Concetti Chiave
- Aestheticism emerged in 19th-century France and England as a reaction against Victorian materialism, prioritizing beauty and sensation over morality and social responsibility.
- Oscar Wilde, influenced by Pater, embodied the "dandy" lifestyle, valuing elegance and refinement as symbols of spiritual superiority.
- Wilde's imprisonment marked a significant spiritual change, leading to his eventual move to Paris, where he spent his final days in solitude.
- "The Picture of Dorian Gray" employs an unobtrusive third-person narrator who reveals characters' depths through dialogue, with flat/static characters like Henry.
- The preface of "The Picture of Dorian Gray," added later, became the aestheticism manifesto, emphasizing "art for art's sake" and rejecting didacticism.
Aestheticism
literary movement which developed in the university and intellectual circles of the 19th century (France and England). The main exponents where Pater and Ruskin.
It can be considered:
-reaction against Victorian materialism and earnestness (morality, social responsibility)
-refusal of art as a public duty. Art had not didactic role.
Principles of aestheticism:
-the cult of beauty
-pleasure, the quest for sensation and excess.
-they believe in art for art's sake= independence of art from political, moral
Art was useless
Life
he wrote a letter about his whole life, written in prison called De Prufundis.
1 He went to Oxford and he became a disciple of Pater. He studied the classics and he became a real dandy.
Dandy= at those times was someone who made fashionable, elegance and refinement his aim in life. His clothes were also extravagant to visually stand out in the crowd.
As a matter of fact also some of the protagonists of his works (the picture of Dorian gray) are actual dandies.
Youth+beauty+pleasure= happiness
Originally the dandy was bourgeois but the wildean dandy is the aristocrat whose elegance is the symbol of the superiority of his spirit.
2 his literary career
3 prison, solitude, he feels alone--> spiritual change. After prison he could not stay in England no more so he had to move to Paris where he died alone.
Style
-pure and simple Eenglish
-dialogue>narration
The Picture of Dorian Gray 1891
Narrative technique:
-unobtrusive third person narrator (he doesn't make comments but is capable of narrating the story both dealing with the external scene and the internal thoughts of the subjects through dialogues, revealing who they really are)
Characters
-flat/static characters eg. Henry doesn't develop throughout the story.
Preface
The prefaca thing as a moral or immoral book.Books are well written or badly written"
"All art is quite usele was added later on and it became the manifesto of aestheticism. It consists of a list of wilde's aphorisms (=witty and provocative saying or remark) . He defines the artists as a creator of beautiful things:,"to reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim"
Eg. "There's not such ess" --> decadence of didacticism, rejection
Art for art's sake
Domande da interrogazione
- ¿Cuál es el principio fundamental del movimiento estético según Oscar Wilde?
- ¿Cómo influyó el concepto de "dandy" en la vida y obra de Oscar Wilde?
- ¿Qué cambio experimentó Oscar Wilde después de su tiempo en prisión?
El principio fundamental del movimiento estético, según Oscar Wilde, es "el arte por el arte", lo que significa la independencia del arte de consideraciones políticas o morales, y su rechazo a tener un papel didáctico.
Oscar Wilde adoptó el concepto de "dandy", que en su tiempo representaba a alguien que buscaba la elegancia y el refinamiento como objetivo de vida. Esto se reflejó en su estilo de vida y en sus obras, donde algunos protagonistas, como en "El retrato de Dorian Gray", son verdaderos dandis.
Después de su tiempo en prisión, Oscar Wilde experimentó un cambio espiritual significativo. Se sintió solo y, al no poder quedarse en Inglaterra, se mudó a París, donde finalmente murió en soledad.
Accedi a tutti gli appunti
Tutor AI: studia meglio e in meno tempo
