H/W 9th October 2017
Chapter 6: Dorian in love – Comprehension questions
1) How does falling in love affect Dorian?
It makes Dorian regret ‘all [Henry] has taught [him]’, suggesting that he doesn’t want to play around
with girls or act like Henry does, who betrays the vows of marriage by keeping secrets from his wife
and betraying her trust in some form or another. Dorian says that ‘her trust makes [him] faithful, her
belief makes [him] good,’ implying that he does actually have some form of feelings for her, despite
how appearance-orientated they might be, with it also suggesting that he sees that Henry has had
an influence over him, one that is bad or immoral, and has seen his need to change.
2) How would you describe Dorian’s responses to Henry in the extracts? How do they differ
from his responses in previous chapters?
Extract 1 – He sees Henry’s ideals habitual and wrong, as opposed to before where he thought them
delightful, different and fun, but doesn’t mind that Henry thinks this way as it is ‘impossible to be
angry with [him]’. This implies that he still is influenced by Henry a little bit, and still find him
interesting and fun, but does not want to take that path anymore, so to not upset Sibyl.
Extract 2 – he starts disagreeing with Henry; at the beginning of the novel he is very impressionable
and as a result, ends up agreeing with and following Henry’s theories about life, love and pleasure,
along with any other theories Henry had. This could be because he is starting to see a different
perspective aside from Lord Henry’s, and has decided he prefers the ones he’s actually formed
himself.
Extract 3 – Dorian is seemingly going against Henry and questioning him, whereas before this he
would try to back him up against Basil, and would support his theories and epigrams as though he
really believed him; now it implies that Dorian doesn’t believe them or actually like them. In this he
seems to want to see Henry squirm and fight back, as though he wants to see him struggle.
Extract 4 – In this he seemingly questioning the influence Henry had over himself, and whilst
implying that he still does actually like and admire Henry, he doesn’t understand why. He also
doesn’t want to admit that Henry is what he says he is: ‘you will always be fond of me. I represent to
you all the sins you have never had the courage to commit’ – this suggests that Henry can see that
Dorian is actually more like him than Dorian may realise. This can be seen by how Henry admits this,
but Dorian tries to deny this by saying how Henry is talking nonsense.
Chapter 6: Dorian in love – Comprehension questions
1) How does falling in love affect Dorian?
It makes Dorian regret ‘all [Henry] has taught [him]’, suggesting that he doesn’t want to play around
with girls or act like Henry does, who betrays the vows of marriage by keeping secrets from his wife
and betraying her trust in some form or another. Dorian says that ‘her trust makes [him] faithful, her
belief makes [him] good,’ implying that he does actually have some form of feelings for her, despite
how appearance-orientated they might be, with it also suggesting that he sees that Henry has had
an influence over him, one that is bad or immoral, and has seen his need to change.
2) How would you describe Dorian’s responses to Henry in the extracts? How do they differ
from his responses in previous chapters?
Extract 1 – He sees Henry’s ideals habitual and wrong, as opposed to before where he thought them
delightful, different and fun, but doesn’t mind that Henry thinks this way as it is ‘impossible to be
angry with [him]’. This implies that he still is influenced by Henry a little bit, and still find him
interesting and fun, but does not want to take that path anymore, so to not upset Sibyl.
Extract 2 – he starts disagreeing with Henry; at the beginning of the novel he is very impressionable
and as a result, ends up agreeing with and following Henry’s theories about life, love and pleasure,
along with any other theories Henry had. This could be because he is starting to see a different
perspective aside from Lord Henry’s, and has decided he prefers the ones he’s actually formed
himself.
Extract 3 – Dorian is seemingly going against Henry and questioning him, whereas before this he
would try to back him up against Basil, and would support his theories and epigrams as though he
really believed him; now it implies that Dorian doesn’t believe them or actually like them. In this he
seems to want to see Henry squirm and fight back, as though he wants to see him struggle.
Extract 4 – In this he seemingly questioning the influence Henry had over himself, and whilst
implying that he still does actually like and admire Henry, he doesn’t understand why. He also
doesn’t want to admit that Henry is what he says he is: ‘you will always be fond of me. I represent to
you all the sins you have never had the courage to commit’ – this suggests that Henry can see that
Dorian is actually more like him than Dorian may realise. This can be seen by how Henry admits this,
but Dorian tries to deny this by saying how Henry is talking nonsense.
