The Picture of Dorian Gray 4

Passage: "One afternoon, a month later, Dorian Gray was reclining in a luxurious arm-chair. In the little library of Lord Henry's house in Mayfair. It was, in its way, a very charming room, with its high paneled wainscoting of olive-stained oak, its cream colored frieze and ceiling of raised plaster-work, and its brickdust felt carpet strewn with silk long-fringed Persian rugs."

The first sentence of the passage starts with "one afternoon", which is ambiguous and anticipated from the ongoing listless diction; however, it also says "a month later", which is startlingly specific. The reference to time is brought up solely because of Dorian Gray, who, over that "month" has been greatly influenced by Lord Henry evident because the line "Dorian Gray was reclining in a luxurious arm-chair" is syntactically placed right after. The alliteration "little library" seems negligent, however, the alliteration brings focus to the setting which sets the foundation for the luxurious diction that comes after it. The sentences that follow are so descriptive, they are similar to descriptions of a picture. Syntactically Dorian Gray is put at the beginning of the passage, the alliteration of the setting (little library) brings the focus to the setting, or the picture, and the descriptive sentences that follow use imagery to paint the picture. The metaphorical transformation of Dorian Gray into a picture is echoed in a assertion made by Lord Henry in chapter 3, "the mere shapes and pattern of things becoming as it were, refined, and gaining a kind of symbolical value, as though they were themselves patterns." It then says, in reference to Dorian Gray, "He would make that wonderful spirit his own." I believe the passage is the first signs of Dorian Gray's transformation into a hedonist, like Lord Henry, and a picture, foreshadowed in Chapter 2 (when Dorian wishes to give his soul to look like his picture).

Syntactically, the hedonistic transformation of Dorian Gray is placed after the "month" of being with Lord Henry. The luxurious, languid diction of the the following sentences emphasize the dense, listless, beauty of the setting, and Dorian Gray. Words like "high paneled", "olive-stained oak", "cream colored", and "silk", contribute to the setting, and has an affect on the tone, making it as dense, and listless as the setting. The connotations associated with Persian rugs further accentuates the lavish lifestyle of Lord Henry.