[0:01]Hello everyone. The following presentation is a brief summary and analysis of chapter 7 of Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. When they arrive at the theater, Lord Henry and Basil see for themselves the unsophisticated shabby theater and its rough-looking crowd. Dorian promises Lord Henry that Sibyl will make it all seem quite different when she starts acting. Basil encourages Dorian, saying that such a powerful actress must bring something important to Dorian's life, and because of this, Sibyl clearly deserves Dorian's love. After the orchestra plays a terrible-sounding introduction, Sibyl appears on stage as Juliet. At this stage, Dorian, Lord Henry and Basil are all fascinated by Sibyl, and Lord Henry realizes that she is just as beautiful as Dorian had promised. Sibyl's performance is quite exquisite, but Dorian is completely shocked at her dismal, depressing and lifeless performance. The change in Sibyl's acting horrifies and completely embarrasses Dorian. During one of Shakespeare's most famous scenes, the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet, Juliet's words that Sibyl delivers are flat and dull. Lord Henry and Basil find their experience shamefully unbearable, and they don't even stay for the entire play, but rather they leave halfway through during the interval.
[1:58]Lord Henry tells Dorian that despite Sibyl's poor acting, she is still very beautiful. And Basil tries to tell him that love is more important than art. However, these words provide no comfort to Dorian in any way, and he is left feeling totally distraught. However, he chooses to stay to watch the second half of the play. After the performance, Dorian goes to see Sibyl backstage. She is very aware that her performance was dreadful, but this does not affect her happiness and delight at seeing Dorian. Let's just unpack this for a moment. We know that Dorian's love for Sibyl is superficial. He doesn't love her for who she truly is. Dorian is in love with her art, which is her ability to act. However, if she no longer displays her artistic talent for acting, what is there left for Dorian to love? The answer would be nothing. We can also say that the fact that Sibyl is delighted to see Dorian, even though she knows her performance was awful, suggests that for her, being in love is more important than being an actress in the theater. Sibyl explains to Dorian that now that she has found love in real life, she can't be a part of a world where sets, costumes, and love for that matter, are all imaginary, shallow, and superficial. She is delighted to have found the real thing, real love in real life, which means the theater is now meaningless to her. Even though she is thrilled at this realization, Dorian cannot even look at her. Dorian bursts into a rage, saying that she is now nothing to him without her art. This has just been mentioned, the fact that Dorian doesn't love Sibyl for who she is as a person, but rather for her art, which is her acting. And now that this is gone, there is nothing for Dorian to love. Sibyl falls at Dorian's feet, begging him to reconsider what he has just said, but Dorian finds her heartache irritating, and he leaves her weeping on the floor. Sibyl has given up on art because to her real life is much more wonderful.
[4:50]She loves Dorian more than her talent for acting, but for Dorian, art is the only valuable thing in life, and it's the only thing for which he loved Sibyl. You can ask yourself about how Lord Henry's ideas about art and beauty being the most important things in life have led Dorian and influenced his decisions in this moment. In a sort of trance, Dorian wanders through the streets of London until the early morning, when he takes a horse and carriage back to his home. Amongst all the luxurious items in Dorian's home is Basil's painting of him. Something about it causes Dorian surprise - the expression on the portrait's face has changed ever so slightly. Dorian notices that somehow it looks like its mouth has a sneer, which is like a cruel and mocking smile. What we can learn here is that the portrait now becomes a reflection of Dorian's soul, a reflection of his true character. As the novel progresses, every time Dorian commits an evil or devious act, the portrait becomes uglier and uglier, just like the ruin of Dorian's soul.
[6:19]Dorian is disturbed by this turn of events when he remembers the feeling the painting initially stirred in him. He remembers his wish for the painting to age instead of him. He is shocked that this wish has actually come true. Dorian can't understand why the face in the portrait now looks so cruel, because he blames Sibyl for the events of the previous night. Dorian stares at the painting in a panic. He reflects on how the painting taught him to love and prioritize his own beauty, but he questions if it will teach him to despise his own soul. In light of this, Dorian makes a decision that he will save himself by never seeing Lord Henry again or listening to his poisonous theories. He decides he will find Sibyl to apologize for his actions the previous night, and subsequently ask her to marry him. The horror shown to Dorian by the portrait inspires him to change for the better, but we have to ask ourselves if Dorian's determination to be a better person will last.
[7:39]Thank you for watching this presentation on chapter 7 of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Keep an eye out for summaries and analyses of the rest of the novel.
