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1.) betwixt - (adv.) neither the one nor the other; in a middle or unresolved position (dictionary.com)

"So he set down on the ground betwixt me and Tom" (Twain 13).

2.) tanyard - (n.) An enclosure where the tanning of leather is carried on; a tannery (dictionary.com)

"He used to lay drunk with the hogs in the tanyard, but he hain't[sic] been seen in these parts for a year or more" (16).

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1.) "She told me to pray every day, and whatever I asked for I would get it. [...] I asked Ms. Watson to try for me, but she said I was a fool" (19).

This quote is a characterization of Huckleberry Finn. He is very independent and likes to strike out on his own or do the extraordinary. This is exemplified in his interest to take up smoking. He also believes in fantasy, as exemplified by the above quote. In the above quote, Huck heard that in prayer, he could get what he wanted. Yet, he did not get anything out of it, so he asked Ms. Watson to pray for him. Her reply was that he was a fool. However, Huck still is a child. Perhaps he was trying to play some game, or was led astray by his own imagination. With Huck being both independent and gullible, this be foreshadowing trouble in Huck's future. Maybe there will be a time when he needs help, but being so independent minded, he might refuse it. Perhaps his independence will lead him to follow his own imagination into trouble.

2.) "I had been to school most all the time, and could spell, and read, and write just a little, and could say the multiplication table up to six times seven is thirty-five, and I don't reckon I could get any further than that if I was to live forever" (24).

In this quote, Huck tells of his education. Later on, it would be learned that Huck's father was uneducated, and was jealous for that. Huck seems pretty pleased with his accomplishments, however, it seems that he had not accomplished much. For example, six times seven is forty-two, not thirty-five. Huck admitted soon after that he was not particularly good at math. What the reader ought to get out of this is the fact that he has at least some education. What this could mean is that he is not in such bad shape. His father was uneducated and became a drunkard. Yet, Huck has a better knowledge of what is right and wrong, as in the case during The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. In that case, he and Tom busted Injun Joe for his crimes, and got plenty of the spoils that he had stolen. With an education, perhaps Huck could afford to be independent. His knowledge would have in it some basic life skills, and he would probably know more about how to conduct his life than his father did.

Dorian Gray Essay

Andrew Goncalves

AP English – Mr. George

2/23/09

The Picture of Dorian Gray Essay

The Role of Forgiveness

            What exactly is sin?  Is it any action that makes a person feel uncomfortable?  Perhaps it is any deviation from what is right?  In the novels The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Scarlet Letter as well as the play The Crucible, there was very much a cycle of sin and redemption going about.  Characters sinned, making themselves and others around them feel badly.  Often times, the sinners would then wallow in their guilt and resolve to confess for their wrongdoings.  In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian had committed many a bad deed.  At one point, the narrator says; “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).  This quote sums up the cycle of penitence.  When someone has committed an act that is completely and blatantly against one’s own society, he is tortured by unimaginable feelings of remorse.  Vindictive deeds, such as murder in Dorian’s case, cannot be forgotten very easily.  In order to forget such deeds, one must first be forgiven by society, God, and oneself.  Only after forgiveness can a person be accepted back into society by everyone, and be able to cast aside what separated them in the first place.

            In the play, The Crucible, adultery seems to be a common theme.  Two characters committed adultery with each other, John Proctor and Abigail Williams.  In the small town of Salem during the witch trials, such acts were punishable by death.  However, both of these characters had their own ways of dealing with their sins.

            John Proctor was remorseful from the start.  Being a man of faith, he was genuinely sorry for his act of deviation.  Proctor confessed privately at first.  He took this approach at first, since he knew that his life was in question.  Yet, he realized that by publicly bearing his sin, he could take down his enemy, Abigail.  Abigail was an adulterer like Proctor.  She should have been killed early on with Proctor, but she remained alive and was accusing everyone in sight of ludicrous crimes.  When these accusations reached Proctor, he thought it in his best interest to confess publicly.  This was not only because he would take down his enemy, but also because he also realized that God was the final judge in his case, “I confess to God, and God has seen my name on this!  It is enough!” (Miller 142).  Proctor did not care what the people thought of him as a sinner, since he would only have so many years to live out on earth.  His primary concern was how well his confession would go down with God.  This is because he knew that he could live eternally without sorrow if he was forgiven by God.

