#sibyl vane

[mimimar]

"when i was away from you, you were still present in my art"

-the picture of dorian gray

(art prints)

[catcatalpa]

[nobodypoff1]

Some old sketches

Tg: nobody_poff

[aksiris]

Sibyl and Dorian

[theimportanceofbeingbunbury]

“You might see nothing in him. I see everything in him...I find him in the curves of certain lines, in the loveliness and subtleties of certain colours. That is all." Son

OR

“Love is a more wonderful thing than art…You are more to me than all art can ever be.” Daughter

SPOILER! loving the same white man kills them both.

[viscariot]

watched the picture of dorian gray (1945) today! i thought it was pretty good, definitely the best adaptation by far. thought sibyl (angela lansburg) looked quite a lot like paul... inspired this drawing! id definitely say paul is dorian and john is basil though... i'll have to draw that later..

[sinagingan]

Sibyl :)

Reference:

[pinkcove]

I've finished reading The Picture of Dorian Gray for the third time, and here are my thoughts and observations/interpretations:

For the third read, I read one chapter everyday and I:

Write a summary for each chapter

Look up the meanings of the words/phrases/sentences I didn't understand and write them down.

Look up the references in the book and write them down

Annotate little details

Wrote down the character's physical description

Doing this makes me read the book in a more observant way, I was not affected by the emotions/feelings of what the author intended to evoke. I got past that effect of the rose-tinted glass and actually acknowledge the reality of the situation.

This time, I felt more sympathetic towards Dorian Gray and found myself praising Lord Henry Wotton's statement less, I didn't find them witty, considering that my view of him has changed completely. Unlike the last time and the first time I read the book: I despised Dorian for his actions and his hypocrisy, I even jotted my thoughts about it down. But this time, I don't share the same thoughts.

This time, I felt bad for all of them: Dorian, Henry, and Basil, because they are flawed characters with such incorrigible quirks and personality. They are the way they are, and what they deviate against, they bounce back into their ways.

(Note: If the informations are inaccurate/incorrect, please let me know and correct me!)

Ok here are my observations:

(Blue texts are quotes from the book!!)

1. How The Surrounding Objects Reveal Lord Henry Wotton's Personality

a) Lord Henry Wotton And Daisies

In chapter 1, while Basil was about to tell him about the extraordinary young man that he was painting, Henry leaned down and plucked a daisy:

Lord Henry smiled, and leaning down, plucked a pink-petalled daisy from the grass and examined it. "I am quite sure I shall understand it," he replied, gazing intently at the little golden, white-feathered disk, "and as for believing things, I can believe anything, provided that it is quite incredible."

and while Basil was telling him how he met Dorian Gray:

"Yes; she is a peacock in everything but beauty," said Lord Henry, pulling the daisy to bits with his long nervous fingers.

Reading this, I felt that there were reasons behind his action of plucking the daisy and examining it, something that could reveal to us things about his personality. And so I looked up the symbolism of daisy.

In the Victorian era, daisies symbolized innocence, new beginnings, joy, and cheerfulness. It also symbolized loyalty, and an ability to keep things secret. Pink daisies in particular, embody gentleness, admiration, and appreciation. It evokes feelings of happiness, gratitude, and the celebration of life's simple pleasures.

Henry plucking the daisy and its petals shows us his inquisitive nature. It also foreshadows him taking away Basil's joy (Dorian) and setting a terrible fate towards his relationship with Dorian. The phrase "gazing intently" and "examined" suggests that Henry is someone that likes to pry on others, and does not care about the emotional effect he had caused them, even if he had completely plucked out all the petals from the flower.

Not a little while later, Henry plucked another daisy again. It shows that he doesn't care about the consequences of his actions. He'll repeat them, he'll continue to deprive/possess something merely for the sake of his own enjoyment.

b) The Lilac-Blossom And The Bee

In chapter 2, Henry found Dorian smelling the scent of lilac-blossoms:

Lord Henry went out to the garden and found Dorian Gray burying his face in the great cool lilac-blossoms, feverishly drinking in their perfume as if it had been wine.

