PODG: Ch. 9 & 10

"It often seems to me that art conceals the artist far more completely than it ever reveals him" (118).

Dorian should take heed of what Basil is saying and understand he was unnecessarily rude and condescending to Sibyl. Artists conceal themselves behind their art and Sibyl Vane did exactly that. She concealed herself behind the characters she played on stage, which is why she began to perform poorly when her personal feelings interfered with her character's feelings. Dorian had the nerve to comment on "how little [she knew] of love if [she said] it mar[red] [her] art!" (91). When Sibyl Vane was in love, it was the person behind her art that fell in love. The love Sibyl was feeling interfered with the love she was supposed to feel towards Romeo when she was playing the part of Juliet. Dorian was being ignorant towards this and could not simply value her devotion towards him. The love she felt for him was the reason why she acted so poorly. Dorian never thought of Sibyl as a person behind the characters she played, only seeing her as either Juliet, Rosalind, or Imogen. He always thought of her as "all the great heroines of the world in one" (59), who's death was "one of the great romantic tragedies of all time" (113). He could not and still cannot simply view her as a young girl, who died for love. Dorian cannot even appreciate how much she loved him. She killed herself because of him and Dorian cannot keep avoiding this fact.


"Now it was to hide something that had a corruption of its own, worse than the corruption of death itself- something that would breed horrors and yet would never die" (122).

Dorian is unwilling to better himself even though he knows "his own soul was looking out at him from the canvas and calling him to judgment" (123). Instead, he is focusing on hiding the painting so he is not burdened with the sight of it. Dorian is too ashamed to even look at it, but will not do anything to fix it. He knows he does not have a good soul, but shows no desire to improve. One would think the death of Sibyl would have made him realize what an imbecile he was. Dorian believes that "some love might come across his life, and purify him, and shield him from those sins that seemed to be stirring in spirit and in flesh" (125). Unfortunately, Dorian was too blind to see that "the gods made Sybil Vane for" (86) him and "without her [he] would have been incomplete" (86). He lost a chance at purification when he verbally attacked Sybil with his harsh words. By hiding the portrait, Dorian will physically not see his conscience, but he will still feel it inside of him. It is only going to eat him up inside. Even though Dorian hid "his soul from the eyes of men" (125), he will still carry it with him internally and feel the shame weigh him down. If the painting will "never die" (122), then it would make sense for Dorian to improve himself. With all this said, Dorian still feels that he "suffered immensely" (113).