            Abigail’s response is the exact opposite of Proctor’s.  Abigail attempts to conceal herself at all times.  She knows her sin will not go down well with her society, and she is afraid of confessing because of this.  Instead, what Abigail does is accuse others around her of absurd crimes in an attempt to channel any suspicion from her.  However, she was always at the center of Salem’s problems because she was the one creating them.  Having eradicated so many witches, Abigail feels that she is respected by the people of Salem for having eradicated such threats.  That further discourages Abigail from confessing, since the public guilt she would go through would be much greater if everyone knew about it.  It was within Abigail’s best interest to confess so that she could enter heaven with a clean slate.  However, she denies such actions and lives a life of lies and deceit.  She was warned that “your punishment will come in its time,” (10) but Abigail only guides her wrongdoings out of control.  She becomes a prostitute in Boston by the end of the play, a fate she could have avoided by penitence early on.  If only the people of Salem knew that such a fate were in store for Abigail.

            In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, the same act of adultery was committed by two others.  Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale were the guilty ones this time.  Hester was a lowly but rather beautiful needle worker.  On the other hand, Dimmesdale was a priest.  To commit adultery in his position would obviously subject him to “a penalty, which, in our days, would infer a degree of mocking infamy and ridicule, might then be invested with almost as stern a dignity as the punishment of death itself” (Hawthorne 47).  As always, both characters had their ways of handling their sins.

            Hester had no choice but to bear her sin publically.  Since her act of adultery bore a child, there was no way Hester could hide her sin.  She was discovered right away and was forced to wear a scarlet A on her bosom.  For years, Hester had to suffer ridicule at the hands of those around her as they saw her scarlet A.  However, Hester was not ashamed.  She knew that she was making a confession by wearing the scarlet letter, and with confession comes forgiveness.  In that way, Hester sought to live as “a living sermon against sin” (Hawthorne 59).  That is because she had visible proof that she committed a terrible act of deviation, but even still, she continued to sew a variety of items for others and donated to the poor.  Later in her life, she was even offered to remove the A, or even leave Boston, but she refused, since she would not live up to her goal of being a living sermon against sin.  In the end, Hester became a well-respected elder who taught the young to make the right choices and not to go astray.

            The case of Arthur Dimmesdale was actually similar to the case of Proctor.  Like Proctor, Dimmesdale bore his sin privately at first.  Dimmesdale was also a priest, and to admit his sin might make a mockery of the church and what it stood for.  However, he was “crushed under this seven years' weight of misery” (178) and he knew that the only way to relieve the burden was through forgiveness.  Dimmesdale tortured himself in private by whipping himself and even slashing an A of his own across his chest.  To confess meant receiving forgiveness, dying, and possibly corrupting his clergy.  With such inevitable side affects, it seemed to Dimmesdale that he might be doing more bad than good.  Dimmesdale felt forced to hold onto his sin, and even became envious of Hester who was forced to bear it, “Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret! Thou little knowest what a relief it is, after the torment of a seven years’ cheat, to look into an eye that recognizes me for what I am!” (173). In the end, as Proctor did, Dimmesdale realized that he was at fault by not seeking deliverance.  After all, God was the judge, not his superiors on earth.  Dimmesdale had plenty of his life to live after his life on Earth, because he would have eternal life with God in heaven if he confessed his sin.  In the end, Dimmesdale decided to confess.  He was old by then, and to die would not be as painful as it would be in his younger days.  He had endured enough pain by that time that he might have been used to it.  After his confession, Dimmesdale died a natural death immediately afterwards.  His timely death meant but one thing, he was blessed by God.  In his confession, God once again accepted Dimmesdale as a person, and did this by taking his soul up to heaven. 

            In the novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, a sin of a whole new kind is dealt with.  At the beginning of the book, Dorian is a young adult who is innocent and rather good looking.  He befriended a painter known as Basil Hallward who offered to paint his portrait to capture his good looks on canvas.  During one sitting, a rather uncanny friend of Basil known as Lord Henry enters the scene.  He introduces himself to Dorian, and they eventually became great friends.  What Dorian did not know was what Lord Henry was going to make out of him.

            Lord Henry asserts his view of who Dorian should be from the start.  In his first private conversation with Dorian, Lord Henry says, “A new Hedonism- that is what our century wants. You might be its visible symbol” (Wilde 25).  Lord Henry feels that Dorian is too good looking to heed to virtue.  Dorian is a very likeable person with his good looks, and Lord Henry thinks that Dorian ought to put his good looks to work.  In the beginning of the novel, Dorian starts off as a very likeable character.  Although he is quiet at first, it is Dorian’s looks that captivate those around him.  Perhaps Dorian remains silent so that he can listen to the intelligent, yet poisonous aphorisms that his friend Lord Henry had created. 

