Chapter 11

Quote: "He grew more and more enamored of his own beauty, more and more interested in the corruption of his own soul. He would examine with minute care, and sometimes with a monstrous and terrible delight, the hideous lines that weared the wrinkling forehead or crawled around the heavy, sensual mouth, wondering sometimes which were the more horrible, the signs of sin or the signs of age. He would place his white hands beside the coarse bloated hands of the picture, and smile. He mocked the mishapen body and the failing limbs" (131).

Explanation: Here Dorian Gray is looking at the portrait of himself and at his reflection through the mirror. The narrator explicitly explains the differences that Dorian notes between the two images. The first immediate thought that comes to mind is that he enjoys looking at the differences between the images. But looking deeper into the quote one comes to the conclusion that he does not find joy from the differences of the pictures he instead enjoys the carefree pleasure that he experiences, which is shown through the contrast of the images. The images serve as a manifestation of the pleasures he enjoys without fear of reprimand: "The portrait was to bear the burden of his shame; that was all" (Wilde 109).

Quote: "For the canons of good society are, or should be, the same as the canons of art. Form is absolutely essential to it. It should have the dignity of a ceremony, as well as its unreality, and should combine the insincere character of a romantic play with the wit and beauty that makes such plays delightful to us. Is insincerity such a terrible thing? I think not. It is merely a method by which we can multiply our personalities" (146).

Explanation [opinion]: I think that canons of good society should be totally seperated from the canons of art. I agree that society should have form and structure so that everyone can easily follow it, but I disagree that it should have unreality as well as insincereity. These elements are used by authors to capture our imagination and they do this because they are so radical to us. That is what makes plays and movies so enticing, for they speak of amazing and unthought of ideas and reactions to a situation that are more likely unsuited and inappropriate for normal life. Therefore canons of society should be different and seperate from the canons of the art.

Vocab:
Sojourn: a temporary stay
"An inn that is but suitable for the sojourn of a night" (136).

Enamored: marked by foolish or unreasoning fondness
"He grew more and more enamored of his own beauty" (131).