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Dorian Gray Chapter 16

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Chapter 16 Chapter sixteen of The Portrait of Dorian Gray begins with Dorian visiting an opium den. While there, Dorian thinks about all of the life choices he has made so far. All of the "rumors" appear to be getting to him. Just as he was leaving the den he is confronted by a man, James Vane. This man is holding Dorian hostage at gunpoint threatening to kill him for wronging his sister, Sibyl Vane. The two talk and argue for a little while before James decides to let Dorian go. James determined that sibyls death was almost two decades ago, and Dorian looked as if was only twenty years old himself. When, James eventually returns to the opium den, a woman tells him that she has seen Dorian in this den consistently for eighteen years. This only enrages James even more. The chapter ends with Sibyls brother, James vowing to kill Dorian at the next chance he gets. Chapter 17 …show more content…

Dorian is hosting a party at his house, and various guests from all over have arrived. Dorian begins a conversation with Lord Henry. Shortly into the conversation, they are interrupted by the duchess of Monmouth and her husband. The four of them engage in idle chit chatter before the topic turns to love. Dorian feels uncomfortable and leaves the conversation. Moments later everybody hears a cry from the other side of the room. When everyone rushes over the see Dorian passed out on the floor. Dorian turns out to be okay and recalls what happened over dinner. He says that as he was waking he saw a man, James Vane, in the window outside the

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No matter how hard Dorian tries to act innocent, his sins cannot easily be erased since he acts pure for selfish reasons, such as clearing his conscience. Additionally, Wilde uses mist to symbolize Dorian’s uncertainty about beauty. As Dorian enters the opium den, “the mist thickened, he felt afraid” (205). In Plato’s theory, Dorian does not completely understand the beauty of something, since he glances it from at a surface level and therefore, remains far from the truth and results in confusion and uncertainty, such as the mist. Moreover, Wilde suggests how before Basil’s murder, Dorian did not appear completely innocent but society could still consider him pure and white if he prayed for God’s forgiveness.

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He is a representative of London's high society and immoral views on life. The only thing which is valuable for him is the beauty. That is why we recognize him as the main thing which spoiled Dorian. 8. James Vane, Sibyl's brother, was accidently shot and killed at the hunting grounds while spying on Dorian.

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790 Words | 4 Pages

In chapter two, Basil reveals his painting to Dorian, and Dorian becomes completely awed by it, so much so that he wishes the painting would “grow old.” This wish is what started Dorian ’s journey of revealing his duality to the public because as he became more stressed, the painting grew older. The stress of navigating through his life while conforming to the secrecy of Victorian society forced his painting to deform, a situation similar to Hyde stressing over his living situation and causing his duality to become more apparent. In chapter eighteen, Lord Henry and his friends are at a shooting range when one of them accidentally shoots another man.

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One day, Lord Henry’s Talks strikes a chord with Dorian. Esther then brings up the conversation Lord Henry had with his uncle about Dorian’s past. His uncle said that Dorian was born, but his mother passed away. Dorian was then left in solitude, to be raised by an old loveless man who may have abused him. Later in the book the reader sees Dorian’s hatred for his old

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760 Words | 4 Pages

He was incredibly cruel towards Sibyl Vane and caused her to commit suicide. Due to Lord Henry’s influence he does not blame himself, yet he blames Sibyl for acting poorly. As the cruel actions continue Dorian gets deeper and deeper into the lifestyle of Lord Henry, to the point where he shrugs off a loved one's death as it is nothing. Sibyl’s purely innocent personality contrasted with Dorian’s cruel and hedonistic life which shows just how Dorian is developing as a

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Dorian definitely now enters the other world while also creating the “spark of a transformation”, all from the influence of Lord Henry. Dorian’s attitude and

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With this book, Dorian comes “to his senses” about the

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At the end of the book, he has lost all of his innocence and gained cruelty. Bad company and objects are what causes Dorian Gray 's corruption. Basil Hallward is a painter who wants to paint Dorian 's picture. He is a quiet and unchangeable man. When he first meets Dorian, they talk about how it was destiny for them to meet.

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Dorian Gray is a handsome, narcissistic young man enthralled by Lord Henry 's new enjoyment. He satisfies in every pleasure of moral and immoral life ultimately heads to death. Henry tells

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Even after Basil heard rumors of Dorian’s horrible ways he did not give up on his perfect image of him. He saw Dorian one ill-fated night on his way to the train and was finally faced head on with what Dorian had done. “It is never too late, Dorian. Let us kneel down and try if we cannot remember a prayer. Isn’t there a verse somewhere, ‘Though your sins be as scarlet, yet I will make them white as snow?’”

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828 Words | 4 Pages

At this point, Dorian begins to acquire the indication to switch souls with the painting, in order to Boyett 2 maintain an innocent complex. The beginning of the soul switch did not cause any harm, his minute cruelty led to small lines on his portrait’s face, while not allowing any signs on his own self. Realizing the soul switching was successful,

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1121 Words | 5 Pages

Wilde writes about it being “perfectly charming”. The chapter then is corrupted by Lord Henry's influence on page 17. This structure of chapter continues through the first 10 chapters and then shifts to fill a more gothic idea. The setting becomes more ominous with the environment having blinding “fog” (Wilde 147) and the “cold rain”(Wilde 184). As corruption is about to take over Dorian's life he becomes blinded by the “lovely night” and environment again.

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He even further proves his evil soul when he murders Basil without even thinking minutes later. Dorian had turned from harsh and selfish to a murder. Dorian Gray starts off as a harsh person who thinks about repairing his mistakes, but transitions to a selfish murderer who seeks pleasure, all because of Lord Henrys poisonous words. Dorian Gray ruined countless lives throughout the book and goes from breaking hearts and causing suicides, to killing his good friend Basil Hallward. As a result of Lord Henry’s influence, he begins to think only about himself and for his own benefit and pleasure and nothing of anyone else.

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797 Words | 4 Pages

All his murders and crimes are reflected in the aging, and evil face of his portrait. Every week, hour and second in the story we could see that Dorian would grow old and old. Although he was not caught from all of his crimes and sins he couldn’t lie to the painting. “It might escape the hideousness of sin, but the hideousness of age was in store for it. The cheeks would become hollow or flaccid.

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937 Words | 4 Pages

As the portrait significantly becomes more hideous, Dorian gradually loses his mind. The reader understands that what eventually leads Dorian to kill Basil Hallward, the only true friend he has, is the constant reminder of the evil found at the heart of Dorian’s nature, as represented by the portrait. In Dorian doing so, the reader realises that not only does Dorian kill Basil, he also kills his only chance of redemption of his soul. The reader realises that the statement that Dorian had expressed earlier in the story was the truth: “Yes, Basil could have saved him. But it was too late now.”

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