            After a time, Basil completes the portrait of Dorian that he was working on, and presents it to him.  Dorian is apparently a quick learner.  When he receives the portrait, he responds in a way that Lord Henry would, “I am jealous of everything whose beauty does not die.  I am jealous of the portrait that you have painted of me.  Why should it keep what I must lose?” (29). Suddenly, Dorian seems to have become concerned about his looks and their degeneration.  According to Lord Henry, losing one’s good looks is the same as losing one’s pleasure.  Dorian also carries on this same kind of view with his final interaction with Sybil.  Sybil had acted poorly on the night he went to the theater with Basil and Lord Henry, and Dorian’s response was, “I don’t wish to be unkind, but I can’t see you again.  You have disappointed me” (92).  Dorian failed to get pleasure from seeing his wife to be performing.  Even though Sybil tried to reason with Dorian by saying that she was meant to be with him, not to act, nothing worked.  Dorian took her poor performance to heart, and Sybil would take Dorian’s reaction in much the same way; she kills herself that night.

            Ironically, it is Lord Henry that is the one who breaks the news to Dorian about Sybil’s death.  Lord Henry was never supportive of Dorian and Sybil’s impending marriage, since his marriage would limit the amount of pride he could experience.  Dorian is devastated, and all Lord Henry says to him is, “One should absorb the color of life, but one should never remember its details.  Details are always vulgar” (105).  Lord Henry tells Dorian to take in the experience, but not the events that caused them.  Dorian takes Lord Henry’s advice well again, because later on he develops a tendency to reject his role in troublesome situations.  This is symbolized in Dorian’s act of covering his portrait that Basil painted for him.  After Sybil dies, Dorian gazes at the painting and sees that the painting’s facial expression became a crude smirk.  Dorian feels that it is linked to his part in Sybil’s death, so he attempts to mask his wrongdoing by covering it.

            Years pass, and not much is mentioned in between about what Dorian is experiencing.  It is said that Dorian is learning the ways of other cultures, studying jewels, and entertaining himself as various parties.  When Dorian at age thirty-eight is introduced, change is evident.  Dorian becomes harsh and accusing, and he loathes having to hear anything about himself.  He is self-conscious and suspicious of his surroundings.  On a foggy night, Dorian encounters Basil passing by the area, and Basil decided to talk to Dorian of his reputation.  Basil said at one point, “One has a right to judge a man by the effect he has over his friends.  Yours seem to lose all sense of honor, of goodness, of purity.  You have filled them with a madness for pleasure” (155).  Dorian then invites Basil upstairs where he shows him the painting.  Basil was shocked by the changes.  Apparently, Basil was not mistaken in saying that, “Sin is a thing that writes itself across a man’s face” (153).  Basil’s ranting about Dorian’s poor conduct eventually gets to him, and Dorian resolves his annoyance by stabbing Basil to death with a knife.

What Dorian could not simply ignore, he decided to kill.  Dorian shows little sign of change after the murder of Basil.  This is because he summons and old friend known as Alan Campbell to get rid of Basil’s body.  Alan was a skilled chemist, and Dorian felt that he could use his skills to eradicate every last atom of Basil.  This was a reckless choice, since Alan could simply tell authorities.  Surprisingly, Alan cooperates and disposes of Basil’s body.

Dorian was aware that he was in a world of trouble.  He decided to buy oblivion at an opium den, so that he might take his mind off of his situation.  At the opium den, Dorian encounters Sybil’s brother, James Vane.  James Vane swore to Sybil that if she were ever mistreated by Dorian, he would kill him.  Living up to that oath, he searches for Dorian until he spots him at the opium den.  James takes Dorian out to shoot him, until Dorian tells him to look at his face.  It seemed too young to have been an adult eighteen years ago, and James Vane sulks away.  However, his suspicions remain after he is told by two women at the opium den that Dorian had gone there often for around eighteen years.  In mad pursuit of revenge, James began to stalk Dorian until he found out the truth.

Shortly afterwards, Dorian went hunting with another friend of his known as Sir Geoffrey Clouston.  By chance, Sir Geoffrey shoots at a bush that a rabbit ran to for cover, and hears a man scream.  Later on, Dorian asks to see the fallen man, and he realizes that it was James Vane that was killed.  Eventually, news reaches Dorian that Alan committed suicide.  With all evidence against him eradicated, Dorian decided to make a change for the better. 

