Yet she was curiously listless. She showed no sign of joy when her eyes rested on Romeo. The few words she had to speak…with the brief dialogue that follows, were spoken in a thoroughly artificial manner. The voice was exquisite, but from that point of view of tone it was absolutely false.
– Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Chapter 7. Sibyl plays Juliet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, to which Dorian has invited Henry and Basil. Dorian observes how poorly she performs her art, her performance is artificial and listless. Sibyl’s depiction of the tragic heroine in the classic tragedy about two star-crossed lovers is foreshadowing of the disaster that will strike her own love relationship with Dorian.