Dorian Gray Chpt 8

“the portrait that Basil Hallward had painted of him would be a guide to him through life” (99).

After the portrait of Dorian Gray was made, Dorian’s only wish was that, “the picture could change, and I could be always what I am now!” (29). After returning home from the play Romeo and Juliet, Dorian realized a change in the portrait of himself, it showed a cruelty around his lips. The cruelty around his lips appeared because of the cruel words he spoke to Sibyl, and shortly thereafter, Sibyl passed away. Dorian finds the fact that this portrait obtains the ability to read his soul as useful: “this portrait would be to him the most magical of mirrors […] it would reveal to him his own soul” (110). In reality, there would be no surprises and no excitement if everything were open for us to see. Sometimes the best thing in life is learning how to deal with stuff on your own.


“Someone has killed herself for love of you. I wish that I had ever had such an experience. It would have made me in love with love for the rest of my life” (105).

Lord Henry has a very different perspective on this situation than most. Most would refer to this situation as tragic, but Harry believes that if the woman he loved killed herself over him, he would be flattered. As seen throughout the novel thus far, Harry is not very fond of women in the romantic sense. Harry believes that women serve one purpose and one purpose only, sex. Harry even told us about how he left a girl because she was prepared to sacrifice the world for him. Apparently the world isn’t enough for Harry, all Harry wants is for a life to be sacrificed for him.

Opiate
–noun
1. a drug containing opium or its derivatives, used in medicine for inducing sleep and relieving pain.
2. any sedative, soporific, or narcotic.
3. anything that causes dullness or inaction or that soothes the feelings.

“There were opiates for remorse, drugs that could lull the moral sense to sleep” (100).

Labyrinth
–noun
1. an intricate combination of paths or passages in which it is difficult to find one's way or to reach the exit.
2. a maze of paths bordered by high hedges, as in a park or garden, for the amusement of those who search for a way out.
3. a complicated or tortuous arrangement, as of streets or buildings.

“to find his way through the sanguine labyrinth of passion through which he was wandering” (100).