He decided to educate him on the importance of beauty and youth, making him realize the brevity of it, and how tragic it would be if his beauty is spoiled.

Dorian, in response, was speechless and dropped the lilac from his hands to the ground.

Dorian Gray listened, open-eyed and wondering. The spray of lilac fell from his hand upon the gravel. A furry bee came and buzzed round it for a moment. Then it began to scramble all over the oval stellated globe of the tiny blossoms.

A little later:

After a time the bee flew away. He saw it creeping into the stained trumpet of a Tyrian convolvulus. The flower seemed to quiver, and then swayed gently to and fro.

Lilacs symbolize first love and innocence. They are closely tied to memories of youth, growth, and beginnings. On top of that, Lilacs represent the brevity of beauty: they bloom early, but when spring heats up into summer, their scent disappears almost as quickly as it arrived.

The act of Dorian burying his face in the lilac could represent his innocent nature, or him holding the lilac represents him "holding" his innocence.

So the lilac falling from his hands symbolizes him losing his innocence. The flower could also represent Dorian himself and the bee, Henry. The bee scrambling over the flower is like Henry "ruining" or "feeding on" Dorian's innocence. Thus, the relationship between the bee and the lilac correlates with Henry and Dorian's.

Once the bee is done with the lilac, it flies to another flower. It implicitly states Henry's predatory nature: Once he is done with preying on an innocent individual, he will get tired of it, and find another victim again.

c) Fruits

While Henry was chatting with Dorian and Basil in chapter 6 when all of them were about to see Sibly Vane act. Henry was "toying with some fruits."

As we learned of Henry, playing/fidgeting with objects around him shows us the nature of his character. The fruits represent Dorian and Basil. Of course, that could be read as him mentally playing with both Dorian and Basil.

But the choice of the word "fruit" also meant something. The term itself was also used as a slang for gay people. Fruit as gay slang is from the anti language, Polari, used in the gay subculture in Britain. its origins can be traced back to at least the 19th century.

So in this case, Oscar Wilde is, in a subtle way calling Dorian and Basil homosexuals, or it could be Henry's nosy ass knowing they are/making fun of them.

2. The Objectification of Beauty

Rereading this for the third time, I realized how MUCH (so much so It's insane) characters like Dorian Gray were objectified by the people around them because of their beauty, through language like words and phrases.

Dorian Gray was called:

Some brainless beautiful creature (ch. 1)

A wonderful creation (ch. 2)

Visible symbol (of hedonism) (ch. 2)

An interesting study (ch. 4)

One of those gracious figures in a pageant or a play (ch. 4)

A beautiful caged thing (ch. 14)

And that was not all of it, of how much he was objectified. In chapter 4, while Henry was daydreaming about Dorian's sudden infatuation for an actress, Sibyl Vane, and what will become of him, Henry imagined his wounds as red roses. Even Dorian's distress like injury/wounds are not taken seriously, they are perceived as a form of art.

In this case, him being objectified also makes him less human, dehumanizing him.

The consequence, is that Dorian does the same thing to others: In chapter 4, Dorian fell in love with Sibyl Vane. He called her "the loveliest thing" he had ever seen in his life, he called her "divine," he said he worships her. Plus, he idealized how she is "all the great heroines of the world in one."

Dorian Gray saw Sibyl Vane as a product of art. He romanticized and objectified her, the same way Henry objectified Dorian. The victim becomes the predator, and adopts the predator's behaviour even if it's not intentional.

When Sibyl deviated against her role of acting greatly, she got denounced by Dorian. He minimized Sibyl's worth because of not adhering to her role as an actress anymore, because Dorian had been conditioned by Henry to think that only beauty and art is worthy. This caused him to create shallow bonds with the people around him, he thinks less of real, deep emotional bond in relationships.

When Dorian was informed by Henry that Sibyl was dead, presumably by suicide, he was shocked by it. Then, he idealized the situation, looking at it as a form of art: saying that it is like a wonderful ending to a wonderful play, a Greek tragedy. He called Sibyl a wonderful tragic figure. Dorian objectified and dehumanized Sibyl by using these words.

