The Ultimate Concern In Paul Tillich's The Picture Of Dorian Gray

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One of the cornerstones of German-American philosopher and theologian Paul Tillich’s ideas is the concept of an ultimate concern. Tillich believes that everybody has an ultimate concern or something that they desire so strongly that they would sacrifice anything and anyone to obtain it. In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde suggests that true desire, like Tillich’s ultimate concern, is capable of pushing mankind to abandon everything else in one’s life because Dorian’s desire for youth and beauty is so strong that he changes greatly to remain young and beautiful. Dorian is quick to make it known that he is willing to give anything that he has in order to stay young, including his own soul. Once Dorian achieves this, he continues to deteriorate …show more content…

While Dorian is introduced as a vain character in the beginning of the novel, it is clear that his desire to stay young forever affects him negatively and changes the ways in which he thinks and acts. Dorian Gray demonstrates the power of desire because he gives up his own soul to acquire eternal youth. In a popular German legend, Faust is an ambitious scholar whose ultimate concern is knowledge. Faust then makes a deal with the devil entailing that Faust trades his soul for unlimited knowledge. Paralleling Faust, Dorian Gray trades his soul to stop himself from aging. Almost as soon as Dorian is introduced, he makes his values very apparent by saying, “I know, now, that when one loses one’s good looks, whatever they may be, one loses everything...Youth is the only thing worth having. When I find that I am growing old, I shall kill myself.” (25) Dorian equates youth with life itself and believes that once youth is lost life

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