Dorian Gray and Dr. Faustus

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer looks at the characters Dorian Gray in "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and Dr. Faustus in the play of the same name. The writer notes that in both Marlowe's and Wilde's tales of men overreaching the natural order, evil is primarily construed as transcending the natural, specifically of desiring eternal life, rather than bowing to the natural processes of change that are inherent in nature. Further, the writer points out that God's law is synonymous with nature, and both Faustus and Dorian Gray go against nature and embrace artifice and art. The writer concludes that for all of their unnaturalness and evil, the protagonists remain the most 'naturally' compelling characters of their respective dramas, given the unrealistic and 'unnatural' one-dimensionality and weakness of those individuals who are unfortunate enough to encounter Dorian and Faustus.

From the Paper:

"The seductiveness of both protagonists' ambitions for the reader, however, has provoked contradictory interpretations in the responses of critics and its more general audience. On one hand, both works seem to argue that obeying God's natural order and law regarding knowledge and morality is best. In short, do not seek to become a magician or seek to be young forever. But although Dorian Gray may read like an argument against art and artifice on one hand, it itself is a work of art. Furthermore, although "Dr. Faustus" argues against magic, the actors on the stage need to make use of 'magic' to portray the morality tale of the fall of the scholar from Wittenberg. This confuses the question of what is good or bad in both plays, especially since the 'good' characters like the old man who counsels Faustus to repent, or Basil and Sybil in Wilde's work, are the weakest characters."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Clausson, Nils. "Culture and Corruption": Paterian Self-Development versus Gothic Degeneration in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray." Papers on Language and Literature. Fall 2003. 21 Apr 2007. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3708/is_200310/ai_n9329138
• Marlowe, Christopher. "The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus." Project Gutenberg Etext. 1997. 21 Apr 2007. http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext97/drfst10a.txt
• Wilde, Oscar. The Portrait of Dorian Gray. ExtraTEXTure Etext. http://www.upword.com/wilde/dorgray.html#3

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