The Aesthetic movement developed in the intellectual circles in the last decades of the 19th century. It reflected the artist’s reaction against the materialism and the restrictive moral code of the bourgeoisie and his need to re-define the role of art.
- Against hypocrisies of Victorian values
- Started in the 1870s with the Pre-Raphaelites /pri:ˈræfəlaɪt/
- Meaning of life in Beauty
- Motto: Art for Art’s sake
Art has nothing to do with morality and doesn’t need to be didactic.
The idea was in contrast with the tendencies of the time, which were dominated by rational, scientific thought and an emphasis on what was useful; works which were didactic or expressed a moral value were praised, while entertainment for its own sake was not.
Language
- Evocative use of the language of the senses
- Hedonistic attitude
- Excessive attention to the self
Walter Pater, the founder of Aestheticism, stated that the meaning of life was to be found in beauty and beauty is reflected in art.
Dandy: a vain, a man who pays excessive attention to his appearance and rather effeminate.
Aphorism: a short and clever saying expressing a well-held truth
Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.
Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.
Women are made to be loved, not understood.
(When in 1882 he arrived in the U.S.A. in New York, at Custom Controls he said “I have nothing to declare but my genius.)
Literary caricatures: stereotypes without psychological depth.
Who was Oscar Wilde?
| Oscar Wilde was an Anglo-Irish playwright, novelist, poet, and critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest playwrights of the Victorian Era.
In his lifetime he wrote nine plays, one novel, and numerous poems, short stories, and essays. Wilde was a proponent of the Aesthetic movement, which emphasized aesthetic values more than moral or social themes. This doctrine is most clearly summarized in the phrase ‘art for art’s sake’. Besides literary accomplishments, he is also famous, or perhaps infamous, for his wit, flamboyance, and affairs with men. He was tried and imprisoned for his homosexual relationship (then considered a crime) with the son of an aristocrat. |
An easy way to revise Wilde and The Picture of Dorian Grey:
English spoken 