Dorian eventually realizes that he was rather reckless in his younger days.  With the destruction of all evidence against him, Dorian feels content.  He is quick to forgive himself, so that he may avoid the punishments he was destined to endure.  His change begins in conversation with Lord Henry, of all people.  Dorian attempts to confess that he murdered Basil, but Lord Henry does not take him seriously.  Unable to reconcile with his closest friend, Dorian feels that he has gone far enough.  If he could forgive himself, he felt satisfied.  Yet, Dorian was plagued by knowing that his soul would bear his sins after his death.  In his search for redemption, he was quick to blame his outer beauty for ruining him, “It was his beauty that had ruined him, his beauty and the youth that he had prayed for” (226). 

Dorian decided to destroy the portrait Basil painted of him.  He saw it as evidence, and it “had kept him awake at night” (228).  The painting “had been like conscience to him. […] He would destroy it” (228).  With each evil act came a blemish on the canvas.  Eventually, these blemishes amounted and made the picture so horrible that Dorian feared to look at it, or have others see it.  What he resolved to do as his final act of redemption was to destroy the conscience that held the sin.

Sin is everywhere.  Sins range in magnitude and in variety.  Yet, all sins must be forgiven for one’s soul to be at peace.  Dorian’s thoughts told him, “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).  In The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible, the sin of adultery as well as redemption were common themes.  The guilty characters all had their means of atonement.  Hester was forced to make a public confession by wearing the A, but the dark-hearted Abigail merely drew attention from herself.  Proctor and Dimmesdale both confessed for the longevity of their own souls and to defeat the purpose of their enemies.

Dorian from The Picture of Dorian Gray took a completely different approach.  Dorian at first tried to hide himself from his sins by covering the painting.  He attempts to forget his sin by entertaining himself and visiting an opium den.  Then he resolves to kill his sin by murdering Basil and his painting, the two constant reminders of his sin.  Dorian does not seek to be forgiven, but rather to remain alive for the sake of his own pleasure.  If any forgiveness was done, it was forgiveness he did of himself.  Otherwise, he sought only to “kill this monstrous soul-life, and without its hideous warnings he would be at peace” (229).  Forgiveness to Dorian was to be content with himself, not to gain the support or approval of others.  In killing his portrait, Dorian killed his soul which is what God is to judge at the end of time.  With a soul consumed by frenzied anguish, there would be only one path Dorian could take after death, the path to hell.

In order to be forgiven of a sin, a confession must be made.  Following forgiveness would come punishment.  In punishment, one endures the pain they inflicted with their own actions.  After feeling such pain, a person would be discouraged from sinning again and would be accepted back into society as a result.  To dodge even one of these steps would nullify any act of forgiveness.  With no confession, there is no forgiveness, unless by oneself.  Yet, forgiveness by the masses is far more powerful than forgiveness by an individual.  Without punishment, there is no remorse and willingness to change.  Without forgiveness, sins would be permanent and would haunt the souls of the guilty for an eternity.  Proctor, Dimmesdale, and Hester all confessed, faced their punishments, and were freed from their sins.  However, Abigail abstained from confession altogether, which stifled her chances at deliverance.  Dorian attempted confession, but confessed to the one who taught him his cynical views that led him to sin.  With pleasure on Lord Henry’s mind, he would prescribe a remedy that involved pleasure rather than pain.  Only when in pain can one truly realize that they are alive.  Dorian attempted to destroy his sin by himself, but in the process, he sinned all the more.  To destroy sin is God’s job anyways.  One must reconcile with God for forgiveness, and that is because it is God who runs heaven.  Without a moderately clean sheet, a sinner could not possibly make it through the gates.  While self-forgiveness gives satisfaction at the spur of the moment, it would only cause more pain later on, when that time to rise to heaven or fall to hell draws near.  That is why in order to be forgiven, one must tell of their sins first.

Works Cited

Miller, Arthur.  The Crucible.  New York: Penguin Plays, 1982.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel.  The Scarlet Letter.  New York: Bantam Dell, 2003.

Wilde, Oscar.  The Picture of Dorian Gray.  New York: Barnes and Noble Classics, 2003.

Witticisms

1.) Lying is like throwing a boomerang, you think you're going to get rid of the blame, but instead, it comes right back at you.

2.) Life and the universe are akin, no one is sure of where it began or where it will end.

