Concetti Chiave
- The aesthetic movement arose in the late 19th century as a reaction against Victorian materialism, emphasizing "Art for art's sake" and redefining art's role.
- Proponents of "art for art's sake" rejected the Victorian idea of art teaching moral lessons, instead valuing art for its ability to provide immediate pleasure.
- The aesthetic movement believed art to be superior to life, as art could achieve perfection and endure over time, unlike the transient nature of human existence.
- In "The Portrait of Dorian Gray," the painting symbolizes Dorian's eternal beauty and moral decay, revealing the consequences of his pact for everlasting youth.
- The novel's moral is that excess leads to punishment and reality is inescapable, illustrated by Dorian's death when he attempts to destroy the revealing portrait.
The origin of the aesthetic movement
At the end of the nineteenth century, a new movement was developed as a reaction to Victorian materialistic values: the aesthetic movement. It reflected the sense of frustration of the artist, his refusal to the materialism and his need to redefine the role of art. The aesthetic movement is an anti victorian reaction and was influenced by a philosopher Water Peter who introduced a new idea of beauty and life: “Art for art’s sake”
The philosophy of art for art's sake
Differently from all the Victorian writers, whose main intention was that of teaching, according to those writers’ view, art should give some lessons and should be moralistic.
On the contrary, those new writers who were totally against the Victorians, didn’t want to be didactic, they didn’t want to teach anything to anyone, because they believed that art is only an art that gives pleasure, so art must be appreciated for its immediate pleasure.
The superiority of art over life
The aesthetic movement is a cult for beauty because they were strongly convinced that art was superior to life because art in their view can be made perfect (it’s a paradox, because life could only copy art, to become perfect).
Moreover, art is everlasting, differently from men, who have a very limited period of time.
This is the only novel he wrote, in fact as he was a playwright (he mainly wrote plays). The setting is the
The portrait of Dorian Gray
Dorian Gray was a young man whose beauty fascinated a painter, Basil Hallward, who decided to portray him. At the beginning, Dorian was not interested in being painted, but Lord Henry convinced him saying that he was so beautiful that his beauty should be stopped on a painting. He reflected also on the passing of time, that would change Dorian’s body and beauty. Dorian is so shocked by this, that in the end he decides to accept being painted, because only the painting could maintain Dorian’s beauty forever.
The pact of Dorian and its consequences
However, at the moment of accepting the eternity of his youth, Dorian made a kind of agreement with the devil, and he spent all the following years having a beautiful life, with the result that he was always young.
He committed also a lot of crimes (when he met the painter Basil, they had a discussion because the painting was revealing little by little all the ugliness that represented all the crimes committed by Dorian, so while Dorian went on being always beautiful, young and attractive, the painting showed the corruption that belonged to Dorian, and when Basil’s painting was not so beautiful as he painted it, Dorian killed the painter. After that, he locked the painting into a room not to be seen by everyone because the painting was very ugly.
The painting represented the double, Dorian’s soul which was dark and criminal.
So, the painting represented all the negative aspects of Dorian’s crimes.
The death of Dorian and the moral
For some mysterious reason, Dorian stubbed the painting, and since that moment, the painting became beautiful again. But in that moment he died.
The moral of this novel is that every excess must be punished and reality cannot be escaped, in fact when Dorian destroys the picture, he cannot avoid the punishment, that is death.
Domande da interrogazione
- What prompted the emergence of the aesthetic movement in the late nineteenth century?
- How did the philosophy of "art for art's sake" differ from Victorian views on art?
- Why did the aesthetic movement consider art superior to life?
- What role does the portrait play in Dorian Gray's story?
- What is the moral lesson conveyed through the death of Dorian Gray?
The aesthetic movement emerged as a reaction to Victorian materialistic values, reflecting artists' frustration and their desire to redefine the role of art, influenced by the philosophy of "Art for art's sake."
Unlike Victorian writers who believed art should be moralistic and teach lessons, proponents of "art for art's sake" argued that art should be appreciated solely for its immediate pleasure, without any didactic purpose.
The movement viewed art as superior because it could achieve perfection and was everlasting, unlike human life, which is transient and imperfect.
The portrait of Dorian Gray serves as a symbol of his eternal beauty and the corruption of his soul, reflecting the consequences of his pact for eternal youth and the crimes he commits.
The novel conveys that every excess must be punished and reality cannot be escaped, as demonstrated by Dorian's death when he attempts to destroy the painting that reveals his true nature.
Accedi a tutti gli appunti
Tutor AI: studia meglio e in meno tempo
