"The Picture of Dorian Gray," Vocabulary from Chapters 5-8

The adjective also means "of low birth or station," which can describe Sybil Vane. As an illegitimate daughter of a gentleman, she has no claims to status or wealth, so she must work in a dingy theater to pay off her family's debts. But being worshiped by Dorian Gray, who is a wealthy nobleman, makes her feel less humble and perhaps more connected to the pun on her last name ("vain" means "characteristic of false pride").

The adjective also means "not suited to your comfort, purpose or needs." Both definitions fit: the beginning of Mrs. Vane's speech focuses on timing, while the last point suggests the comforts that a rich son-in-law can provide. Thus, Mrs. Vane can forgive the inconvenient timing of her daughter's love, if it results in a marriage that could make the rest of their lives more convenient.

The chosen definition has more of an emotional connection than "an organization of people involved in a pact or treaty." But the sense of a business or political negotiation is also suggested here. Partly because of her own shallow vanity and partly having suffered because of love, Mrs. Vane focuses on wealth and uses the verb "contract" ("enter into a binding agreement that is enforceable by law") to talk about marriage.

While the example sentence with the adjective connects to the chosen definition, the entire speech is explaining how marriage and engagement are two distinct ("not alike; different in nature or quality") states that do not always imply each other. Lord Henry was married without being engaged, and Dorian's engagement does not guarantee marriage.

The adjective "fatuous" means "devoid of intelligence" and comes from the Latin "fatuus" which means "foolish, silly, insipid." Thus, the phrase "silly infatuation" is redundant. But Basil's use of the adjectives "absurd" and "silly" is not meant to be insulting; rather, it emphasizes his unwillingness to believe that the man he worships would tie his life to a woman.

The noun comes from the Late Latin "campionem" which means "gladiator, fighter, combatant in the field." When Lord Henry uses the word, he alludes to a joust between knights. He does this again later in his banter with Gladys, where a spear and shield are mentioned, and he says, "I never tilt against Beauty." While he enjoys conversational battles of wits, Lord Henry is not a fighter; rather, he prefers setting the stage for emotional conflicts and watching them play out.

The adjective also means "easily broken or damaged or destroyed." This is suggested by the comparison of Sybil to a Tanagra figurine (a realistic-looking carving of a woman made from terra cotta, about 4-6 inches high). While Dorian is focused on how beautifully artistic she is, Wilde foreshadows that Dorian's shallow love for an image rather than a person will destroy Sybil.

In the example sentence, Dorian uses the noun literally to describe a pedestal on which statues (often of gods) are placed. But what he means is that he wants to put Sybil on a figurative pedestal ("a position of great esteem") by supporting her acting career and giving her the opportunities to shine on bigger stages.

Here, the word's meaning is closer to its Latin root ("orare" means "to pray"). When Dorian declares he adores Sybil, Lord Henry admits that is better than being adored, because that is worship and that comes with requests to do things. When Lord Henry says, "I adore simple pleasures," he refers to a feeling that is less profound ("showing emotional depth").

The verb "transfigure" means "elevate or idealize, in allusion to Christ's sudden emanation of radiance." This is emphasized by the description: "There was a radiance about her." Ironically, the reason Sybil is transfigured is the same reason that Dorian no longer worships her. When Dorian rejects Sybil, she is carried away by an overwhelming emotion that is closer to the Greek "ekstasis" which means "astonishment, insanity, any displacement or removal from the proper place."

The adjective "profane" means "grossly irreverent toward what is held to be sacred." This is suggested by Sybil, who once believed "the common people who acted with me seemed to me to be godlike." But now, understanding that love is sacred, she doesn't want to cheapen it by pretending to feel it on stage. Wilde, who also wrote plays, could've been alluding to the belief that acting is sinful because it is similar to the Devil taking on different disguises to tempt humans.

While Dorian seems to be referring to his relationship with Sybil, his use of the article "the" suggests that his idea of romance was less about her and more like "a novel with idealized events remote from everyday life." The line also refers to Romanticism, which was a 19th century artistic movement that emphasized emotion, individualism, nature, and the past (in reaction to the Industrial Revolution and the scientific reasoning of the Enlightenment).

Originally, a melodrama was "a stage-play in which songs were interspersed and music accompanied the action" (the Greek "melos" means "song" and "drama" means "play, action, deed"). Later, it was "a romantic and sensational dramatic piece with a happy ending." Nowadays, it is often used to describe bad, overemotional acting. Ironically, Dorian rejects Sybil for not being melodramatic enough when she was acting, which brings out her true emotions that he finds absurdly melodramatic.

The adjective also means "confidently optimistic and cheerful." This comes from the medieval belief that these qualities were due to an excess of blood. That is not how Dorian is feeling here; the red colors (including scarlet) refer to the blood of life and passions that can lead to confusion, sorrows, and pains. But the day after learning Sybil had killed herself, Dorian shows a sanguine attitude, to which Basil responds: "You talk as if you had no heart, no pity in you."