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Oscar Wilde

ilaria_menis

Created on February 26, 2024

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Transcript

Oscar Wilde

Irishstudied at Trinity College Dublin moved to London (writer) travelled to America (met important writers)

sent to prison (homosexuality) broken man went on exile to France

DANDY

refined man; taste for elegance/attention to physical appearance; use of wit; shocking effect on people.

unmasked the absurdities of Victorian morality

DECADENT ARTIST

embraced the philosophy of Aestheticism

beauty is the supreme value of art

AESTHETICISM

Art movement (developed in Europe - end of the 19th century)reaction to the utilitarian philosophy of the Industrial revolution.

Main ideas:

  • art exists for the sake of beauty;
  • art has no moral or didactic purpose.

‘decadent’ artists such as C. Baudelaire, S. Mallarmé, J.K. Huysmans.

esthetical ideal: ‘my life is like a work of art’vs the didacticism of Victorian novels

ARTIST: creator of BEAUTIFUL THINGS

ART: used only to celebrate BEAUTY and the SENSORIAL PLEASURES

VIRTUE/VICE: used by the artist as RAW MATERIAL in his works

"No artist has ethical sympathies"

1891

  • manifesto of English Aestheticism
  • attacked as an immoral work
PLOT

Dorian Gray is a beautiful, rich young man. He sacrifices his soul to stay young and beautiful (as in his portrait)

hedonistic life of pleasure, sin, crime, and corruption BUT he remains beautiful and young.

WHILE he portrait becomes ugly and reveals Dorian’s real moral status.

At the end of the novel, Dorian stabs his portrait (he kills himself)

Dorian: a horrible old manPortrait: its original beauty

MAIN THEMES

BEAUTY = unique purpose of human life

Dangers of a purely hedonistic life

DUALITY OF HUMAN NATURE the portrait = Dorian’s conscience and his real self

Criticism of VICTORIAN SUPERFICIALITY and cult of external beauty

Rejection of BOURGEOIS MORALITY

Dorian'sdouble life

He has an INNOCENT APPEARANCE

He leads a DEPRAVED LIFE

The DUALITY of Dorian’s nature mirrors the CONTRASTS of the VICTORIAN AGE:

ARTS AND PROGRESS vs POVERTY AND EXPLOITATION;

MORALITY vs DEPRAVITY

DUALITY of Dorian’s nature: contrast between his inner and outer self:

INNER SELF:

OUTER SELF:

  • beautiful
  • pure
  • forever young
  • respectable
  • depraved
  • immoral
  • criminal
  • degraded
STYLISTIC FEATURES

3RD-PERSON UNOBTRUSIVE NARRATOR

SUPERNATURAL ELEMENTS

(Gothic tradition)

use of dialogue

to reveal the CHARACTERS’ THOUGHTS