The Picture of Dorian Gray, Chapter 4 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Where does Chapter 4 of The Picture of Dorian Gray open?

   • In Basil Hallward's studio
   • Correct answer: In the little library of Lord Henry's house in Mayfair
   • In a private box at an East End theatre
   • In Dorian Gray's house in Grosvenor Square

   The chapter opens with Dorian reclining in an armchair in the small, charmingly furnished library of Lord Henry's Mayfair home, waiting for Lord Henry to arrive.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Who first interrupts Dorian's wait in the library?

   • Basil Hallward
   • Lord Henry's valet
   • Correct answer: Lady Henry Wotton
   • The theatre manager

   Lord Henry's wife, Lady Victoria Wotton, comes in unexpectedly, introduces herself to Dorian, and chatters about Wagner and her parties before drifting away.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What opera does Lady Henry mention having seen Dorian and her husband attend?

   • Tannhauser
   • Tristan und Isolde
   • Correct answer: Lohengrin
   • The Ring of the Nibelung

   Lady Henry says she saw Dorian with Lord Henry at "dear Lohengrin," remarking that Wagner's music is loud enough that one can talk through it without being overheard.

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4. 4

   Question 4. How long has Dorian known Sibyl Vane when he tells Lord Henry about her?

   • About three days
   • Correct answer: About three weeks
   • About three months
   • Nearly a year

   When Lord Henry asks how long he has known her, Dorian answers, "About three weeks," then tells the story of wandering into the East End theatre where he first saw her.

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5. 5

   Question 5. Which Shakespeare role is Sibyl Vane playing the night Dorian first sees her?

   • Rosalind in As You Like It
   • Imogen in Cymbeline
   • Ophelia in Hamlet
   • Correct answer: Juliet in Romeo and Juliet

   Dorian tells Lord Henry that the play that night was Romeo and Juliet, and he is overwhelmed by Sibyl as a Juliet "hardly seventeen years of age, with a little, flowerlike face."

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6. 6

   Question 6. What nickname does Sibyl Vane give Dorian when they first meet backstage?

   • My Lord
   • Correct answer: Prince Charming
   • Mr. Gray
   • The Young God

   After the manager keeps calling Dorian "My Lord," Sibyl says simply, "You look more like a prince. I must call you Prince Charming" — the name James Vane will later try to track down.

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7. 7

   Question 7. Which of Lord Henry's epigrams about marriage appears in Chapter 4?

   • "Marriage is the one really romantic episode in a man's life."
   • Correct answer: "Men marry because they are tired; women, because they are curious: both are disappointed."
   • "The only way to behave to a woman is to make love to her, if she is pretty, and to some one else, if she is plain."
   • "Women treat us just as humanity treats its gods."

   Lord Henry advises Dorian, "Never marry at all, Dorian. Men marry because they are tired; women, because they are curious: both are disappointed," extending his cynical view of conventional life.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What does Lord Henry decide Dorian's love for Sibyl is, after Dorian leaves?

   • Proof that Dorian has a moral conscience
   • A reason to abandon his experiment with Dorian
   • Correct answer: A psychological phenomenon worth observing
   • An ordinary infatuation that will pass quickly

   Alone after Dorian's departure, Lord Henry reflects that Dorian's sudden mad love for Sibyl Vane is "a psychological phenomenon of no small interest" and a fascinating subject for his experimental study of human passion.

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9. 9

   Question 9. How does Chapter 4 end?

   • With Dorian and Sibyl meeting in the greenroom
   • With Basil arriving at Lord Henry's house
   • Correct answer: With a telegram announcing Dorian's engagement to Sibyl
   • With Sibyl's first performance for Lord Henry and Basil

   When Lord Henry returns home about half past twelve, he finds a telegram on the hall table from Dorian announcing that he is engaged to be married to Sibyl Vane.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Which of the following events actually happen in Chapter 4?

    • Lady Henry chats with Dorian about Wagner before Lord Henry arrives.

      Happened

    • Dorian wanders into an East End theatre and watches Sibyl Vane play Juliet.

      Happened

    • Dorian arranges for Lord Henry and Basil to come see Sibyl perform.

      Happened

    • Basil Hallward arrives at Lord Henry's house and quarrels with Dorian.

      Didn't happen

    • Lord Henry receives a telegram announcing Dorian's engagement to Sibyl Vane.

      Happened

    • Dorian destroys Basil's portrait of him at the end of the chapter.

      Didn't happen

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11. 11

    Question 11. In Lord Henry's saying that "punctuality is the thief of time," the word "punctuality" most nearly means:

    • Politeness in conversation
    • Correct answer: The habit of being exactly on time
    • A tendency to interrupt
    • Strictness about dress

    Punctuality is the practice of arriving or doing things exactly at the appointed time. Lord Henry inverts the proverb "procrastination is the thief of time" to mock conventional virtue.

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12. 12

    Question 12. Lord Henry uses the phrase "a grande passion is the privilege of people who have nothing to do." A "grande passion" is:

    • A grand public ceremony
    • A short-lived flirtation
    • Correct answer: A great, all-consuming love affair
    • A formal aristocratic title

    "Grande passion" is a French phrase meaning a great, overwhelming love — the kind of consuming romance Dorian believes he feels for Sibyl Vane.

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13. 13

    Question 13. Wilde describes the theatre's auditorium as a "tawdry affair, all Cupids and cornucopias." "Tawdry" means:

    • Correct answer: Cheap, gaudy, and showy
    • Quiet and refined
    • Ancient and crumbling
    • Brightly lit and welcoming

    "Tawdry" means showy and cheap in a way that suggests poor taste — appropriate for the third-rate East End theatre Dorian describes as resembling a wedding-cake.

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