Concetti Chiave
- Oscar Wilde was a prominent figure in Aestheticism, embracing the 'Art for Art's Sake' philosophy and becoming a celebrated wit and dandy in London.
- His successful lecture tour in the United States enhanced his reputation, showcasing his irony and distinctive style.
- Wilde's notable literary contributions include short stories, the novel 'The Picture of Dorian Gray', and plays that revived the comedy of manners.
- His relationship with Alfred Douglas and subsequent trial led to his imprisonment and eventual exile in France, where he spent his final years.
- The Wildean Dandy is characterized by elegance, wit, and individualism, prioritizing pleasure and beauty without moral constraint.
-Oscar Wilde-
Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854.
He studied at Oxford and became a disciple of Walter Pater, the theorist of Aestheticism in England accepting the theory of ‘Art for Art’s Sake’.
He then moved to London, where he became a celebrity for his extraordinary wit (spirit, humor) and his dress as a ‘dandy’.
He also did a tour in the United States, where he gave some lectures about the Pre-Raphaelites and the Aesthetes; the tour was a great success for Wilde, who became famous for his irony, his attitudes and his poses.
He then went back to Europe and married Constance Lloyd.
He was also a great talker, he participated to many events in London.
Wilde wrote many short stories for his children, but also wrote an important novel ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’.
After his first and only novel, he developed an interest in drama and recovered/renewed the comedy of manners.
He produced also a series of plays, but those, with the tragedy ‘Salomé’, damaged the writer’s reputation, as they were considered immoral.
In 1891 he met Alfred Douglas, with whom Wilde had a homosexual affair.
Douglas’ father forced for a public trial and Wilde was sentenced to two years of hard labour.
When he was released, he was a broken man; his wife refused to see him, so he went into exile in France, where he lived his last years in poverty.
He died of meningitis in Paris in 1900.
-The Rebel and the Dandy-
Wilde lived in the role of the rebel and dandy.
The dandy must be distinguished from the bohemian: while the bohemian allies himself to the rural or urban proletariat, the dandy is a bourgeois artist, who remains a member of his class.
The Wildean Dandy is an aristocratic, whose elegance is a symbol of the superiority of his spirit; he uses his wit to shock, and is an individualist who demands absolute freedom.
Life for the Dandy was meant for pleasure.
Wilde’s interest in beauty had no moral stance.
He affirmed in the Preface of his novel: ‘There is no such thing as a moral or immoral book.
-Art for Art’s Sake-
Wilde believed that only ‘Art as the cult of Beauty’ could prevent the murder of the soul.
He wrote only to pleasure himself and was not concerned in communicating his theories to his fellow-beings.
Domande da interrogazione
- ¿Cuál fue la influencia de Walter Pater en Oscar Wilde?
- ¿Cómo afectó su relación con Alfred Douglas a la vida de Wilde?
- ¿Qué distingue al dandy wildeano del bohemio?
- ¿Cuál era la postura de Wilde sobre la moralidad en el arte?
Oscar Wilde se convirtió en discípulo de Walter Pater en Oxford, adoptando la teoría del Esteticismo y el concepto de 'Arte por el Arte'.
La relación de Wilde con Alfred Douglas llevó a un juicio público, resultando en una condena de dos años de trabajos forzados, lo que lo dejó en la ruina y exiliado en Francia.
El dandy wildeano es un artista burgués y aristocrático que usa su ingenio para impactar, buscando la libertad absoluta, mientras que el bohemio se alía con el proletariado.
Wilde creía que el arte debía ser apreciado por su belleza, sin consideraciones morales, afirmando que los libros son bien o mal escritos, sin ser morales o inmorales.
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