PODG: Ch.11

"He had always the look of one who had kept himself unspotted from the world" (131).

Dorian Gray is giving people a false impression about himself. Internally, "he grew more and more enamored of his own beauty, more and more interested in the corruption of his soul" (131). If his soul is being corrupted and being strongly influenced by Lord Henry, then it is not fair to say that Dorian is "unspotted from the world" (131). He considers the portrait as a mere object of fascination, rather than a source of guidance. Instead of "mock[ing] the misshapen body and failing limbs" (131) in the portrait, Dorian should be startled at how hideous his soul is turning. Not only does Dorian hate "to be separated from the picture" (144), but he also is embarrassed of it. He went to the extent of finding some comfort to get rid of his embarrassment: "He would laugh at anyone who would try to taunt him. He had not painted it. What was it to him the vile and full of shame it looked? (144). Dorian also believes that "the true nature of the senses had never been understood [...] because the world had sought to starve them in submission or to kill them by pain, instead of aiming at making them elements of a new spirituality" (133). If this is so, then Dorian should take the opportunity he has and use the true nature of his senses to make "elements of a new spirituality" (133) with his painting, instead of leaving it to rot. Since he seems to know why the "true nature of senses had never been understood" (133), he can take that knowledge and fix himself by becoming a better person.


"He felt a curious delight in the thought that Art, like Nature, has her monsters" (138).

Here, Dorian is recognizing the fact that not all Art may be tasteful or perfect. He should have considered this before yelling at Sibyl. Dorian was dissatisfied with Sibyl's one performance out of the many that she performed and verbally attacked her for it, but on the other hand, he believes that "Art [...] has her monsters" (138). Why cannot Sibyl's one poor performance be considered a "monster" (138) or a flaw, instead of a complete failure? Sibyl had a valid reason behind why she did not act her best that day and even promised to do better, but Dorian was too stubborn to care. According to Dorian, Sibyl threw away the "dreams of great poets and [once] gave shape to the shadows of art" (91), but at the same time, he believes that "Life itself [is] the [...] greatest of the arts" (132). Dorian values Life as the greatest art, but he did not value Sibyl's Life when she stepped into the reality of it. Instead, he threw a fit and insulted her for doing so. Dorian's actions and thoughts do not seem to match up.