did ended up dead. We see that for most of the novel, Dorian is perfectly fine with keeping his sin private, much like Abigail was in The Crucible. The difference between Dorian and Abigail, and even distinguishing between Proctor as well, as that, like Proctor, Dorian acknowledges his sin, but, different from Proctor, Dorian can actually see the consequences of his sin plainly before his eyes. Still, he chooses to ignore it. It is not harming him, so why should it matter? Toward the end, however, he starts to feel the repercussions of his actions. He makes the choice to do good, in hopes that the portrait would reverse itself. He actively wants to do the right thing. Despite the fact that he had ignored everything for the entire book, in the end he knows what to do. He knows he should confess, but he is simply unable to. No one would believe his story. It is far too preposterous. The important fact is that he knows and wants to both do good and confess. He simply does not have the means in which to do so. He may not actually confess or make his sin public, but the mere mindset of wanting to do so has to count for something.

2.) "As it had killed the painter, so it would kill the painter's work, and all that that meant. It would kill the past, and when that was dead he would be free. It would kill this monstrous soul-life, and without its hideous warnings he would be at peace" (229).

We see that Dorian has succeeded in killing himself and ending his misery. He knows that his actions do not affect him, but that they affect the portrait instead. Anything he might do to himself would probably just alter the portrait in some way and leave him unharmed. Suicide is a sin, therefore trying to kill himself would simply mar the portrait even more. The only way to kill himself is to kill the portrait. That is where his soul lies, and to finally release it, Dorian must destroy the cage that keeps it. His soul is now free to affect Dorian as it would have if he had not sold it away. This does two things. The portrait is free of Dorian's wretched soul, leaving it pure and perfect, just as it was meant to be. Dorian, however, must now take back the burden of his soul, and all the baggage that comes with it. The portrait's soul was dead long before Dorian took it back, and so Dorian was killed from the sheer severity of sin his soul had endured over all these years. So, Dorian is dead and the portrait is back to normal, but what of Dorian still? Was his end good or bad? Did he get the redemption he wanted, or was he cursed to eternal damnation. I believe the book tells us he was redeemed. Dorian sees his portrait and says that, "when that was dead he would be free," (229) and that, "without its hideous warnings he would be at peace" (229). The portrait is dead, and Dorian must no longer endure its hideous warnings. Therefore, he is free and at peace. Dorian may not have had to withstand the punishment from his actions, but his soul did. When it was reunited with him, Dorian took in all of the punishment that he had been pushing off. Dorian believed that, "There was purification in punishment" (226) and that, "Not 'Forgive us our sins' but 'Smite us for our iniquities' should be the prayer of man to a most just God" (226). Through punishment, the soul can be purified. Forgiveness leaves us with no idea of how our sin has affected us, but punishment justly redirects the sin back onto us. Dorian had endured some punishment near the end of his life, such as the burden he felt of his sins and the desire to be freed from his curse. His true punishment came when he was reunited with his soul. Through that punishment, Dorian was purified. Through his desire to be free and to do good, Dorian was redeemed.

PoDG Ch. 16-18

1.) "'To cure the soul by means of the senses, and the senses by means of the soul.' Yes, that was the secret. He had often tried it, and would try it again now. There were opium-dens, where one could buy oblivion--dens of horror, where the memory of old sins could be destroyed by the madness of sins that were new" (Wilde 189).

This is just like in Chapter 11. Dorian is using other vices to distract himself from the ones he's already given in to. By indulging in opium, he could forget everything that has happened to him. It is like the reset button on a video game. The only thing is, eventually, the same mistakes you made in the first level will catch up with you again. Dorian is looking for a clean white slate in a world full of black smudge marks. He's trying to find purity in drugs and the shady parts of town: "He wanted to be where no one would know who he was. He wanted to escape from himself" (193). His sins, especially Basil and Sibyl, are catching up with him. Those are two human lives that are no more because of his influence. Both are weighing down his conscience, and so he only wants oblivion: he wants everything to be erased and forgotten. That whole approach just seems childish to me, like he is some 5-year old. He messed up, and so now, instead of dealing with his wrongdoings, he wants a band-aid over his boo-boo and someone to kiss it to make it all better. Nothing is that easy, though. It is understandable, I guess, why he will not take responsibility for his actions. He is all about pleasure and a hedonist--nothing about responsibility would appeal to him.

