Chapter 6

Text of Book

Chapter 6, page 1

Chapter 6, page 2

Chapter 6, page 3

Chapter 6, page 4

Chapter 6, page 5

Chapter 6, page 6

Chapter 6, page 7

Chapter 6, page 8

Chapter 6, page 9

Chapter 6, page 10

Chapter 6, page 11

Chapter 6, page 12

Chapter 6, page 13

Chapter 6, page 14

Chapter 6, page 15

Chapter 6, page 16

Chapter 6, page 17

Chapter 6, page 18

Questions

1)	What is the main idea of this chapter?

2)	Wotton is concerned that Dorian will be implicated in the investigation into Sibyl's death. He tells him, "Things like that make a man fashionable in Paris. But in London people are so prejudiced. Here, one should never make one's debut with a scandal."What does "scandal" mean?

3)	Dorian says, "So I have murdered Sibyl Vane." What does he mean?

4)	Which two things does Dorian realize he will have?

5)	Describing the circumstances surrounding Sibyl's death, Wotton tells Dorian, They ultimately found her lying dead on the floor of her dressing–room." What does "ultimately" mean?

6)

Dorian feels that he could have prevented Sibyl's death by honoring his marriage proposal. He feels that his decision to change his behavior came too late. Lord Wotton has a different opinion: "Good resolutions are simply a useless attempt to interfere with scientific laws. Their origin is pure vanity. Their result is absolutely nil." What does "resolution" mean?

7)

Harry Wotton envies Dorian's experience, saying that no woman has ever killed herself for love of him, as Sibyl seems to have done for Dorian. Instead, his lovers "have always insisted on living on, long after I had ceased to care for them, or they to care for me . . . they go in at once for reminiscences. That awful memory of woman! What a fearful thing it is! And what an utter intellectual stagnation it reveals!" What does "stagnation" mean?

8)

Dorian wonders if his prayer for eternal youth might have been granted, and for a moment considers praying to undo the effect. But then he thinks, "And, yet, who . . . would surrender the chance of remaining always young, however fantastic that chance might be, or with what fateful consequences it might be fraught?" What does "surrender" mean?

9)	By the end of the chapter, what are Dorian's feelings about the portrait?

10)	What does the quote below mean? "The portrait was to bear the burden of his shame: that was all."

11)	Were there any events that weren't clear to you?