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The Picture Of Dorian Gray And Doctor Faustus Analysis

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“Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (James 1:15). In The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe; the character progression in the protagonists of both novels is the epitome of one’s demise from greed. Both Dr. Faustus and Dorian Gray had desires out of their mortal reach, fueling their deals with Evil for the lust that dwelt within them. However our titular characters had different motivations that fueled their sin, with this motivation ultimately turning to regret in the end. Despite the opportunity to repent, both protagonists chose their desires instead, leading them down a path towards damnation. Both Dorian Gray and Dr. Faustus had self-serving aspirations that goaded both characters to covenant with demonic powers; however what these aspirations the immoral protagonists had differed. Dorian Gray was an innocent youth that went down a course of exceptional hedonism under the influence of Lord Henry and his own volition. Dorian’s journey starts when witnessing Basil’s portrait of him stating, “If it was I who were to be forever young, and the picture that were to grow old!” unknowingly selling his soul through the words, “I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give!” (Wilde 42). It was this desire to stay eternally youthful that allows Dorian to freely experience society’s vices. The furthest extent of Dorian’s sin was his murder of former friend Basil, who wishes to have Dorian’s influence, “be for good, not for evil” but in the end this opportunity for redemption was literally stabbed in the back (Wilde 197). This climax of Dorian’s wickedness leads him to question his actions and the dualist nature between his angelic appearance and devilish essence; the guilt of his sins weighing heavily on Dorian’s mind. Dorian reminisces of the past stating:
Was it really true that one could never change? He felt a wild longing for the unstained purity of his boyhood,— his rose-white boyhood, as Lord Henry had once called it. He knew that he had tarnished himself, filled his mind with corruption, and given horror to his fancy; that he had been an evil influence

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