chapter 7

Quote: "There were no signs of any chnage when he looked into the actual painting, and yet there was no doubt that the whole expression had altered. It was not a mere fancy of his own. The thing was horribly apparent" (Wilde 94-95).

Explanation: The narrator is explaining Dorian's perception of how the portrait of himself is changing. He first believes the image is changing noting that "there was a touch of a cruelty in the mouth" (94). But he goes on to conclude "The picture had not changed" (96). Ergo, the painting was not changing but he was. The painting represented the man he was, and the changes that were taking place in him. The portrait is the gateway to his soul as his soul was the inspiration for the portrait: "I won't tell you that [...] his beauty is such that Art cannot express it. There is nothing that Art cannot express [...] his personality has suggested to me an enitrely new manner in art, an entirely new mode of style" (12).

Quote: "For every sin that he committed, a stain would fleck and wreck it fairness. But he would not sin. The picture, changed or unchanged, would be to him the visible emblem of conscience. He would resist temptation. He would not see Lord Henry any more-would not, at any rate, listen to those subtle, poisonous theories that in Basil Hallaward's garden had first stirred within him the passion for impossible things" (96).

Explanation: "Dorian is realizing his change and is beginning to make a committment to not change any further. And he clearly recognizes that Lord Henry is part of the reason he is changing, for Lord Henry had "subtle, poisonous theories." So the first step towards stopping his change is to commit himself to become free from Lord Henry's influence, which may prove difficult because Lord Henry was the symbol of all the pleasures in the world that Dorian had never encountered. And like all temptations it is hard to resist, and that will be difficult for throughout the book Lord Henry has been teaching Dorian to feed his temptations with immoral pleasures. So whether Dorian follows through with his committment to avoid Lord Henry and to prevent the change himself is uncertain, though it is quite certain that it will most likely be uphill battle for Dorian.

Vocab:
Listlessly: in a listless (lacking zest or vivacity) manner
"And began to eat them listlessly"(93).

Ardent: characterized by intense emotion
"The quivering, ardent sunlight showed him the lines of cruelty round the moth as clearly as if he had been looking into a mirror after he had done some dreadful thing" (94).