3.) Sin is like a double-edged sword, what you do in one life is reciprocated into the next.

4.) The future is in the middle of a cloud of fog, it is too distant to be seen clearly.

5.) Jealousy is like a mosquito. It is annoying and almost instinctive. When it is inflated out of control, the damage done is most certainly an eyesore.

6.) Love is like a sloth. Sometimes, it is slow to show itself.

7.) Sin is like a tree. It starts off small but can amount to something utterly the opposite of small.

8.) Sloth is described by Newton's first law. Objects at rest tend to stay at rest.

9.) Friendships are like parties; they can be fun or can be spoiled.

10.) Deception is like a Big Mac from McDonald's, it may taste or even look good, but we never know what might really be in it.

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1.) incorrigible - (adj.) not corrigible; bad beyond correction or reform (dictionary.com)

"'Isn't he incorrigible?' cried Dorian, leaning forward in his chair" (Wilde 183).

2.) oblivion - (n.) the state of being completely forgotten or unknown (dictionary.com)

"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" (189).
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1.) "He himself could not help wondering at the calm of his demeanor, and for a moment felt keenly the terrible pleasure of a double life" (179).

This quote comes at the beginning of chapter fifteen. It is used in relation to his murder of Basil. An act as terrible as murder would be punished pretty harshly. If anyone discovered Dorian's murder of Basil, that could mean trouble for him. On the inside, his sin churns within, but he actively seeks to appear calm on the outside, as to remain unsuspecting. In Dorian's seeming youth, no one would expect him to be capable of such a hideous act as murder. His calm demeanor on the outside would further mask his identity. However, Dorian could not conceal his sin forever. He already told it to Adam Campbell, and he is likely to tell others of what Dorian did. In that way, there is not much to be achieved by concealment when he is framed to be discovered. Dorian also seeks to right the wrong he had committed, not because he cared about Basil or other's opinions, but to relieve the burden on himself that weighed him down when he tired to pacify himself. Dorian is clearly a Hedonist, all he seeks in life is pure pleasure. In order to be cured of his wrongful actions, he will first have to drop Hedonism and realize the flaws that it contains. It was through Hedonism that he sought pleasure. In spreading the empty message of Hedonism, he only ended up making a mess of many people's lives and earned himself a poor reputation that was beyond repair.

2.) "Dim and wavering as was the wind-blown light, yet it served to show him the hideous error, as it seemed, into which he had fallen, for the face of the man he had sought to kill had all the bloom of boyhood, all the unstained purity of youth" (196).

This quote comes in when James Vane finds Dorian. Some women were looking at Dorian, and he paid them to look away. After one of them called him prince charming, James Vane, who happened to be present, took notice. With the death of Sybil, James Vane swore revenge on Dorian, whose care Sybil was in. This quote is Dorian's defence. He simply asked how many years it was since Sybil died, and had James look at his face and see that it was in fact too young to have been around that long ago. In this case, Dorian's pleasure saved him. Through his good looks, Dorian receives much pleasure, as people find him young and attractive. Yet, the fact that he was good looking only encouraged him to act wrongly though, since others may regard him by his beauty and not by his actions. Dorian was horribly mistaken his entire life about that notion, but this time, it saved him. However, Dorian would be better off to die now. Dorian would die seemingly innocent. He would not have to carry the burden of his murder of Basil anymore and he would die only known for what wrongdoing people knew he had committed. He would not die with everyone knowing that he was a murderer and thus hated by everyone for it. Also, if he died when he was discovered by James Vane, Dorian's strangling influence would be over, and he and everyone would be at peace for it.

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1.) batten - (v.) to furnish or bolster with small boards or strips of wood used for various building purposes, as to cover joints between boards, reinforce certain doors, or supply a foundation for lathing (dictionary.com)

"The brain had its own food on which it battened, and the imagination, made grotesque by terror, twisted and distorted as a living thing thing by pain, danced like some foul puppet on a stand, and grinned through moving masks" (Wilde 171).

2.) leer - (v.) to look with a sideways or oblique glance, esp. suggestive of lascivious interest or sly and malicious intention (dictionary.com)

"As he did so he saw the face of his portrait leering in the sunlight" (177).
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1.) "Whatever my life is, he had more to do with the making or the marring of it than poor Harry has had" (173).

