The Picture of Dorian Gray Chapter 7
Lord Henry finds Sybil to be very beautiful, but her performance at the crowded theater this evening is abysmal. The three aristocrats express their abhorrence for the uncouth and obviously poverty-stricken crowd. Many patrons leave due to Sybil’s performance, including Lord Henry and Basil, but Dorian remains for the entire play. He is disgusted by her performance.
Afterward, Sibyl is oddly excited by her poor acting. She is elated, claiming that since Dorian has shown her the beauty of reality, that now she has lost her acting ability. She sees this as proof of their love. When she asks Dorian to take her away, he responds by telling her that she has killed their love and that he is now disgusted by her very presence.
Crushed, Sibyl begs Dorian to give her another chance. Coldly, Dorian simply tells her that he won’t see her again, and he leaves. He wanders the streets, not returning home until near dawn. As he passes by the portrait that Basil had given him, it catches his attention, but he continues on to his room. However, a few moments later he returns and seems to think that the picture has changed, even if only a little. He believes that he sees “lines of cruelty” especially around the mouth. He looks away, but when he looks again at the portrait, the lines seem even more prominent. He looks in a mirror and sees only his youthful, unblemished face. He then remembers what he had wished for when he stated that he’d sell his soul for the picture to age and bear the burden of his sins, while he would remain young. Still, he tries to dismiss this as impossible. Yet, the lines seem unmistakable, and he feels remorse over how he treated Sibyl. He wonders if he was cruel. But, his back-and-forth thoughts lead him to the conclusion that he left her due to her own fault. Dorian conjectures that, in fact, he’d been the “victim,” having to sit through her awful performance. Besides, she probably never even loved him, either, so he decides not to think of the matter any further.
However, while not thinking about Sibyl, he continues to worry about the portrait, believing, and understanding, that every sin he commits will show on the face in the portrait. Thus, he vows to never sin again and to use the portrait as his conscience. He decides to renounce Lord Henry’s advice, avoid his company in the future, apologize to Sibyl, and marry her after all. He then covers the portrait and leaves the house.
Analysis
Dorian’s character changes rapidly in this chapter, as he goes from a smitten lover to a disgusted man who spurns his lover, and quite cruelly at that. He later repents and decides to do the right thing, only he does so with the selfish motive of not having to see the results of his sinning. What he sees as “repentance,” and his vow to sin no more, is only evidence of the depravity of his soul, which he does not even recognize.
This chapter also presents an interesting view of the origin of art through Sybil. She explains how her artistic ability is affected when she begins to receive the things she wants from life. Sybil states that her fantastic acting talent had been borne from a state of deprivation and that her ability seemed to fade when Dorian accepted her in his life.
And while readers have probably predicted the changing nature of the portrait, we are presented with the first hard evidence of this curse.
