Picture of Dorian Gray V: Ch. 7-8

When Dorian arrives home after leaving Sibyl, he finds his environment to be simultaneously bland and iridescent. When he looks at his surroundings, he sees "the silent Square with its blank close-shuttered windows and staring blinds" (65). Wilde not only portrays the lack of color in this scene, but also does so using strong word choice. Between the silence, the "blank close-shuttered windows" and the "blinds" (due to the other meaning of "blind"), Wilde vividly illustrates a monochromatic, gray color scheme. This contrasts with the "pure opal" of the sky, the roofs that "glistened like silver," the "violet riband" of smoke and the "nacre-coloured" air (65). These terms all describe a colorful, shiny scene, which contrasts with the utterly bland image presented immediately prior. This contrast is symbolic of the two different performances that Sibyl had presented, and the two different attitudes that Dorian held towards her. Initially, Sibyl performed beautifully, and Dorian saw her as his perfect gemstone, both of which are symbolized by the iridescence; later, Sibyl's performance was entirely bland, and Dorian's emotions towards her die completely. Strangely, the order is inverted in this passage, forming chiasmus between the plot of the story and this passage. Chiasmus can sometimes, as here, refer to something that should be self-evident; in this context, the chiasmus would indicate that it should be obvious that this is the clear and inevitable fate of their relationship.