Wilde moving away from a strictly Christian interpretation
Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:05 am
I am probably not the right person to lead a discussion on The picture of Dorian Gray, however, I would like to comment on the novel.
I don't know if you asked yourself why Mr.Wilde didn't give the Devil an active role in his novel-I think the 'Devil' was not present as a character who takes part in events. Goethe and Mikhail Bulgakov gave Devil a key role to act from the very beginning of their works.
I think Wilde was trying to move away from a strictly Christian interpretation. Since we all know the story of Faust, I think we're pre-programmed to just automatically assume Dorian sold his soul to the Devil. But there's little in the actual text that supports that. Whether or not it's the Devil that gives Dorian his eternal youth, the story is about Dorian's psychological decline - not some supernatural scare tactics.
I really truly think you can discuss the book without bringing questions of God and the Devil into it. I think one of the reasons Dorian Gray is such a great novel is because it's one of the earliest to show the sort of internal conflict and psychological decay that marks modern novels. The Devil is NOT Dorian's enemy; Dorian is Dorian's enemy.
Or, if you insist on seeing a Devil figure in the novel, I think you can look no further than Lord Henry. After all, one reading of the novel is that Dorian's decline is Lord Henry's fault. He's the bad influence that first makes Dorian realize his own beauty...giving him his vanity. Dorian is addicted to the man, even though he knows that Lord Henry isn't the best moral compass. I believe there are a few passages where Lord Henry is described in devil-like terms.
I would like to know your thinking on this theme.
I don't know if you asked yourself why Mr.Wilde didn't give the Devil an active role in his novel-I think the 'Devil' was not present as a character who takes part in events. Goethe and Mikhail Bulgakov gave Devil a key role to act from the very beginning of their works.
I think Wilde was trying to move away from a strictly Christian interpretation. Since we all know the story of Faust, I think we're pre-programmed to just automatically assume Dorian sold his soul to the Devil. But there's little in the actual text that supports that. Whether or not it's the Devil that gives Dorian his eternal youth, the story is about Dorian's psychological decline - not some supernatural scare tactics.
I really truly think you can discuss the book without bringing questions of God and the Devil into it. I think one of the reasons Dorian Gray is such a great novel is because it's one of the earliest to show the sort of internal conflict and psychological decay that marks modern novels. The Devil is NOT Dorian's enemy; Dorian is Dorian's enemy.
Or, if you insist on seeing a Devil figure in the novel, I think you can look no further than Lord Henry. After all, one reading of the novel is that Dorian's decline is Lord Henry's fault. He's the bad influence that first makes Dorian realize his own beauty...giving him his vanity. Dorian is addicted to the man, even though he knows that Lord Henry isn't the best moral compass. I believe there are a few passages where Lord Henry is described in devil-like terms.
I would like to know your thinking on this theme.