We have developed an analytical method to describe the optical properties of nanoparticles, whose results are in agreement with the observed experimental behavior according to the size of the nanoparticle under analysis. Our considerations to describe plasmonic absorption and dispersion are based on the combination of the two-level molecular system and the two-dimensional quantum box models. Employing the optical stochastic Bloch equations, we have determined the system's coherence, from which we have calculated expressions for the absorption coefficient and refractive index. The innovation of this methodology is that it allows us to take into account the solvent environment, which induce quantum effects not considered by classical treatments. © 2010 World Scientific Publishing Company.