This quote comes in while Dorian convinces Alan Campbell to dispose of Basil's body. In this quote, Dorian basically blames Basil for convincing Dorian to murder him. Campbell blames the influence of Lord Henry of having corrupted Dorian, and this quote is his response to that. Lord Henry preached to Dorian nothing more than to live a life of Hedonism. In the meantime, Basil stood for the exact opposite. Basil believed in staying true to oneself as well as justice. This is exemplified when Basil asks Dorian to forgive himself for his poor decisions he made in the past. Basil even warned Dorian in the beginning that Lord Henry was a bad influence, but Dorian did not heed his advice. Yet, to a common Hedonist, what matters most is the matter at hand. Dorian is not concerned so much with the past. He has had his pleasure in the past, and now he sought pleasure in the present at whatever expense. However, Basil's meeting with Dorian only got Dorian's bad side, and he impulsively murdered Basil, since his righteousness got in the way of Dorian's pleasure. In that way, Dorian is implying with the above quote that Basil, in actuality, marred his life.

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!" (177).

This quote is stated as Campbell is disposing of Basil's body. In the meantime, Dorian glances at his portrait that Basil painted, and sees that the hand appears to be bleeding. As previously mentioned, the portrait is like Dorian's soul. It changes and becomes more hideous as Dorian's soul does. At this point, the blood on the hand can mean two things, the death of Dorian's soul and the ultimate corruption of his soul. Dorian had a past marked with reckless decisions that made him into and irritable individual. No one could stand him or his negative outlook. When Dorian got to the point of actually murdering Basil, a former friend who meant well to him the entire time, that came with serious implications. Dorian stands for Hedonism while Basil stands for righteousness. If good always wins out in the end, the victory of Hedonism over righteousness through Basil' s murder would not last very long. The fact that Basil meant well was even more striking. If one means well, anyone could perceive that. Yet, Dorian failed to do that, and instead decided to commit a horrible evil, the kind of evil that no one can escape if committed. Dorian would be plagued forever, and his soul would eventually be swallowed by the guilt he experienced. If good always wins out in the end, chances that would entail the discovery of Dorian's crime and the punishment that would ensue.

To Page 165

1.) petulant - (adj.) moved to or showing sudden, impatient irritation, esp. over some trifling annoyance (dictionary.com)

"'What is it all about?' cried Dorian, in his petulant way, flinging himself down on the sofa" (Wilde 153).

2.) debauchery - (n.) excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures; intemperance (dictionary.com)

"Did I teach the one his vices and the other his debauchery?" (155).

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1.) "'Know you? I wonder do I know you? Before I could answer that I should have to see your soul'" (156).

This quote is said before Basil is shown the picture of Dorian. Before then, Basil was at Dorian's house, telling him of terrible rumors in circulation about Dorian and his lifestyle. Dorian seems indifferent the entire time, as if hearing such things was perfectly natural. Often times, these rumors were of well-to-do individuals who were friends with Dorian but whose careers or lives were ended in terrible ways. Basil blames Dorian's pride and youth as having corrupted these individuals. Dorian gets tense while these things are said, but Basil says that it is for Dorian's own good that he gets help from the one who knows him best. Then Basil takes back how he said that he knew Dorian best by saying the above quote. It seems as if Basil may not know him at all. Yet, he felt obligated to help him because of their friendship in the past. However, Basil's wish to make Dorian use his convincing powers for good rather than evil backfires in the end when Dorian's cynicism gets to him.

2.) "'I worshiped you too much. I am punished for it. You worshiped yourself too much. We are both punished'" (162).

This quote is said by Basil after he sees the portrait of Dorian that he painted years ago. Basil asked to see Dorian's soul, and he got it through the painting. Basil was horrified at how the picture had warped in such a way that Dorian's life and influence had. Looking at the painting fills Basil with guilt. He then seeks penance by saying the above quote, but if anything, his quote was an indicator of what Dorian had in store for him. It was Dorian's youth that attracted Basil to him. Basil wished merely to capture that beauty on canvas to rever it. Basil feels as if his worship fostered Dorian's cockiness along with Lord Henry's prophesies. This is indeed true. Dorian's beauty won him many admirerers. While he was trying to lead an extravagant life, Dorian was quick to turn on his admirerers and exploit them for his own pleasure's sake, which won him his rivals. Basil also makes the point that he and Dorian are punished for their worship of youth. That is true again. Basil was punished sooner, though. While praying for forgiveness, Dorian stabbed him to death. In time, Dorian will face his punishment, because he cannot conceal Basil's murder forever.

