Summary
Chapters Three–Four
Chapters Three–Four
Page 1Page 2
Summary: Chapter Three
Shortly after his first meeting with Dorian Gray, Lord Henry visits his
uncle, Lord Fermor, a “genial if somewhat rough-mannered” old
nobleman. When Lord Henry asks his uncle about Dorian Gray’s
past, the old man tells him that Dorian comes from an unhappy
family with a dark, tangled history. He relates that Dorian’s mother,
a noblewoman, eloped with a poor soldier; the woman’s father, a
villainous old lord, arranged to have his daughter’s husband killed
just before Dorian was born. The grieving widow died soon
thereafter, leaving Dorian to be raised by a loveless tyrant. With this
information, Lord Henry becomes increasingly fascinated with
Dorian; he finds the story romantic and delights in the thought that
he might influence the young man, making “that wonderful spirit his
own.”
Featured on Sparknotes
Powered By
Shortly thereafter, Lord Henry goes to dine at the home of his aunt,
Lady Agatha, where several of London’s elite upper class—Dorian
included—have gathered. Lord Henry scandalizes the group by
going on at length about the virtues of hedonism and selfishness
and mocking his aunt’s philanthropic efforts. “I can sympathize with
everything,” he remarks at one point, “except suffering.” He insists
that one’s life should be spent appreciating beauty and seeking out
pleasure rather than searching for ways to alleviate pain and
tragedy. Many of the guests are appalled by his selfishness, but he
is so clever and witty that they are charmed in spite of themselves.
Dorian Gray is particularly fascinated, so much so that he leaves
with Lord Henry and abandons his earlier plans to visit Basil.
Summary: Chapter Four
One month later, while waiting in Lord Henry’s home for his host to
arrive, Dorian discusses music with Lord Henry’s wife, Victoria.
When Lord Henry arrives, Dorian rushes to him, eager to share the
news that he has fallen in love. The girl, he reports, is Sibyl Vane, an
actress who plays Shakespeare’s heroines in repertoire in a cheap
London theater. Dorian admits to discovering her while wandering
through the slums: inspired by Lord Henry’s advice to “know
everything about life,” he had entered a playhouse. Despite the
tawdriness of the locale and his disdain for the theater owner,
Dorian decided that the star, Sibyl Vane, was the finest actress he
had ever seen. After several trips to the theater, the owner insisted
that Dorian meet Ms. Vane, who, awed by the attentions of such a
handsome gentleman, declared that she would refer to him as
“Prince Charming.” Lord Henry, amused by this development,
agrees to accompany Dorian to see Sibyl Vane play the lead
in Romeo and Juliet the following night. Basil is to join them, and
Dorian remarks that Basil sent him his portrait, framed, a few days
earlier.
After Dorian leaves, Lord Henry muses on his influence over the
young man, reflecting on how fascinating the psychology of another
human being can be. He then dresses and goes out to dinner. He
comes home late that night and finds a telegram from Dorian
waiting for him. It states that he is engaged to be married to Sibyl
Vane.
Analysis: Chapters Three–Four
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a curious mixture of different genres. It
displays Wilde’s incomparable talent for social comedy and satire,
even as it veers toward the formula for Gothic literature. Gothic
fiction, which was tremendously popular in the late eighteenth and
early nineteenth centuries, focused on tales of romance, cruelty,
and horror. By the end of the nineteenth century, the formula had
changed considerably, but these basic tenets remained intact.
Dorian’s mysterious and melodramatic heritage alludes to
conventions of the Gothic novel: his wicked grandfather, his parents’
cursed elopement, his father’s murder, and his mother’s early death
represent a type of moody romance popular among Gothic authors.
As the critic Donald Lawler points out, Dorian’s ancestry is identical
to that of the main characters in three of Wilde’s short stories.
The first two chapters of the novel show Lord Henry’s powers of
seduction, but in Chapters Three and Four Lord Henry himself is
seduced. Strictly speaking, it is not a person who draws Lord Henry
in, but the possibility of having a profound effect on a person,
namely Dorian: “there was something terribly enthralling in the
exercise of influence.” To project his soul onto Dorian and seize his
spirit just as Dorian has seized Basil’s imagination becomes Lord
Henry’s greatest desire. In Lord Henry’s mind, life and art are not
only connected but interchangeable. By molding Dorian into “a
marvellous type” of boy, Lord Henry believes that he is countering
the effects of “an age so limited and vulgar” as his own. He
imagines that he will take his place among such masters as the
great Italian artist Michelangelo, with whom he shares the
imperative to create something of beauty. The fact that Lord Henry
considers the life of another human being a viable medium for
artistic expression indicates “[t]he new manner in art” that Wilde so
tirelessly advocated. Indeed, many readers might find Lord Henry
heartless, given his willingness to watch Dorian’s development with
practically no thought of consequence. After all, Dorian’s beauty is
all that matters to him, and “[i]t was no matter [to Lord Henry] how
it all ended, or was destined to end.” This behavior merely links Lord
Henry to the tenets of aestheticism, whereby beauty is of primary
importance, and vice and virtue—as Wilde states in the novel’s
preface—are nothing more than “materials for an art.”
