Research Proposal for MA Thesis

Zuzana Vesel
The Reinterpretation of the Faustian Myth in Oscar Wildes
Picture of Dorian Gray
In my thesis I would like to analyse Oscar Wildes reinterpretation of
the Faustian myth in his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. In
particular I wish to examine Wildes understanding of what
constitutes as knowledge, and focus on his exploration of the
humanist ideal of learning and the danger of overstepping the
human boundaries in comparison with the story of Faustus as told
by J. W. Goethe. In doing so I hope not only to provide a holistic
portrait of the scope and nature of Wildes inspiration by the myth
and Goethes version in particular but also to find the new questions
and nuances that his reinterpretation poses.
Oscar Wildes tendency to incorporate familiar myths and stories
into his work is well known and has been made legendary by the
letter he received from The Oxford Union upon their rejection of his
first self-published volume of poems: [the poems] are for the most
part not by their putative father at all, but by a number of betterknown and more deservedly reputed authors. They are in fact
by William Shakespeare, by Philip Sidney, by John Donne, by Lord
Byron, by William Morris, by Algernon Swinburne, and by sixty
more."1 The view of Wildes use of existing work as mere plagiarism
however is in most cases very simplistic. While it is widely
understood that The Picture of Dorian Gray is closely linked to the
myth of Faustus, most comparisons focus on the superficial
similarities between the two works such as the notion of selling
ones soul to the Devil and the Mephistophelean nature of Lord
Henry Wotton or the gothic atmosphere evident in the second half of
the novel. Surprisingly few critical works focus on studying this link
in greater detail.
As I came to appreciate while analysing Wildes use of the myth of
Narcissus in his poem in prose, The Disciple, through reworking wellknown tales Wilde reveals many new, yet logical aspects of the story
that were previously overlooked. He often engages the principle of
mirroring, both literal and metaphorical to provide these new views.
This is very much the case with the Faustian myth too despite
Wildes distinctively light writing style he creates a deeply unsettling
world, in which he reveals not only the corruption and the
importance of ethics but also the immense attraction of knowledge.
Wildes self-proclaimed projection into all of the three main
characters only serves to heighten this paradox. The world Wilde
1 SLOAN, John. Authors in Context: Oscar Wilde. United Kingdom:
Oxfords World Classics. 2009. 240p. ISBN 9780199555215, p. 156

presents in its abundance of distraction and fleeting beauty feels

very familiar making the story relevant beyond its period of
publication.
I would like to structure my study around three key concepts
common to both texts the notion of knowledge, of evil and the
nature of the soul. Below I provide a very simple (and tentative)
outline. Naturally the study will aim to specify the exact meaning
these key words have within the respective texts and examine how
the older has influenced the newer. I would also like to include the
analysis of other influences that have affected both works the
shared heritage of classical humanism as well as the more recent
influences that have affected Wildes reinterpretation such as the
oeuvres of Walter Pater and John Ruskin. In the last part I hope to
bring the previous findings together and focus on how Wilde
achieves new interpretations of the Faustian myth through the effect
of mirroring as mentioned above; the portrait and the novel itself
being obviously the self-referential ultimate mirror.

The Treatment of Knowledge

o What constitutes as knowledge in the novel:
understanding and experiencing life in its every sensory
aspect
Aestheticism & decadence (senses) linked to
Walter Pater
Traditional humanist heritage linked to both
Goethe and Ruskin
o Defining the human limitations to knowledge through
and in art (the poisonous book, the portrait)
o The appeal of knowledge the book is ambivalent in its
position
The Perception and Treatment of Evil
o What are the links between the Faustian characters and
Wildes characters, in particular Mephistopheles and
Lord Wotton but also Dorians gradual development into
a Mephistopheles of his own
o The notion of morality, both as understood by the
society and as built up in Wildes novel
The Nature of Soul
o The principle of multiple mirroring, the notion of
projection
o The role of religion
o The meaning of life and art as expressed in the works

As I have studied Oscar Wilde previously, I am familiar with some of

the basic secondary literary sources already and have them at home
I wrote my bachelor thesis on the economic and legal conditions of

playwrights in Victorian London with Oscar Wilde as my case study.