The theme of objectification of beauty reminds me of how patriarchy defines and controls the feminine beauty standard. Sibyl Vane is an art form, she was born to perform. And Dorian is too. For instance, in chapter 19, Henry urged him to play the piano for him, and asked him to play it over again when he stopped, even when he was in a solemn mood and was tired. This relates to the idea that beautiful people are worthy when they do things that please others. Even Henry told him not to change when Dorian said he was about to be good.

3. Dorian Gray's Vulnerability

In chapter 3, Dorian was revealed to have no parents, as both his mother and father had died when he was very young. So he had no role model/mentor in his life, he only had his grandfather who was "old and loveless."

That makes him a very vulnerable individual: He probably had no refined identity and no sense of what's right and wrong. Paired with his extraordinary beauty, Dorian is the type of person that could easily get taken advantage of.

That is how Henry charmed Dorian easily, building a relationship to manipulate him and influence him to become someone he is not. Right at the beginning when Henry met Dorian, he told him something about influence:

"Because to influence a person is to give him one’s own soul. He does not think his natural thoughts, or burn with his natural passions. His virtues are not real to him. His sins, if there are such things as sins, are borrowed. He becomes an echo of some one else’s music, an actor of a part that has not been written for him [...]"

His statement is right from what we've seen of what happened to Dorian later throughout the story. For example, upon receiving the news of Sibyl's death, the first thing Henry concerned him about is the inquest; whether or not he is involved in it. He told him to not get too affected over her death. He told him how to feel and think about the incident.

You hear from most analysis of the book saying that Dorian was only influenced by Henry. But it is much deeper than that. Dorian Gray was a young, vulnerable, naive person that got controlled and reformed by an older person, Lord Henry Wotton, to become what he wants him to be. The younger person loses their own identity, they don't think for themselves, the older person thinks for them. Henry is a predatory and manipulative person that enjoys psychologically playing his victims.

In turn, Dorian became more like Henry. He learnt from Henry to toy with other people's feelings for the sake of his own amusement, and to use that to his advantage. Like in chapter 9, when Dorian was almost about to risk revealing the change in his portrait to Basil, he promised to "exchange" secrets with him, with Basil disclosing his own first. This gave Dorian the upper hand, because he is no longer threatened to reveal his secret. He gets access to Basil's vulnerability at that moment.

This reminds me of something someone here said: (I want to link the post but it is gone now) Henry instilled in Dorian the idea of masculinity, the idea to possess whatever one desires, and to not expose one's vulnerabilities.

4. Character's Physical Description

One thing I noticed when I noted down the character's physical appearance throughout the book, I find that Lord Henry Wotton is the one with the most elaborate description, whereas the least detailed character (who is very significant) is Basil Hallward.

Just. Look.

(Forgive me for accidentally writing Henry's description on Sibyl's side. I was not on my right mind lol)

I know that there are many other descriptions I have missed out but these are the main ones that generally form the characters' appearance.

It's weird, how Lord Henry Wotton is the prevailing center throughout the book in terms of physical appearance. In one random scene, the author describes his cane. In another random scene, the author describes his eyebrows. It was too elaborate, even Dorian's description was not as "real" as that.

My interpretation is that, Henry is the indirect center of the story. Dorian Gray isn't actually the main character, he's just the "prototype" of Henry.

Final Thoughts:

Honestly, I am amazed how I view the book differently each time I reread it. In the preface, Oscar Wilde said: "Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital." In response to that, I agree and I finally understand that statement. The Picture of Dorian Gray is truly a complex book. The more you read it, the more you'll realize what you didn't realize before. You'll have completely different opinions than the ones you had when you first read the book.

I plan to think about the themes that I mentioned here (patriarchy, beauty standards, and masculinity) in the next read. Maybe I will write my analysis about it here.

However, on one last note, I sincerely think that such a beautiful book like The Picture of Dorian Gray should be read without analysing the contents of it. Like what Oscar Wilde said: "All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their peril." It really ruins the beauty of it in my opinion.

But this novel is my favourite, it's very very special to me.

(if you want to add more thoughts to my points, I'd love to read them!)