2.) "Romance lives by repetition, and repetition converts an appetite into an art. Besides, each time that one loves is the only time one has ever loved. Difference of object does not alter singleness of passion. It merely intensifies it. We can have in life but one great experience at best, and the secret of life is to reproduce that experience as often as possible" (201).

Though I've never had a relationship, I think I've read and watched enough to understand this quote. When we love, we think that that love is the greatest, heavenliest thing imaginable. When that love does not work out, though, we think we did not truly love. then, when the next comes along, that love is the greatest. Hence, romance could be considered repetition. Just because it is a different love, does not mean that the severity of our passion is not any different. We still feel that same way. The last part of the quote applies particularly to Dorian: "We can have in life but one great experience at best, and the secret of life is to reproduce that experience as often as possible" (201). All Dorian tries to do is reproduce his pleasure. Dorian wants everlasting life, and so he tries to reproduce his 'great experience' as much as he can. That great experience is his youth, and so he lives as a youth, though now he should be nearly forty. He tries to act like a child, because he believes if he keeps acting like, his appetite for beauty will be quenched and he will stay beautiful.

PoDG Ch. 15

1.) "'No, I don't mean that. I didn't go to the club. I walked about. I forget what I did...How inquisitive you are, Harry! You always want to know what one has been doing. I always want to forget what I have been doing. I came in at half-past two, if you wish to know the exact time. I had left my latch-key at home, and my servant had to let me in. If you want any corroborative evidence on the subject you can ask him'" (Wilde 186).

Basil's death still haunts Dorian. Otherwise, Dorian would not be so fidgety and jumpy as he is when talking to Henry. Henry is simply asking him what he did the night before. What does Dorian do? He lashes out, turns the tables and goes on the offensive. Rather than answer the question forwardly, he complains that Henry always has to know everything about him. He equivocates, saying he forgets what he did. He goes out of his way to establish proof of what he says he did that night, as if he were being interrogated and needed an alibi. All Henry asked was if he went to the club or not. Dorian is still troubled by Basil's death. His memory is what made Dorian trip up like that. I think that murder is finally catching up to Dorian. Dorian has been able to commit a world of sin without batting an eye, but murder is an entirely new step for him that is far too much. Not only did he murder anyone, but he murdered a friend, a friend that cared about him and wanted the best for him. Basil, in turn, got a knife to the neck. I think that Dorian has been able to endure every sin up to this point: murder is the straw that broke the camel's back. Of course, this would have to concede that actually has a conscience and moral ideals, which I'm not entirely sure of. He may though, have sense enough to know the severity of his crime.

2.) "It was a small Chinese box. [...] He opened it. Inside was a green paste,* waxy in luster, the odor curiously heavy and persistent'" (188).

At the end of chapter 15, we are left with a question: what is inside the box? What is this paste that Dorian feels the need to see so suddenly? It is like he tried not to take the box out, which was hidden in what sounded like a secret compartment. Why would this be hidden, and why would Dorian hesitate to open it? The footnote at the bottom of the page gives us some insight: "*Wilde scholar H. Montgomery Hyde suggests this may be a poison or aphrodisiac drug" (188). If it turns out to be the latter, then my prediction will be completely null and void. If, however, this paste was the former, if it was a deadly poison that Dorian has hidden away in house, it may be more important. It sounds as though Dorian has been considering suicide. Before, at Lady Narborough's party, Dorian speaks of the end of the world: "'I wish it were fin du globe,' said Dorian, with a sigh. 'Life is a great disappointment'" (183). Dorian is basically saying that the world has no more interest for him. It is all one big let-down. This statement certainly does seem to exude such a pessimistic air on Dorian's part. I can not help but think of why Dorian would want to kill himself if he in theory could not be harmed. The portrait would take any wear and tear that his body would naturally go through. Any wrinkles lines age the portrait and not himself. That, though, makes sense why Dorian would want to end his life. It is the same radical concept of killing yourself when you are happiest. That way, you will leave at your happiest, and you will never be less happy. In Dorian's case, he cannot be any less beautiful than he is already, but he has already experienced everything he would have wanted. Killing himself now would mean that he would die beautiful. This is something he always wanted: immortal beauty. If he ends his life now, he would avoid the risk of his deal somehow ending too soon, or any other unforeseen detail. He could strike first before he himself is stricken down. I also think that it is a combination of this and the fact that he has murdered one of his friends that drive him to suicide. Murdering a friend is usually a big deal.

