Concetti Chiave
- Oscar Wilde was a notable figure in Victorian society, known for his wit, eccentricity, and successful comedies in London theatres.
- Despite being married with children, Wilde's homosexual relationship with Lord Douglas led to his imprisonment and subsequent poverty in Paris.
- Wilde's works often highlighted the societal contradictions of the Victorian Age, emphasizing beauty and art over moral codes.
- The Aesthetic Movement, influenced by Wilde and theorized by Walter Pater, emphasized the sensory experience of beauty.
- Wilde's concept of the dandy presented a refined, pleasure-seeking individual who challenged Victorian norms through extravagant behavior.
Life
He was born in Dublin, in 1854.
He was eccentric and quite witty. He has got a degree in literature.
He had a lot of success with his comedies, they were represented in all London theatres. He started wearing in a very extravagant way: he wanted to be noticed to everyone.
He was married and he had two children. He had a homosexual relationship with Lord Douglas, a very spoilt young man: he was accused and condemn to prison.
Wilde was a very unusual man in the Victorian society. He died in Paris in poverty in 1900.
His works are paradoxical: they have got some truth and they are a way to describe and to mark the society.
In the Victorian Age the appearance was very important. Society was false, superficial and materialistic. Oscar Wilde replace the moral code with his own values: beauty, art and youth (hedonistic values).
Aesthetic movement
Aesthetic comes from Greek ‘aestesis’ it means ‘to feel’. You fell sensation when you see something beautiful. Wilde was an aesthete, as Dorian, he fells sensation when he sees something beautiful. Walter Pater is the theorist of the Aesthetic Movement.
Dandy
The dandy is the English reaction to the Victorian life-style. In France we have the Bohemian ( the chose of a life poor, without luxury ).
Wilde introduced a new hero: the aesthete. Dandy loves beautiful things, he’s a pleasure seeking person and he knows what is wrong and what is right. He pays attention to clothes, he is rich and rafined person, but is also someone who loves extravagant behavior.
Life as a work of art
Art is the only form of eternity that we have. This concept is taken by Keats. ‘Art for art sake’, art gives you pleasure, you can’t love it.
Domande da interrogazione
- Quali sono stati i principali successi di Oscar Wilde nella sua carriera?
- Come si inserisce Oscar Wilde nel contesto della società vittoriana?
- Chi è il dandy e come si collega al movimento estetico?
Oscar Wilde ha avuto molto successo con le sue commedie, che sono state rappresentate in tutti i teatri di Londra. Era noto per il suo stile di vita eccentrico e il suo modo di vestire stravagante.
Oscar Wilde era un uomo molto insolito nella società vittoriana, che era caratterizzata da apparenze importanti, falsità e materialismo. Ha sostituito il codice morale con i suoi valori di bellezza, arte e giovinezza, tipici del movimento estetico.
Il dandy è la reazione inglese allo stile di vita vittoriano. È un amante delle cose belle, alla ricerca del piacere, e presta attenzione ai vestiti. Oscar Wilde ha introdotto il dandy come un nuovo eroe, collegandolo al movimento estetico che valorizza la bellezza e l'arte.
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