In the class “Angels and Demons” with Prof. Skalak we’re reading Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlow. Doctor Faustus follows the life of a scholar who sells his soul to the devil in return for a devil to do whatever he wishes. As I was looking over passages I’d marked I began to realize some interesting similarities between Dorian Gray and Faustus. I don’t mean to argue that they are the same or mirrors of each other. In the blog post I want to explore the similarities to see if there are any interesting connections to pull out of Dorian Gray.
The first connection I made was between the figure of Mephastophilis and Lord Henry. Both are introduced to the protagonist (Dorian and Faustus respectively) early in the text. Faustus summons Mephastophilis while Dorian is introduced to Harry but both are the catalyst for corruption. Another connection was the loss of the protagonists soul. For Dorian the portrait, as he states, “was to bear the burden of his shame” (Wilde 102) and for Faustus Mephastophilis/Lucifer has taken his soul. While these are not necessarily the same thing I feel like they echo each other. Both characters get something in return for their soul (and potentially their salvation depending on the religious reading of the text).
Both characters also have a doubleness. Dorian is literally doubled in the portrait. He looks at himself and uses this second self to separate himself from the actions he chooses. He does not need to see himself age or become ugly with his sin because the portrait does that for him. In Faustus the double self is more subtle but can be seen in the way that Faustus is constantly speaking to himself in the third person. When he expresses either his desire to work for the devil or his desire to repent he does so in the third person. This creates a separation from his actions because he treats them as though another person is doing them.
There is also a parallel in the way that books are discussed. Oscar Wilde explicitly states that “Dorian Gray had been poisoned by a book” (Wilde 140). This connects some of Dorians downfall to his reading dangerous literature. He read a book that influenced him so much that he becomes more corrupted than ever. In Faustus literature has a similarly corrupting function. Faustus discovers how to conjure the devil from a book. His last line before being dragged to hell is “I’ll burn my books” as though that would save him from damnation (Marlow 1508). Both of these texts reference literature as a corrupting element.
Structurally both texts follow the white male protagonist through his decent into sin and corruption. We meet the protagonist before he is damned and very early in the text the reader is shown a moment of change where both are changed and begin their journey towards damnation. Both stories end with the death of this protagonist at their own hands and at the same time by accident. Dorian attempts to destroy the portrait and destroys himself instead. Faustus sells his soul and then is unwillingly taken years later.
Now that I’ve outlined all these similarities I’m not quite sure what this tells us about these texts. Perhaps Dorian Gray is more invested in religion than it first appears. Perhaps Wilde was influenced by Marlowes work. I think that both are invested in exploring white masculinity and what that means. They explore how these men navigate their desires and influences from the world. Despite the more than two hundred years’ time difference these texts have similarities that connect them. If anyone has any other ideas about this I’m curious what you think! I was interested in the ways these two texts participate in some of the same projects but I’m not sure if it’s entirely fruitful yet. Any light ya’ll can shed is much appreciated!
Seeing as I am also in Professor Skalak’s class, I, too, found some very distinct connections between Dorian Gray and Faustus that immediately stuck out to me while reading the novel. I agreed with all the points you made, especially about the comparison between Dorian’s obvious obsession with the book and Faustus conjuring the devil from a book. I also think there is a very distinct similarity to Dorian’s obsession with a piece of literature and finding answers about himself from a book, and Faustus’s obsession with getting answers from Mephastophilis about the way the world works, and how hell compares to the mortal world. Faustus felt the need to continuously push for answers from Mephastophilis, trying to derive meaning from his Latin explanations in hopes of determining if he should go through with the deal with the devil or not, much like how Dorian studied a piece of dangerous literature in hopes of finding more out about himself. Both characters feel the incessant need to get meaning from an unreliable source, relating the play and the novel even further.
Another connection between Dorian and Faustus could be that their fates were entirely sealed when women entered into the equation. Dorian begins to be corrupted by Harry’s influence, and seems to already have made the deal to retain his youth instead of the painting getting to keep it, but then we get to Sybil. His love of her, had it be real, might have been his redeeming moment. He could have gotten married and led an acceptable life, but Sybil had to go and show how human she was rather than remaining the poem he fell in love with. Once he realized she was not just an object, that she could fail to fulfill his desires for her, he lost interest, and then barely even reacted to her death – for me, that was his moment of total corruption, his point of no return. All of Doctor Faustus, there are points where it seems that Faustus may be convinced to repent his demonology and regain his salvation. But in the end, he renews his vow with Lucifer because Mephastophilis is able to give him a heroic romp with Helen of Troy, again sealing his fate, literally, with a kiss.