"Without your art you are nothing" (91).
Dorian's love for Sibyl is utterly false. He only loved Sibyl for the beauty in her art of acting. Lord Henry has definitely changed Dorian: "Lord Henry had told him that, and Lord Henry knew what women were" (95). Dorian was once innocent and premature, but Lord Henry has influenced him with theories of Hedonism and individualism and ideas uncommon to London: "Good artists exist simply in what they make" (60). If her acting is what made her good, what was left for Dorian to admire with the performance she gave that night? Though it seems Dorian realizes his wrong and wants to make it up to Sibyl, he is only trying to appease the pity he feels for his portrait. Dorian is not in love with Sibyl, but in love with art.
"For every sin that he committed, a stain would fleck and wreck [the painting's] fairness" (96).
Dorian sees this discovery as "[a] visible emblem of conscience" (96). Though the painting symbolized conscience, "conscience and cowardice [were] nearly the same" (9). Dorian was still being influenced by the theories Lord Henry preached. Dorian was only changing his lifestyle and getting back together with Sybil due to the cowardice he felt about the portrait being flawed. The one who is depicted seems to be leaving his own secrets within the painting. The painting is not a symbol of hope for Dorian, but rather a symbol of Lord Henry's dominance over Dorian. This is awfully similar to Hester with her scarlet letter that symbolized her sin.
Vocabulary:
"The secret of remaining young is never to have an emotion that is unbecoming" (89).
unbecoming- adj. not flattering, not fitting or appropriate
"The air was heavy with the perfume of the flowers, and their beauty seemed to bring him an anodyne for his pain" (93).
anodyne- n. something that alleviates a person's mental distress
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