Many of these sources will be useful for this thesis too however I
would like to focus my research especially on the primary resources
such as Wildes letters. Richard Ellmann mentions in his biography
for example that Wilde has asked for the original copy of Goethes
Faustus while in the Reading Gaol however it would be prudent to
find out whether it was in Wildes possession or whether he has
mentioned it prior to writing of the novel. Fortunately as his letters
are published and widely available I believe obtaining resources
should not pose a significant problem. As I have not studied Goethe
before in greater depth I will need to research further the useful
secondary sources beyond those I am listing in the suggested
bibliography.
The main obstacle that I can perceive at the moment would be the
existence of an MA thesis by Stafan D. Pantovi, titled Faustian
Tropes in Oscar Wildes Picture of Dorian Gray. I have read this work
and while the topic seems very similar on the surface to my thesis
proposal, its author focuses singularly on the comparison with
Christopher Marlows Doctor Faustus and describes mostly the outer
rather than inner similarities. My second obstacle lies in my
linguistic skills while I will be able to read Wildes, Paters and
Ruskins work and letters in original as well as Wildes French
influences such as Haysmanss novel A Rebours, I will have to rely
on a translation of Goethes text as I cannot read German. However
as it is not clear that Wilde read the original Faustus in German prior
to his imprisonment (that is several years after publishing The
Picture of Dorian Gray) and in his letters questioned his own
knowledge of German I hope this obstacle should not disable me
from writing this thesis.
The main reason for my choice of topic lies in my own fascination by
the paradox Wilde presents. As I attempted to pin down the reason
why The Picture of Dorian Gray remains such a polarizing book even
two centuries later (beyond the slightly terrifying nature in which
Wilde fulfilled his aphorism claiming life imitates art) I concluded it
is the ambiguous nature of the book. It is at once (and has been
since the time of its first publishing) considered to be the chief
example of the aesthetic literary movement, passionately so while
at the same time uncovering the inevitable moral corruption of the
movements very core principles and beliefs. It adores pure beauty
and demonstrates beauty cannot stay pure. It celebrates the
hedonist approach to the knowledge of life yet shows it is ultimately
perverse. It cautions that one should seek moderation but in itself
entirely fails to be moderate in any sense. I hope following it to its
Faustian roots will provide deeper understanding and uncover the
subtle twists Wilde made to change the reflection of his work.
Suggested Bibliography:

BOYLE, Nicholas & GUTHRIE, John. Goethe and the English-Speaking

World: Essays from the Cambridge Symposium for His 250th
Anniversary. United Kngdom: Camden House. 2002. 291 p. ISBN
1571132317
BRIDGWATER, Patrick. Oscar Wilde and Germany: Germany and
Oscar Wilde, 1999
ELLMANN, Richard. Oscar Wilde. Great Britain: Penguin Books Ltd,
1987, 632 p. ISBN 0394759842
GOETHE, Johann Wolfgang von, translated by COLERIDGE Samuel
Taylor. Faustus from the German of Goethe. New ed. /. United
Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2007 (first publication 1834). 384
p. ISBN 0199229686
HARRIS, Frank. Oscar Wilde: His Life and Confessions. New York :
Brentano's. 1916. 354 p.
HUYSMANS, Joris-Karl. A Rebours. Paris, 1934.
MATURIN, Charles Robert a Chris BALDICK, GRANT, Douglas
(ed.).Melmoth the wanderer. World's classics pbk. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1989. World's classics. ISBN 0-19-282199-7.
OATES, Joyce Carol. "The Picture of Dorian Gray": Wilde's Parable of
the Fall. USA: University of Chicago Press, 1980
POWELL, Kerry. Oscar Wilde in Context. United Kingdom: Cambridge
University Press, 2013, 402 p. ISBN 1107016134
RIQUELME, John Paul. "Oscar Wilde's Aesthetic Gothic: Walter Pater,
Dark Enlightenment, and The Picture of Dorian Gray." MFS Modern
Fiction Studies 46.3 (2000): 609-631. Project MUSE. Web. 29 Feb.
2016. <https://muse.jhu.edu/>.
SLOAN, John. Authors in Context: Oscar Wilde. United Kingdom:
Oxfords World Classics. 2009. 240p. ISBN 9780199555215
SMITH, Philip E. & HELFAND Michael S. Oscar Wilde's Oxford
Notebooks: A Portrait of Mind in the Making. United Kingdom: Oxford
University Press. 1989. ISBN 0195051335
WILDE, Oscar, Merlin HOLLAND a Rupert HART-DAVIS. The complete
letters of Oscar Wilde. 1st ed. New York: Henry Holt, c2000. ISBN
0805059156.
WILDE, Oscar. The picture of Dorian Gray. London: Penguin Books,
1994. Penguin popular classics. ISBN 0140620338.

WOMACK, Kenneth. Withered, Wrinkled, and Loathsome of Visage:

Reading the Ethics of the Soul and the Late-Victorian Gothic in
Wildes The Picture of Dorian Gray. Victorian Gothic: Literary and
Cultural Manifestations in the Nineteenth Century. Basingstoke:
Palgrave 2000
Constantin Behler. "The Politics of Aesthetic Humanism: Schillers
German Idea of Freedom." Goethe Yearbook20.1 (2013): 223246. Project MUSE. Web. 29 Feb. 2016. <https://muse.jhu.edu/>.