In a similar way, Wilde doesn't say what secret Dorian holds over Campbell. In this way, Wilde draws readers closer to the story. Wilde surely could have been more specific about Dorian's secretive passions, but he deliberately keeps the issue vague so that readers must define sin for themselves.
Throughout the novel, Wilde only hints at the nature of Dorian's secret life, leaving the reader to wonder what sins Dorian commits. However, there is no sign of Basil Howard. When Dorian enters the attic room, he detects a horrible smell. The scientist curtly states that he has done what he was asked to do and hopes never to see Dorian again. Dorian is waiting downstairs in the library when Campbell enters, pale but calm, well after seven that evening.
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The job takes the full five hours that Campbell has predicted. Dorian hastily covers the portrait, and Campbell brings in his equipment. Momentarily, the portrait seems more real and horrible to Dorian than Basil's corpse. wet and glistening" on one of the hands in the picture. Upstairs, Dorian discovers that he forgot to cover the portrait when he left the room the previous night. When Dorian reminds him that he has no choice, Campbell finally gives in he writes a list of the required equipment, and Francis is dispatched to Campbell's laboratory to pick up the supplies. Campbell makes one last, lame effort to avoid helping Dorian. He threatens to send the letter unless Campbell cooperates. Dorian expresses pity for Campbell's situation but announces that he has already written a letter regarding the secret. As the scientist reads the brief note, he turns white and falls back in his chair. When Campbell still refuses to help, Dorian writes a few words on a piece of paper and gives the secret message to Campbell. The job will be no worse than many that Campbell has performed on corpses at the morgue.
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He pleads with Campbell to help, reasoning that because Campbell often works with corpses, he will know how to destroy a body. He blames the victim for shaping his life, although perhaps unwittingly. Campbell interrupts, saying that he does not want to hear more about the matter.ĭorian first claims that the body is that of a suicide but finally admits to having committed murder. He is there only because Dorian's letter mentioned a "matter of life and death."ĭorian confirms the graveness of the situation and confides that there is a corpse in the attic room, dead now ten hours. Finally, the servant announces Campbell's arrival.Ĭampbell clearly feels bitterly hostile toward Dorian. In a typically self-centered moment, Dorian imagines a "hideous future" for himself. Time passes so slowly that it seems to stop.
The man had been a close friend of Dorian's five years before, but their friendship ended abruptly. Campbell is a passionate scientist, very knowledgeable, and has his own laboratory. He grows increasingly more nervous and wonders what he will do if he cannot find Alan Campbell. Especially touched by a poem about Venice, he is momentarily transported from the horrible situation he finds himself in.Īs he thinks about Venice, he suddenly recalls that Basil was with him during his last visit there although he tries to read other poems, his attempts to distract himself fail and he is drawn back to the reality of the murder. It is Théophile Gautier's Emaux et Camées, a book of poems that inspired other French Aesthetes, including Charles Baudelaire. Finally, he pulls a book at random from the shelf.
He sketches, but every drawing he does reminds him of Basil. He writes two letters, sticking one in his pocket and directing Francis, his newly hired servant, to deliver the other to Mr. Dorian feels that he must take action reasonably soon.Īt breakfast, he looks at the morning mail. Basil is still in the attic room, sitting dead in the sunlight. The next morning, Dorian wakes from a long and untroubled sleep, but the events of the previous night begin to bother him.
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