The Picture of Dorian Gray: 6

Passage: While Lord Henry sat dreaming on these things, a knock came to the door, and his valet entered, and reminded him it was time to dress for dinner. He got up and looked out into the street. The sunset had smitten into scarlet gold the upper windows of the houses opposite. The panes glowed like plates of heated metal. The sky above was like a faded rose. He thought of his friend's young fiery-colored life, and wondered how it was all going to end.

The observation made by Lord Henry is an important part of the novel, it's all about Dorian and his future. Harry observes the sunset he looks out of his window into the street. A window is a way to see the outside world from inside, and vice versa. After looking through the window of his room, Lord Henry sees the sunset and describes the sky as "a faded rose." Not only is Dorian (and Sibyl) always referred to as a rose, but also, syntactically, right after the mention of the faded rose, he has a thought of how Dorian's "young fiery-colored life" will end. It is ironic because the reader is introduced to Dorian (and so is Lord Henry) in Basil's studio, which is surrounded by flowers, and elegant gardens. Through an archetypal analysis, the garden represents Eden, where Dorian (and Adam) is manifested. From the garden, Dorian changes, due to the influence of Lord Henry. Lord Henry notes Dorian's change, and observes that "his nature had developed like a flower, had borne blossoms of scarlet flame". A faded rose is clearly loosing its color and probably dying; the juxtaposition of "a faded rose" and "young fiery-colored life" emphasizes the relevance and foreshadowing qualities of Lord Henry's observation. Because he is looking into the outside world, through the window, and seeing the faded sunset, it leads the reader to believe the outside world will be the end of Dorian (or rather, like Adam, he will be banished from Eden). He was found in a garden, met Lord Henry, and is progressively growing more different. After Lord Henry wonders how Dorian is going to "end", he receives a telegram from Dorian telling him that he is engaged to Sibyl. Because of the foreshadowing qualities of Lord Henry's observation, the reader infers that the engagement is a bad thing. Adam was banished from Eden when Eve ate the forbidden fruit. The similarities between Eden and Basil's studio, and Adam and Dorian, could be alluding to Sybil's similarity to Eve. Eden was where man was created (by God), and Basil's studio was where the picture of Dorian Gray was painted (by Basil). Like the snake, Lord Henry is enticing Dorian. In the beginning, Basil was hesitant to introduce Lord Henry to Dorian, which displays similarities between the enticing snake, and the enticing qualities of Lord Henry. Another note about Sibyl is that she's an actress. Wilde deliberatly puts her in tragic Shakespearean plays. She labels Dorian "Prince Charming" not only because she doesn't know his real name, but also, to make her life seem more theatrical. This sets up the relationship between Dorian and Sibyl to be more like a play, with a tragic ending.


Like the sunset, the observation is syntactically placed at the end of the chapter. When Lord Henry receives the telegram informing him of the engagement, Wilde noted that Lord Henry read the note at "about half-past twelve o'clock". The mention of time is important- he was thinking of how Dorian's life was going to end while observing the sunset (on its way to darkness), and now is reading about his plans to marry Sibyl, in complete darnkess. The setting went from a sunset, to the dark. Which provides more evidence foreshadowing that the marriage will, perhaps, bring an end to Dorian Gray (or perhaps the living Dorian Gray (as oppose to the picture). Wilde uses words like "smitten", "scarlet", "faded", and "fiery" to portray a soft tone, and listless observation, which is typical of Lord Henry. The tone is typical of Lord Henry, however, completely contrasts the profound observation Lord Henry is making.