To Page 150

1.) sordid - (adj.) morally ignoble or base (dictionary.com)

"They wondered how one so charming and graceful as he was could have escaped the stain of an age that was at once sordid and sensual" (Wilde 131).

2.) enamor - (v.) to charm or captivate (dictionary.com)

"There are few of us who have not sometimes wakened before dawn, either after one of those dreamless nights that make us almost enamored of death, or one of those nights of horror and misshapen joy, when through the chambers of the brain sweep phantoms more terrible than reality itself, and instinct with that vivid life that lurks in all grotesques, and that lends to Gothic art its enduring vitality, this art being, one might fancy, especially the art of those whose minds have been troubled with the malady of reverie" (134).

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1.) "But it appeared to Dorian Gray that the true nature of the senses had never been understood, and that they had remained savage and animal merely because the world had sought to starve them into submission or to kill them by pain, instead of aiming at making them elements of a new spirituality, of which a fine instinct for beauty was to be the dominant characteristic" (133).

This quote directly relates to Dorian's outlook on life. He seeks to study the senses so that he may exploit them for their ability to perceive the beautiful. He plans to do this by studying specimens of beauty imported from around the world. Over the next few years, he collects jewels, perfumes, tapestries, and other treasures from around the world that resemble luxury of any kind. He looks at all these things based on their face value and how exquisite they are. It is said that "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" (143). That fear that was implied was his aging, which was ultimately his loss of his beauty. Yet, he has the portrait of himself that Basil painted for him. It is described as bearing the toil of aging for Dorian, hence explaining his modes for escape.

2.) "It was remarked, however, that some of those who had been most intimate with him appeared, after a time, to shun him. Women who had wildly adored him, and for his sake had braved all social censure and set convention at defiance, were seen to grow pallid with shame or horror if Dorian Gray entered the room" (145).

This quote could be a foretaste of what is in store for Dorian. It makes mention that there are people out there who shun him. This makes sense, since his desire to indulge in every pleasure would derive competition from those striving to do the same. Yet, this pleasure has made him self-centered in the process. He rejected Sybil's death as the past and could not affect him at present. Basil thought that an outrage, yet, Lord Henry praised him. Perhaps there is not much left of the relationship between Basil and Dorian. They both stand for different values, and it seems inevitable that those values will clash at some point. As for Dorian's relationship with Lord Henry, the end may be near. Lord Henry believes in much of what Dorian believes in, and in living out those beliefs, they may come in conflict at some point. It is described towards the end of the chapter that "There were moments when he looked on evil simply as a mode through which he could realize his conception of the beautiful" (150). With such an outlook, seeing hardships in Dorian's path is quite believable.

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1.) brocade - (n.) fabric woven with an elaborate design, esp. one having a raised overall pattern (dictionary.com)

"Old brocades, green bronzes, , lacquer-work, carved ivories, exquisite surroundings, luxury, pomp - there is much to be got from all these" (Wilde 114).

2.) languid - (adj.) lacking in vigor or vitality; slack or slow (dictionary.com)

"He opened The St. James's languidly, and looked through it" (127).

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1.) "I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them" (112).

This quote comes in when Basil goes over Dorian's house and apologizes for Sybil's death. This quote is Dorian's response to Basil's apology. It seems that Dorian does not care much for Sybil's death, or perhaps he selectively forgot about it. This is a sign of Lord Henry's influence working on Dorian. Lord Henry taught Dorian to not let the little things hurt him and to live his live to the fullest. This is Dorian trying to do that, yet, the death of Sybil, who was to be his wife, is not necessarily a little thing. If Dorian keeps doing this, he will fall into trouble. He was unkind the first time to Sybil, and she killed herself. Perhaps next time Dorian is unkind, another person will end up dying. Whatever the case, Dorian must also avoid the negative coping mechanism of selective forgetting too. It creates in his mind the inability to care and the tendency to commit more wrongs.

2.) "What the worm was to the corpse, his sins would be to the painted image on the canvas. They would mar its beauty, and eat away its grace" (122).

This quote comes in when Dorian resolves to hide the painting in the schoolroom of his house. This quote was used after Dorian placed a drop cloth over it. It was ornate and beautiful, like the painting that it concealed. In this quote, it seems that Dorian's sins are responsible for the slight changes that have appeared on the painting. This quote could be a brief summary of Dorian's future. Perhaps Dorian hid the painting, since he feared that after a while, it might begin to look pretty ugly with his sins. Maybe he put it in a safe spot so that he could look at it in private, and see how his sins change it. Whatever the case might be, it gives a foretaste of what is to come, and that is that he will not have a very bright future.