PoDG Ch. 14

1.) "'You leave me no alternative. I have a letter written already. [...] If you don't help me, I must send it. If you don't help me, I will send it. You know what the result will be. But you are going to help me. It is impossible for you to refuse now. I tried to spare you. You will do me the justice to admit that. You were stern, harsh, offensive. You treated me as no man has ever dared to treat me--no living man, at any rate. I bore it all. Now it is for me to dictate terms'" (Wilde 175).

Dorian does some serious acting in this chapter. It is interesting to note Dorian's behavior in his interaction with Alan Campbell, a spurned friend that Dorian calls for. At first, he pleads with Campbell to help him, worrying over the consequences should Dorian be found out. All the time, he acts like a damsel in distress, waving around a handkerchief for the knight to save her. After Campbell refuses to help him, Dorian completely switches gears. He turns into a completely different person, from damsel in distress to dastardly villain. He has completely switched personalities. He goes on to say he tried to spare Campbell from whatever earth-shattering threat he wrote on the paper, making himself look better while condescending Campbell.It reminds me of the quote on page 146: "Is insincerity such a terrible thing? I think not. It is merely a method by which we can multiply our personalities" (146). Dorian did not really care what happened to Campbell, did not really care about the friendship they had. Campbell is only a tool for Dorian to manipulate. Dorian exemplifies the quote because his insincerity created an entirely new personality for him to masquerade. The new Dorian is actually quite scary. He says to Campbell that, "'You were stern, harsh, offensive. You treated me as no man has ever dared to treat me--no living man, at any rate'" (175). The only other man to treat Dorian sternly, harshly, and offensively was Basil, and look what happened to him. Dorian turns Basil's death from something he fears into something he can use to coerce Campbell to help him. Dorian has had a taste for evil, and now he cannot stop.

2.) "What was that loathsome red dew that gleamed, wet and glistening, on one of the hands, as though the canvas had sweated blood? How horrible it was!--more horrible, it seemed to him for the moment, than the silent thing that he knew was stretched across the table, the thing whose grotesque, misshapen shadow on the spotted carpet showed him that it had not stirred, but was still there, as he had left it" (178).

No one likes change. It complicates things a lot of the time. People grow accustomed to the norm, the familiar, and the regular. When something changes even slightly, it can screw everything up. It is just like new seating plans in school--the perfect example. A student has grown accustomed to a certain seat. They've acclimated themselves to their spot in the classroom, gotten used to the people around them, and made that seat their own. Then, suddenly, the student is given a completely new seat. It may not seem like a big deal, but in some way, it can be frightening. It brings with it a world of new things to get used to. The new seat does not feel like the old one. The student can not see the board in the same way. The people they had just gotten used to are halfway across the room. This seat, too, will take a while to get used to. No on like changes, and people fear the new and foreign. They do not know about it, and so they fear it. This is the case when Dorian sees the portrait contrasted with Basil's body. Normally, we would consider a dead body far worse than a painting, but in this case there is something morbidly comforting about Basil's corpse. The painting, as it has for the entire novel thus far, has changed. It now shows for all to see the literal blood on Dorian's hands. Basil, though, remains unchanged. His body has stayed in the exact same spot. It has not moved at all, and has not changed. There is something comforting about the familiar. Dorian is relieved to find that Basil's body is the one thing around him that has not changed.

PoDG Ch. 12-13

1.) "'You told me you had destroyed it.' 'I was wrong, It has destroyed me'" (Wilde 161).

Dorian has gone over the edge, and it is all because of his portrait. Rather than serving as a moral guide to Dorian, it has had the adverse affect of driving him completely towards evil. Ever since it was made, Dorian has descended into a life of villainy and mischief. The more he indulged, the more his hunger consumed him, until the former innocent Dorian Gray was no more. Dorian has completely changed, so much so that his former self is gone. That former self is trapped inside the painting, and with each sin the new Dorian commits, the old Dorian suffers for. To me, that is what the painting seems to do: mock the old Dorian with the actions of the new one. These marks then drive him to continue his evil streak. The painting has driven Dorian to murder his friend, the same friend who painted the portrait in the first place, almost as if the painting has developed a mind of its own and wished to kill its creator like Frankenstein's monster: "An uncontrollable feeling of hatred for Basil Hallward came over him, as though it had been suggested to him by the image on the canvas, whispered into his ear by those grinning lips" (162). Dorian only felt this was when he saw the painting, and it seemed to come out of nowhere. Dorian no longer has a conscience. That conscience has been sealed away in the painting, and consequently tainted by evil. The painting has a mind of its own now, a mind that tortures and punishes Dorian soul while spurring him on, only so that it can keep inflicting pain onto his soul.

