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Humanity: The devil's playground

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Humanity: The devil's playground
Humanity: The Devil’s Playground
Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is a mythological tale of a young boy’s coming to age in Victorian high society. Dorian is unveiled innocent and shaded from the world. He is born with genetic gifts that some people can only dream of such as beauty and charm. The death of Dorian’s grandfather left him alone and vulnerable with a few years to spare before Dorian inherits his “gentleman” status. Unluckily for Dorian, this is a perfect opportunity for the devil to play. The first character introduced was not Dorian Gray but Lord Henry Wotton who corrupts Dorian into a hedonistic lifestyle which ultimately leads to his demise. Legend depicts the devil wearing many faces and this proves true as he wore the face of Lord Henry Wotton while influencing Dorian throughout his Faustian Bargain.
A Faustian bargain derived from the German legend of Dr. Faust who made a deal with the devil in exchange for knowledge. The story became so popular and rewritten over time that Dr. Faust’s tale became known as a Faustian Bargain. There are many similarities between the old legend and the story of Dorian Gray. Both characters are willing to exchange their soul for something beyond their mortal limits. For Dr. Faust it was knowledge but for Dorian it was youth. Also in both stories, an innocent girl’s life is destroyed by the corruption of the two characters under the influence of the devil. During their decent towards evil, both Dr. Faustian and Dorian fall further under the influence of the devil committing all of the seven deadly sins until their ultimate demise. Dr. Faust was not the first tale of dealing with the devil just one of the more popular stories. The devil wears many faces and may appear in any shape or form in which he chooses making it impossible to determine who he will influence next (Kulik,195-220).
Lord Henry’s interest in Dorian spawned from Basil’s obsession with the boy. Lord Henry could not influence Basil with his
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