Dorian Gray: Chapter 11

“The more he knew, the more he desired to know. He had mad hungers that grew more ravenous as he fed them” (Wilde 132).

• Before meeting Lord Henry, Dorian had a childlike innocence to his nature. His optimistic view of the world was inspiring and he was not interested in questioning things around him. Upon Lord Henry’s arrival into Dorian life, Dorian changed drastically to the point where others began to notice: “You talk as if you had no heart, no pity in you. It is all Harry’s influence” (112). Lord Henry is responsible for instilling this malevolent yearning for knowledge within Dorian. When obtaining more knowledge, Dorian would begin to gain a better understanding of how to deceitfully go about living with his secret. The more he learned, the more he felt his ravenous desire increase; just as “everyone knows that the sexual appetite, like our other appetites, grows by indulgence” (Lewis 97).

"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"(Wilde 143).

• Lord Henry gave Dorian a book that has caused him to become extremely obsessed with it. The book encouraged Dorian to take up hobbies in various things, completely devoting himself to each one. His hobbies included studying art, studying perfumes, dedicating himself to music, and studying jewels. By taking up new hobbies, Dorian could escape from the thought of the horrid portrait that displayed his rotting soul. However, these projects proved unsuccessful in distracting him. His sins and aging did not reflect on his face but he was forced to grapple with his wrongdoing regardless of his newfound hobbies because the portrait had become a part of him: “He hated to be separated from the picture that was such a part of his life” (144).

Definitions:

“Of the asceticism that deadens the senses, as of the vulgar profligacy that dulls them, it was to know nothing” (134).

Profligacy: (noun) shameless indifference to moral restraints


“Of such insolences and attempted slights he, of course, took no notice, and in the opinion of most people his frank, debonair manner… were in themselves a sufficient answer to the calumnies (for so they termed them) that were circulated about him” (145).

Calumny: (noun) a false and malicious statement designed to injure the reputation of someone or something