2.) "'What is it that one was taught to say in one's boyhood? 'Lead us not into temptation. Forgive us our sins. Wash away our iniquities.' Let us say that together. The prayer of your pride has been answered. The prayer of your repentance will be answered also. I worshiped you too much. I am punished for it. You worshiped yourself too much. We are both punished'" (162).

I don't think Dorian is even able to repent. He himself has no sins. It is his portrait that bears the sins for him. He committed them, but he does not need to repent for them. He is like the messenger. What he does has no effect on himself. He is only doing what he is told. Repentance and religion in this book is quite different from The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter. In The Crucible, the townspeople were not able to repent because they had no ritual to. In The Scarlet Letter, the we are presented with either privately or publicly bearing sins. With Dorian, he is all three combined. He publicly bears his sins in private, and cannot absolve himself of them. No one sees the portrait, but it showcases his sin visually. There is no way to rid the painting of those sins. They are forever stuck on the canvas, which is what Dorian meant when he responded that, "'It is too late'" (162) to Basil's plea. The sins have been committed, and there is nothing Dorian can do about them. In another sense, the portrait defies God. As basil says, "'Yes,' answered Hallward, gravely, and with deep-toned sorrow in his voice--'to see your soul. But only God can do that'" (156), only God can see one's soul. The portrait, however, can see the true state of Dorian's soul. Not only can it see it, but it displays it for all to see. This sounds like a slap in the face to God. Something man-made can do what before only the celestial could do. I feel like the only way for the sins to be removed from the painting is Dorian's death. that way, his soul is released, leaving the painting in its original state.

PoDG Ch. 11

1.) "He grew more and more enamored of his own beauty, more and more interested in the corruption of his own soul" (Wilde 131).

Throughout the novel thus far, we have grappled with the question as to what purpose Dorian's portrait will serve to him. Will it give him the freedom of doing whatever he likes with no negative side effects? Or will it instead serve as a moral guide, a conscience, leading Dorian down the right path? It seems as though, in this chapter, however, our question is answered with a third option. The portrait serves both purposes. It both spurs him on with his life of sin and it causes him to think critically about that life in the process. Dorian remarks at how the painting changes, and yet he stays the same: "He would examine with minute care, and sometimes with a monstrous and terrible delight, the hideous lines that seared the wrinkling forehead or crawled around the heavy, sensual mouth, wondering sometimes which were the more horrible, the signs of sin or the signs of age" (131). Dorian sees the marks that plague his portrait but do not plague him, and he delights in the fact. He sees it as his way of treasuring life, and continues what he is doing: the very things that cause the marks in the first place. In this case, it forms a vicious cycle that Dorian is caught him. He sees the wrinkles, which only cause him to cherish his own youth beauty, which in turn will allow him to continue causing the wrinkles on the painting. The picture also, however, served as a horrid reminder of his sin: "For these treasures, and everything that he collected in his lovely house, were to be to him means of forgetfulness, modes by which he could escape, for a season, from the fear that seemed to him at times to be almost too great to be borne" (142). The portrait not only allows Dorian to do whatever he wishes, but also reminds him of the consequences. Knowing the horrible aging the portrait was undergoing, fear crept upon Dorian, that his life was causing it. The portrait shows him that, and he fears for it. He sees that the consequences do not affect him, but at the same time, is worried about those consequences, and tries to occupy his time with other things to forget about them.

2.) "And, certainly, to him Life itself was the first, the greatest, of the arts, and for it all the other arts seemed to be but a preparation" (132).

This concept comes up a lot in this chapter--the concept that life itself is more important than anything else. Dorian seems to live by this. He lives as a hedonist, solely focusing on living life and the arts are nothing to compared the feeling that you are truly alive. The arts teach you how to live, which is what Dorian sees in them. The arts are like the dress rehearsal for life: by succeeding in each of them, you know you are ready to experience the final show in the best way you can. By knowing how to conduct and express yourself through acting, music, and literature, you can live a better and finer life. Dorian lives this, because, "no theory of life seemed to him to be of any importance compared with life itself" (136). Dorian sole focus is on living a full and rich life, no matter what way he chooses to live it. All of those things are just warm-ups compared to actually living one's life.

