The Picture of Dorian Gray, English research help: Oscar Wilde’s The Picture
Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray alludes to the Faust legend, in which a man sells his soul to the devil in order to obtain what he desires, despite the fact that the devil does not actually appear in Wilde’s novel. In the various incarnations of the Faust story, that for which the protagonist sells his soul is indicative of the values of the age, or at least those of the author. For what is Dorian Gray willing to sell his soul? What does this tell you about the values of Oscar Wilde and his circle of friends, the so-called aesthetes? Describe those values using specific quotations from the novel and evaluate them on the basis of Scripture.