Dorian Gray Chapter 19

Question 1

Where has Dorian been spending his time?

Answer 1

In the country

Question 2

What does Dorian tell Henry he has been doing?

Answer 2

Trying to become a better person

Question 3

What does Henry say about being a good person?

Answer 3

being good in the country is easy due to the absence of the city’s corruption and allure

Question 4

What is the catalyst for Dorian’s desire to improve?

Answer 4

He carried out a good deed

Question 5

What is the good deed Dorian carried out

Answer 5

He was staying in an inn by himself since there are no temptations in the country. A simple, lower-class girl called Hetty had fallen in love with him, and Dorian ended the relationship before it progressed further, sparing her from Sybil’s destiny

Question 6

What begins to pain Dorian?

Answer 6

Henry’s incessant joking about the gravest tragedies.

Question 7

How does Henry retort to Dorian’s good deed?

Answer 7

Dorian has not rescued her at all, that the girl is likely heartbroken and may never find satisfaction again.

Question 8

What sets Dorian apart from his “mentor,” Lord Henry, when they discuss the death of Basil Hallward? How does Wilde show the reader that Dorian is quite different from Lord Henry, even though both men seem to share the same interests and sentiments?

Answer 8

Lord Henry can only see the surface of things, he doesn’t care about Basil the person, just Basil the experience. Dorian was actually fond of Basil the person, while Lord Henry was fond of Basil the experience

Question 9

What scandals currently dominate Victorian society conversation?

Answer 9

Basil’s dissappearance
The Suicide of Alan Campbell
Henry’s divorce

Question 10

Are there any explanations for Basil’s disappearance?

Answer 10

None, there aren’t any

Question 11

How does Henry feel about Basil?

Answer 11

He doesn’t care for him, he thinks his art fell off and the last time he found him interesting was when he professed his love to Dorian, in truth he shows more interest in death itself rather than Basil

Question 12

What has Henry’s wife done when he tells Dorian to play the piano?

Answer 12

Left him for a pianist

Question 13

When is the last time Henry found Basil interesting?

Answer 13

When he professed his love for Dorian years ago.

Question 14

What does Dorian hypothesize? How does Henry respond?

Answer 14

If he murdered Basil, to which Henry asserts hat Dorian could never commit such an act, since killers are lowly individuals.

Question 15

What does Henry say about the mind of a murderer?

Answer 15

They must do it for the sensation-for the lower class, murder might resemble art. But he can’t envision Basil meeting such a dramatic end.

Question 16

What does Dorian say about the painting?

Answer 16

He never cared about it, he uses a quote describing it as “a face without a heart”

Question 17

What does Henry ask Dorian about the soul? Why?

Answer 17

What happens to a man who gains the world in exchange for his soul, after recalling an experience he had walking the streets and seeing a street preacher speaking to a crowd

Question 18

How does Dorian respond to Henry’s question about the soul?

Answer 18

He urges him not to jest about the soul, as it is the most serious organ and quite real, but Henry counters that it must be an illusion if Dorian is so convinced of its existence.

Question 19

How is Henry still happy>

Answer 19

He is filled with the happiness he consistently derives from human experiences

Question 20

What amazes Henry about DOrian?

Answer 20

his never-ending allure and youthfulness of Dorian’s appearance as he appears genuinely content when contemplating the fortunate life Dorian is leading.

Question 21

What does Henry assert life is governed by?

Answer 21

uncontrollable sensations—the fleeting fragrance of a once-encountered flower can evoke profound nostalgia or dread

Question 22

What does Henry think the world favors?

Answer 22

Dorian, his life has unfolded like a masterpiece

Question 23

What does Dorian accuse Henry of?

Answer 23

corrupting him with the book he lent him during his youth, but Henry argues that art cannot influence in such a manner, as it inhibits action and merely mirrors things back to the observer.

Question 24

According to Henry how can one be civilized?

Answer 24

By being either cultured or corrupt

Question 25

What is the only thing that scares Henry?

Answer 25

Death

Question 26

What are the 2 factors of the nineteenth century that cannot be explained away according to Henry?

Answer 26

Death and vulgarity

Question 27

According to Henry what caused Basil to become a bad artist?

Answer 27

He had lost his ideal, when him and Dorian separated

Question 28

What happens if a man treats life artistcally?

Answer 28

His brain is his heart

Question 29

Who does Henry listen to? Who does he not listen to?

Answer 29

He listens to the young and ignores the old

Question 30

According to Henry what is the tragedy of old age?

Answer 30

Not that one is old but one is young

Question 31

According to Henry what has been Dorian’s art?

Answer 31

Life, he has set himself to music and his days are sonnets

Question 32

How much older does Henry say he is than Dorian?

Answer 32

10 years