PoDG Ch. 9-10

1) "'Don't talk about horrid subjects. If one doesn't talk about a thing, it has never happened. It is simply expression, as Harry says, that gives reality to things'" (Wilde 111).

Dorian is such an airhead! He is an absolute idiot. The woman he loved just died, and here he is wanting to talk to Basil about his recent paintings. How can you get over something like that so quickly? Dorian is far too capricious. Everything in life to him does not matter, at least nothing material. He only cares about the abstract and the beautiful. It does not matter to him that Sibyl died, only that her acting had been good for a while. Sibyl was the only thing keeping Dorian innocent, somewhat. Now that she is gone, Henry has consumed him. He always speaks of Henry and of Henry's ideas. Once more, Dorian is the puppet dangling from Henry's fingers, no matter how much he thinks otherwise. He quotes him constantly, and Henry's beliefs have become Dorian's. He is helpless to change anything, he is simply putty in Henry's hands. It is actually pretty frustrating to read, because Dorian is so oblivious to it all. He is being dominated by a foul man who only cares to lead him astray, and he thinks that man is God on earth. It is utterly frustrating.

2.) "Yet he could not help feeling infinite pity for the painter who had just made this strange confession to him, and wondered if he himself would ever be so dominated by the personality of a friend" (119).

Is Dorian really so dumb? He wonders what it would be like to be dominated so by the personality of a friend. Meanwhile, Henry dominates Dorian's entire life. Henry teaches Dorian what to say, what to do, what to think. He is looking down on Basil's behavior in a somewhat condescending manner, but at the same time, Dorian is the same way with Henry. Dorian is pitying Basil, who just poured explained his deepest secret to his greatest muse, a feat that was probably very difficult for Basil to say. Not only that, but Basil's admiration of Dorian was not even explained fully: "'It was a confession. Now that I have made it, something seems to have gone out of me. Perhaps one should never put one's worship into words'" (119). One should not put their worship into words because words can never fully describe the true feelings someone may have. They may describe them to a great extent, but words can never truly capture the essence of what one feels. So, Basil did all this for Dorian, and Dorian is simply sitting there, wondering about what it would be like to admire someone so and separating Basil's situation from his own. Dorian has no intelligence, only beauty. With intelligence, someone would be able t realize what was going on around him. All Dorian has is a beautiful face, but nothing going on behind it but vanity and narcissism.

PoDG Ch. 7-8

1.) "'If this girl can give a soul to those who have lived without one, if she can create the sense of beauty in people whose lives have been sordid and ugly, if she can strip them of their selfishness and lend them tears for sorrows that are not their own, she is worthy of all your adoration, worthy of the adoration of the world. [...] The gods made Sibyl Vane for you'" (Wilde 86).

This is exactly what Sibyl does for Dorian, and she does it all through her own death. Ever since Dorian met Lord Henry, he has lived without a soul. Though he was beautiful, his life was an ugly one, until he met Sibyl. For once, Dorian was not selfish. He loved her and cared about her. He felt for the Shakespearean characters she played, and for all of her own troubles, though they were not his own. Dorian loved her. Dorian explains it perfectly himself: "'The mere touch of Sibyl Vane's hand makes me forget you and all your [...] theories'" (82). Sibyl made him a better person. He did not care for Henry's input any more, because Sibyl took Henry's place in Dorian's life. Before Dorian knew that Sibyl had died, and he still thought she was alive, he even took a stand against Henry: "'I know what you are going to say. Something dreadful about marriage. Don't say it, Don't ever say things of that kind to me again'" (101). Sibyl was Dorian's ticket out of Henry's vile grasp, hence why she was made by the gods for Dorian, as Basil put it. The gods gave Dorian beauty, but that beauty was meant to be for a certain time. Dorian, on the other hand, tried to outwit fate and traded his soul so that his portrait may age while he does not. That was going against the gods wishes. Only after Dorian makes the deal does he meet Sibyl, sent by the gods as a sort of repentance. If Dorian follows her, he will not be damned. When he forsakes her bad acting and leaves her, Dorian screwed up his chances. He took a gift from the gods and threw it in their face. Because of that, the gods took her life, as punishment. Sibyl was Dorian's one last chance at humanity, and, as Henry once said, "'what the gods give they quickly take away'" (24).

