Dorian Gray: Chapter 7

"You used to stir my imagination. Now you don't even stir my curiosity. You simply produce no effect. I loved you because you were marvelous, because you had genius and intellect, because you realized the dreams of great poets and gave shape and substance to the shadows of art. You have thrown it all away. You are shallow and stupid. My God! how mad I was to love you! What a fool I have been! You are nothing to me now. I will never see you again." (91)

• This quote reveals Dorian’s true feelings for Sibyl. He was not in love with her, as he had previously made known. He was simply in love with her stage character. Dorian had become utterly obsessed with her artistic background and found happiness through watching her graceful and charming performances. Without her wonderful performances and her ability to “mimic a passion” (91), Dorian has no reason to love Sibyl and is no longer drawn to her. This relationship is in direct correlation with the relationship between Basil and Dorian. Basil had simply wanted Dorian to be a “sitter” for his own artistic benefit. Basil became infatuated with Dorian’s ability to be painted but not exactly for his own character. It is true when Dorian expresses that once he grows old, Basil will no longer be drawn to him because all the beauty and youthfulness Dorian once had will disappear.

“It held the secret of his life, and told his story. It had taught him to love his own beauty. Would it teach him to loathe his own soul? Would he ever look at it again?" (95).

• Youth and beauty is the secret of life that is present in the portrait. Lord Henry helped Dorian come to the understanding that his youth and beauty should be cherished because it can slip away quickly; however, the painting captured his current beauty, which would be ever-present. To his surprise, the painting that had once “taught him to love his own soul” (95) had lines of age. It was now “the visible emblem of [his] conscience” (96). The portrait was aging, showing Dorian his wrongdoing and evidently encouraging him to do good. The painting forces him to face his ugly inner sinful acts while he remains physically beautiful.

Definitions:

The air was heavy with the perfume of the flowers, and their beauty seemed to bring him an anodyne for his pain” (93).

Anodyne: (noun) a medicine that relieves or allays pain

The fresh morning air seemed to drive away all his sombre passions” (96).

Sombre (somber): (adjective) gloomily dark; shadowy; dimly lighted