Dorian Grey Chapter 11

1) “He was almost saddened by the reflection of the ruin that time brought on beautiful and wonderful things. He, at any rate, had escaped that” (141).

This is an idea from Lord Henry that has grown inside Dorian's head. Lord Henry was the first person to tell Dorian that beauty was the only thing that mattered in life. Henry said that it was a shame that beauty is inevitably lost because of time. He told Dorian that he would be meaningless without his youth because his beauty would fade. Now that Dorian is immune to aging he finds it depressing when time passes and beautiful things lose their beauty. This is a direct result of the influence he received from Lord Henry, which is now manifested in the book that Lord Henry gave Dorian. Dorian is being poisoned by the book, and the fact that the portrait will take the fall for all of his sins.

2) “It was remarked, however, that some of those who had been most intimate with him appeared, after a time, to shun him. Women who had wildly adored him, and for his sake had braved all social censure and set convention at defiance, were seen to grow pallid with shame or horror if Dorian Gray entered the room” (145).

This quote shows that even though he is not physically changing he has changed greatly on the inside. At the beginning of the novel Dorian was described as extremely popular, and everyone would say good things about him whenever they heard his name. But now he has changed, even if it does not appear so on the outside. Dorian's ability to be eternally young and unscarred by sin changes his personality. Dorian's desire to indulge every pleasure will not win him many friends, and now he will gain a bad reputation, similar to that of Lord Henry. Most other characters do not like listening to what Lord Henry has to say, and now Dorian is the physical embodiment of all of Lord Henry's ideas. Since they did not like hearing what Henry had to say, they will now surely come to dislike Dorian, who is living the life that Lord Henry spoke of.

Definitions:

1) “They wondered how one so charming and graceful as he was could have escaped the stain of an age that was at once sordid and sensual” (131).

sordid: adjective- involving ignoble actions or motives 

2) “Had the lover of Giovanna of Naples bequeathed him some inheritance of sin and shame?” (147).

bequeathed: verb- to leave or give (personal property) by will