2.) "Eternal youth, infinite passion, pleasures subtle and secret, wild joys and wilder sins--he was to have all these things. The portrait was to bear the burden of his shame, that was all" (109).

So now we finally have it. The confirmation that the portrait ages while Dorian does not. Not only does the portrait age, however, it portrays the consequences of his sin. It serves as a reminder for his sins. No sin can go unpunished, and since Dorian must remain forever young and innocent, the picture must become his scapegoat. Dorian 's portrait works a lot like the down of a duck. A duck swims all day and gets wet all the time, but the water just slides off of its feathers. It's the same way with Dorian. Dorian commits the sins, but rather than affecting him, they slide off of his soul and mar the painting. In this respect, the portrait serves the function held in classic beliefs about mirrors. Many mythologies and legends state that mirrors are the gateway to the soul, that they reflect someone's true nature. This is the entire basis for the superstition that if you break a mirror, you have 7 years of bad luck--you are literally breaking your soul. In Dorian's Case, the portrait has become his soul. He no longer has one, but his portrait does. In order so that he may have the life he wanted, he gave his portrait his own life to age and deteriorate for him. I feel however, that this will rob Dorian of any feeling. If he doesn't have his soul, that he cannot feel his actions in the moral sense, only in the physical. He will indulge in pleasure, but in doing so, he will lost sight of what he is doing. Hunger will replace conscience, and appetite will replace reason. With his soul locked in the painting, he will be lost to desire.

PoDG Ch. 5-6

1.) "He was like a common gardener walking with a rose" (Wilde 69).

For a brother and sister, Jim and Sibyl are incredibly different. They're like the two opposite ends of a magnet--they're cut from the same cloth, but are totally different characters. Sibyl is more whimsical and capricious. She thinks everything should be a fairytale, and that everything will end up like the ending to a storybook. Jim, on the other hand, is grouchy and very protective of his older sister. He automatically thinks that any man who is with his sister is out to wrong her, and he wants to kill her. Perhaps this was because he was the only man in the family for sixteen years. Because there was no one around to be, he, despite his young age, had to step up. He is like Dorian in that respect. Both have ascended into a adulthood at a young age, but whether that adulthood is worthy or not remains to be seen. Still, Sibyl and Jim are complete opposites. They are Pessimism and Optimism in human form. Sibyl walks without a care in the world, yet Jim is constantly self-conscious of the glances of others. They could even be likened to beauty and genius. Beauty is exemplified in Sibyl, and its counterpart, Genius, is depicted in Jim. Beauty's capricious lifestyle is linked with genius's intellectual mannerisms, somehow, as is exemplified in this pair of siblings. Perhaps that is why Dorian falls for Sibyl. She is the representation of beauty and all that comes with it, and Dorian wishes for nothing more but eternal beauty.

2.) "'Her trusts make me faithful, her belief makes me good. When I am with her, I regret all that you have taught me. I become different from what you have known me to be. I am changed, and the mere touch of Sibyl Vane's hand makes me forget you and all your wrong, fascinating, poisonous, delightful theories'" (82).

This could pose a potential threat for Henry. Here we discover that Sibyl is the angel on Dorian's shoulder. She makes him want to do good, and to be good, and makes him happier than Henry's influence at times. Hence, because Dorian is so infatuated and affected by Sibyl, he forgets the theories and ideologies that Henry instills in him. If he does that, that Henry's entire experiment goes down the drain. Henry will have his guinea pig, but nothing to test it on. His guinea pig will be impervious to his concoctions. With Sibyl in the picture, Henry will not be able to conduct his experiment the way he wants to. His data will be forever compromised if Dorian marries Sibyl. He will never be able to influence Dorian so much if he is married. I believe this is why he tries to talk Dorian out of the marriage, at least that's what it sounds like he tries to do, after hearing what influence Sibyl now has over Dorian. Before, his intentions were not any better: "'I hope that Dorian Gray will make this girl his wife, passionately adore her for six months, and then suddenly become fascinated by some one else'" (79). Still, he wants Sibyl out of the picture, whether it is to further enhance his experiment or to prevent it from failure.

PoDG Ch. 4

1.) "'There is always something infinitely mean about other people's tragedies'" (Wilde 58).

