The Picture of Dorian Gray Chapter 4
A month later, Dorian passes the time waiting for Lord Henry by discussing music with Lady Henry, in the Henry Library. Lady Henry seems to be a complete polar opposite of her witty husband as she awkwardly flirts with the waiting Dorian, who finds her to be rather clumsy and untidy. When Lord Henry arrives, he complains about how much time he spent trying to purchase a piece of expensive fabric. He complains that “... people know the price of everything and the value of nothing." Then, when Lady Henry leaves, he complains about the disappointments of marriage. Dorian then excitedly tells Lord Henry about the new love he has met, a sweet girl named Sibyl Vane, who is an actress in a seedy theater in London.
Dorian explains that, following Lord Henry’s advice to know everything about life, he’d entered the theater while exploring a slum area. He quickly decided that she was the finest actress he’d ever seen, and after seeing her perform a number of times, in different roles, he met her. She was smitten by Dorian’s handsome look, giving him the name, “Prince Charming.” And while Dorian speaks glowingly of Sibyl, it becomes apparent that he seems to care little about her personality or character, but only about her acting ability. Her status as an actress along with her proficiency seems to be all that Dorian really loves about her.
Lord Henry is intrigued, and the two men decide to go to the theater together the following evening to see Sibyl perform in, “Romeo and Juliet.” Plans are made for Basil to join them as well, upon which Dorian mentions that Basil has given him the now-framed portrait.
After Dorian leaves, Lord Henry ponders the ways that he has influenced Dorian. He then goes to dinner, and upon his return, he gets a telegram. The message from Dorian informs Lord Henry about his engagement with Sybil.
Analysis
Dorian’s character is developed further in this chapter. However, we see that while Dorian appears to be behaving independently, he says things that hint that he has been influenced by Lord Henry’s “guidance.” He repeats things that Lord Henry has said, and acts accordingly. Even his bold move of meeting a girl seems trivial and shallow, in line with Lord Henry’s advice to live Hedonistically.
Dorian’s shallow “love” for Sibyl is problematic from the beginning. He is blinded by his affection for her acting ability, and cannot recognize that this is not really true love. Dorian is already becoming a hollow soul, making poor decisions. He is careless with Sibyl’s heart. While she is pure and sweet and appears to love Dorian, he has no misgivings about manipulating her with his whimsical idea of marriage. His love is deeply flawed, an early indication of a deeply flawed character.
