The Picture of Dorian Gray Chapter 10

Dorian asks Victor--after wondering if Victor has ever wanted to take a peek at the painting--to call in the housekeeper, Mrs. Leaf, and to call two men from the frame shop as well. He tells Mrs. Leaf to get him the key for the old schoolroom, which has not been opened in five years since his grandfather was alive; she tells him how dirty it is, but he says he just wants to see it. She gives him the key. Alone with the portrait, he thinks about how ugly the portrait will become. Maybe he should have told Basil so he could have saved him, but it is too late. It is inevitable the evil that will happen.

Victor comes in, saying that the framers are here. Dorian scribbles a note to Lord Henry asking for something to read so as to occupy Victor so he doesn't see where the portrait is going, and Mr. Hubbard, the framer, comes in with his assistant. He asks them to move the heavy portrait to the schoolroom, and as they are doing so, he remembers his childhood in the old schoolroom, where his grandfather had kept him to get rid of him. For a moment he thinks that maybe, if he lives a good life, the portrait will be able to be seen again; but realizes that even if it is not ruined by sin, it will be ruined by age. He thanks the men for their work, leaves the room, and locks it.

Topic Tracking: Beauty 7

He finds that he has a note from Lord Henry, with a book to read and the newspaper as well, and thinks about Victor. He has heard stories about men being blackmailed by servants. He opens the paper and reads the notice of Sibyl's death, marked in red pen. He thinks how ugly this was for Lord Henry to mark the passage. He begins to read the book, a psychological study of a young man in Paris, and becomes so enthralled that he is late for his dinner with Lord Henry. He tells Lord Henry it is his fault for sending the book.