I simply cannot fathom Henry. Not only do I find him to be a careless pompous ass, but he contradicts himself at every turn. Sure, he is only arguing the opposite of what he argues because no one but Basil can argue back, but it just does not seem right. Here, he talks about the mean things in others' tragedies, but in the last chapter he contradicted himself: "It posed the lad, made him more perfect as it were. Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic" (39). Here, Henry wanted to learn about Dorian's past and tragedies, yet twenty pages later, he tells Dorian that it was a good thing he did not ask to learn more about the tragedies of Sibyl Vane. The contradictions continue, as Henry says, "'You always come dreadfully late'" (58). Here, Henry comments on Dorian always arriving late to their arrangements, but earlier on in the same chapter, Dorian himself stated that Henry is always late: "He was always late on principle, his principle being that punctuality is the thief of time" (48). Why is Henry commenting on Dorian's faults when he himself exhibits the exact same ones? Perhaps, however, there is a deeper motive than the hypocrisy we see at first glance. Henry loves experimenting on Dorian, and morphing Dorian into a replica of himself. Henry himself comments on the nature of experimentation on others: "It often happened that when we thought we were experimenting on others, we were really experimenting on ourselves" (63). Possibly, then, by experimenting on Dorian, what Henry is really doing is tampering with how to make a new version of himself. Perhaps he is trying to rectify the faults he sees in himself in Dorian, to see what he could possibly be like if he did not have them.

2.) Human life--that appeared to him the one thing worth investigating. [...] And yet what a great reward one received! [...] To note the curious hard logic of passion, and the emotional colored life of the intellect [...] What matter what the cost was? One could never pay too high a price for any sensation" (61).

This grapples with the entire concept of the novel: Is the entire world worth one's soul? If it were possible to give up our soul and receive the entire world in return, would we do it? It is a very intriguing question. There are things we tell ourselves we would do anything for--a car, getting into a good college, the requited love of that special someone. Those are just some of things we wish for so vehemently, but would we be willing to give up our soul for it? Our soul is the very thing that makes us human. It gives us life, and it makes us who we are. So, the question is, should we give up who we are in order to obtain what we desire most? So far, Dorian has accepted this. He would readily give up his soul to remain eternally beautiful. It is what he wants more than anything. We see Henry's influence again, as in the quote on page 61, Henry himself says there is no cost too high for any sensation. Both of them feel this way, and I believe this will ultimately be their demise. To sell your soul is to give up yourself. What good is something if, when you receive it, you aren't the same person as when you wished for it? It is a cursed life. Selling your soul is much like Proctor's obsession with his name. A soul is the same way. You can only have one soul. Once it is lost, it is lost forever. You can not get it back. How do we know we even want the world? It may not be what we expect. The car could break down within its first few miles and never start again. You may get into a good college, but fail out or lose interest. That one person may love you back, but could turn on you in a minute. We are unsure of the outcome, just like Dorian and Henry. There certainly is a limit on the price of the world, because a soul, like a name, is the one thing that is truly our own. If we sell it, we would have really nothing left.

PoDG Ch. 3

1.) "Yes, he would try to be to Dorian Gray what, without knowing it, the lad was to the painter who had fashioned the wonderful portrait. He would seek to dominate him [...] He would make that wonderful spirit his own" (Wilde 40).

Lord Henry has an obsession with Dorian. Not a romantic obsession, exactly, but more like a child's obsession with a brand new toy. Henry, on his own, is very imposing. He establishes his own point of view as though it were law, and even argues for other stances for the sake of arguing. Dorian is the perfect person for him, then. Dorian is young, naive, and easily impressionable. He believes everything Henry says without question, which may explain why Henry argues his counterarguments: there is no one who argues against him. Even Basil merely says Henry does not believe what he says, not that Basil does not believe them. Lord Henry is very influential, and once he sees Dorian, he sees a new plaything in the making. It is a new chance for him to mold another in his vision, to influence someone who is easily influenced and who has never been influenced before, to our knowledge. Henry is making his own mini-me of his own design, an act he enjoys: "To hear one's own intellectual views echoed back to one with all the added music of passion and youth [...] there was a real joy in that" (39). Dorian is not the only character who is vain. Henry enjoys hearing someone else mimic his beliefs, because it tickles his ego. He was the one who taught someone so perfect how to behave a certain way. For Henry, this is all an act of pride.

2.) "'To get back one's youth one has merely to repeat one's follies.'" (44).

