PODG post 2 (Ch 7-8)

"But here was the visible symbol of the degradation of sin" (VIII, 100).

This one quote represents the entire theme of the novel, or at least the basis of it.When Dorian spurns Sybil, he comes home to find a change in the painting; a slight degradation in the purity of his facade. A pattern is clearly developing; Dorian will live his life free from "the burden of his shame". Henry, in a rather misogynistic rant invoking almost every single popular Shakespearean tragedy, convinces Dorian that she should live his life free of women (and therefore purity/lack of sin because in addition to referring to women as vile and weak, and whoreish, he also refers to them as boring and regulated and therefore pure) and cherish his youth. Dorian decides to follow Henry's advice, and live without guilt, allowing the portrait to take in all of his sin.