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1.) lurid - (adj.) gruesome; horrible; revolting (dictionary.com)

"But you must thing of that lonely death in the tawdry dressing-room simply as a strange lurid fragment from some Jacobean tragedy, as a wonderful scene from Webster, or Ford, or Cyril Tourneur." (Wilde 107).

2.) desecrate - (v.) to divest of sacred or hallowed character or office (dictionary.com)

"A feeling of pain crept over him as he thought of the desecration that was in store for the fair face on the canvas" (109).

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1.) "'Dorian,' he said, 'my letter - don't be frightened - was to tell you that Sybil Vane is dead'" (101).

In the quote, Dorian receives a truth that must be tough to accept. According to Lord Henry, Sybil is dead. Dorian was then plunged into a guilt trip for the rest of the chapter. He was awful to Sybil the night before, and decided to make amends. Yet, before he could do so, she committed suicide by taking in poison in a dressing-room. Considering that Sybil was Dorian's wife to be, of course he would feel awful. Perhaps it was his carelessness with his emotions that got the greater of her. Lord Henry attempts to console Dorian, mostly by telling him not to get involved or by inciting thought that women are inferior to him, since he could get another very easily with his good looks. Going back to chapter five, James Vane was correct in saying, "Sybil, yo are mad about him" (72). With Dorian telling Sybil never to see him again she took him too literally. She could have waited a few hours and been forgiven by Dorian. Also, if James finds out about Sybil's death, that would mean trouble for Dorian. James vowed that if Dorian harmed Sybil, he would kill Dorian.

2.) "Conscience makes egotists of us all" (106).

This quote is a part of Lord Henry's consolation for Dorian. Hearing about Sybil's death, Dorian is deeply troubled. Yet, Lord Henry tells him not to worry, since minding one's conscience would only yield trouble for oneself. Dorian is told not to mind his sins, such as that he committed towards Sybil. That is because it would make him boastful in the sense that he can never forget his sin. It would be more like boastfulness to himself. Lord Henry takes the above philosophy and uses it many times an to achieve different purposes. For example, when Lord Henry said "A new Hedonism - that is what our century wants. You might be its visible symbol," (25) he is telling Dorian that he is to live as carefree as he wishes, as when he said that he is not to let conscience govern himself when it holds such a burden as Sybil's death.

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1.) discordant - (adj.) being at variance; disagreeing; incongruous (dictionary.com)

"Some women were laughing in the pit; their voices were horribly shrill and discordant" (Wilde 85).

2.) loiter - (v.) to linger aimlessly or as if aimless in or about a place (dictionary.com)

"After a little while he hailed a hansom, and drove home. For a few moments he loitered upon the doorstep, looking round at the silent Square, with its blank, close-shuttered windows and its staring blinds" (93).

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1.) "you have killed my love! You used to stir my imagination. Now you don't even stir my curiosity" (91).

This quote comes in after the play is done. Dorian goes backstage to see Sybil, and the above quote sums up what he said to her. Dorian is disappointed that Sybil acted so poorly. Lord Henry and Basil said that she was charming, but could not act. This offended Dorian, who said otherwise. In the above quote, Dorian is explaining to Sybil how he felt. The above quote implies that Dorian is a sensitive character. He was engaged to Sybil, yet, one poor performance by her almost changed that. This shows that Dorian has fallen under the influence of Lord Henry. Sybil was beautiful, but her acting that night was poor, which evened it out. According to Lord Henry, beauty is greater than intellect. Even though Sybil said that she could not act since she had Dorian on her mind, he was not at all flattered.

2.) "Poor child! He had been selfish and cruel to her. The fascination that she had exercised over him would return. They would be happy together. His life with her would be beautiful and pure" (96).

The above quote appears towards the end of the chapter, when Dorian is at home. When looking at the portrait that Basil painted of him, he notices an odd, cynical smirk across its face. Dorian immediately feels guilty when he sees this, because his selfishness towards Sybil would be what ended what he recognized as the greatest romance of his life. In the above quote, Dorian decides to make amends for his poor conduct towards Sybil. It is implied that there is true love between Dorian and Sybil. When couples feud, good couples would consider making amends as Dorian is. That is to sustain the bond between both individuals. In relationships, when there is no willingness to complain, wrongdoings are magnified many times over as they are committed.