I think this will have a great influence on Dorian, like everything else Henry has said. Dorian is sitting only a few feet from Henry, and hears everything he says, so obviously this particular line would stick with him. Dorian is obsessed with remaining young. He dreads getting older and would give anything to not have to. Now Dorian hears Henry say that the secret to getting back one's youth is to repeat one's follies. Hence, I think Dorian will start to commit and recommit mistake, simply so that he will remain young. Henry goes on to say: "the only things one never regrets are one's mistakes" (44). It is a very devil-may-care type of attitude, which Dorian will most likely adopt. He eagerly wants to be like Henry, and contrariwise, Henry eagerly wants Dorian to be like him. If Dorian is constantly and purposefully committing these mistakes, however, the end result cannot be good. Is there not some moral or emotional backlash for willfully doing wrong? Dorian at this point probably does not know any difference between right and wrong, simply what Henry tells him. I believe that, since Henry has said this, Dorian will begin a streak of mistakes he will ultimately regret, all in the name of immortality.

PoDG Ch. 1-2 (Dorian and BASIL, Christina xD)

"'I can't quarrel with my two best friends at once, but between you both you have made me hate the finest piece of work I have ever done, and I will destroy it. What is it but canvas and color? I will not let it come across our three lives and mar them'" (Wilde 29).

There's an intricate relationship between Basil, Henry, and Dorian. Basil is a very introverted individual, his intellect his greatest asset. Henry is the wealth, and acts as such. He is very imposing, and thinks of himself more than others. Dorian is vain and capricious, and a tad emotional. The three of them make the Brains, the Bank, and the Beauty. Before Dorian, however, Henry and Basil seemed the best of friends. Every pair of real friends knows that sarcasm is an integral part of friendship. Then comes Dorian. Henry could tell that Basil was obsessing over Dorian, and as such wanted to meet him, to see the man who was distracting his friend. Now that all three of them know each other, it all goes haywire. Dorian is like the new model sports car fresh onto the market. There was a lot of hype about it, and everyone was excited to see it. And everyone who sees it, wants it. Henry is the type of person who wants the car simply because it is better than everyone else's car. It looks indefinitely better than anything else. Henry's only attraction to Dorian is because he is so unbelievably handsome. He only cares that he and he alone owns the car. Basil, on the other hand, acknowledges the car's beauty, but instead admires it for its speed, maneuverability, and the fact that he can drive better with this new car rather than his old crappy one. Basil opposes Henry in the fact that, while he knows Dorian is beautiful, his attachment to Dorian lies in the metaphysical--Dorian is the best muse Basil has ever had. He feels he is painting a god every time Dorian sits for him, and that is what Basil loves about Dorian, that he stimulates his creativity more than anything. Unlike Henry, he only cares about what Dorian wants. Rather than putting himself before others to get Dorian, Basil values Dorian's choice and puts Dorian above himself. The car has no interest for either. It is just a car, and will go with whoever buys it. Dorian seemed like he was completely attached to Basil, until he saw Henry, a new person to get excited over, kind of like a puppy meeting new people. He is too oblivious over both men trampling over each other to get to him, instead reveling in the fact that he is the center of attention. He has been great friends with Basil over the past few months, but then suddenly drops him to hang out with Henry. Now the three bay at each other's throats to try and stomp out one to spend time with the other.

DG Preface

I really liked this preface. I even caught myself smiling at one point when I was reading it. Wilde talks of art, and interpreting art. He says that those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupted, and that is a fault. There is hope, however, for those who see beauty in beautiful things. My impression of this statement was that he's addressing those who would scorn homosexuality, as Wilde himself was gay. Love is still a beautiful thing, no matter who its between, which I think is what Wilde was getting at. To see something ugly is a beautiful thing is a fault. I especially liked the part about moral and immoral books, which I wholeheartedly agree with. Books are either well written or badly written, as Wilde states. He segues into something similar to Huck Finn(I believe) about finding morality or insights in a book. In Huck Finn, Twain tells the reader not to find any insight or moral lesson in the book. This is the same thing. Like Wilde states, there is nothing beneath the surface of a book. It is simply a story. If you look beneath the pages of the book and interpret the story, you are not discovering some commentary or insight on life, you are discovering you, essentially. What you see in a book is because you see it there, not because it was made that way. It is a lot like a Rorschach ink blot test. What you see tells more about you than about the story. An author or artist may mean to do something on purpose, such as name a character a certain way or symbolize something with something else, but in the end, it is the reader who makes heads or tails of it. I really liked this idea--the idea that a story can mean what you want it to mean, as long as you see it and believe it.