Riassunto esame di cultura inglese I - The portrait of Dorian grey Norton

CRITICHEBACKGROUND

Through his creative life, Oscar Wilde, could form beautiful with efficiency. With “The Picture of DorianGray” he highlights his major literary influences and introduces the style that will characterize hiswritings in the ’90. Wilde was a classicist and dedicated himself to the aesthetic theory. Although the presence of the“yellow book” (that is Joris Karl Huysmans’ A Rebours), it is less influential on the work than criticsthought. Even though it was important, as Oscar Wilde admitted in the letter of April 15, 1892. Theparallelism between A Rebours and Dorian Gray is: both develops an interest in arcane history,aesthetic dimension and also church rituals. Both reflects an interest in renaissance, baroque,Decadence and the exotic. Both refer to luxuries and this reminds of forbidden practises likehomoeroticism. The two protagonists, Des Esseintes and Dorian Gray both fail for different reasons inhis quest to create a life as anextension of art because this create confusion between art and life (DesEsseintes is finally oppressed by his neurosis, Dorian by his condemned soul). They are also different in their way to deal with beauty: Des Esseintes spends his life in his house, disappointed by the frivolousness of his city (he dedicates to decorate his house etc.), while Dorian is a more active character. (l’atteggiarsi a dandy di Dorian lo ha allontanato dal solitario e nevrotico eroe huysmansiano). Il libro giallo che Dorian riceve diviene un oggetto di culto che lo converte al credo decadente, trasformandolo in un collezionista sulla scia di Des Esseintes, assorbendolo vampirescamente per anni. Another influence comes from Walter Pater’s “The Reinassance”, in particular the chapter “Leonardo Da Vinci”. Also important was the conclusion of the Reinassance, which was a document that interpreted past culture from a modern perspective, it synthesize hedonism, Renaissance culture,

modern science and liberalism. The view this chapter offered was one of existentialism with art at the centre of life. Wilde applied this philosophy by creating two fictional lives at the same time: Dorian's and his own.

"The Critic as Artist" is an essay by Oscar Wilde, containing the most extensive statements of his aesthetic philosophy. A dialogue in two parts, it is by far the longest one included in his collection of essays titled Intentions published in May 1891. Only critical faculty enables any artistic creation at all, while criticism is independent of the object it criticises and not necessarily subject to it. The two characters talking are Gilbert (Wilde) and Ernest.

"The Decay Of Lying – An Observation" is an essay by Oscar Wilde included in his collection of essays titled Intentions, published in 1891. Wilde presents the essay in a Socratic dialogue between Vivian (Wilde) and Cyril, two characters named after his own sons. Their conversation promotes

Wilde's view of Romanticism over Realism. Allusions to French Impressionism-> In both essays the superior aesthetic sensibilities of Vivian and Gilbert are represented through their tastes in art. Vivian thinks that Monet and Pissarro represent the maximum artistic sophistication and modernity, she claims one of his central idea: that it is life, which imitates art, rather than (as realists proposed) art imitating life. Gilbert, instead, is more condemning than Vivian of Impressionist's treatment of nature. In his view, Impressionism have been superseded (messo da parte) by a different artistic movement, that of the Archaicistes. The most celebrated judgment of their exotic and intense style, can be found in Huysmans' A Rebours, where Des Esseintes gives a delightful description of these confusing and fantastic works which leave the viewer amazed and pensive. Pater is considered the father of English aesthetic movement. He was the interpreter of a reaction to.

The "moralism" of Victorian culture, claiming not only the complete autonomy of art from every ethical purpose, but also a sort of aestheticizing sensualism, which culminates in the thesis, which he expounded in the volume on "The Renaissance", published in 1873, according to which the value of art is measured on the basis of the intensity of the sensations that it is able to inspire in the observer.

Wilde shared with Pater the dissatisfaction with Realism. Art must have nothing to do with good or evil, because it is, in its essence, an original fact, prior to morality and therefore, in a technical and literal sense, a-moral: also called simply "art for art's sake". This theory took place in the same years in which Nietzsche exhorted his creature, the Übermensch, to push 'beyond good and evil'.

Dorian è accecato dal folgore di una bellezza artificiosa, che lo indurrà a vestire i panni dell'edonista edel decadente.

caricature delle fragile creature pateriane combattute tra l'attrazione del mondosensibile e tensione all'universale eterno. Dorian scrive per il Dublin University Magazine e successivamente invia l'articolo a Pater, cominciando una corrispondenza con il suo "grande maestro". Pater era solito circondarsi di giovani ragazzi dall'aspetto femmineo, quindi la sua conoscenza con Wilde faceva sospettare l'esistenza di una relazione amorosa. Wilde nutrirà una personale ostilità nei confronti di Pater, alimentata da un sentimento di risentimento per il modo in cui Pater gestiva la propria sessualità quando minacciato di scandalo ed esposto al pubblico. Wilde diceva che aveva paura della cattiva fama e fosse sempre conforme alla società, e di lui condannava questo. Reviews and reactions and Criticism''The picture of Dorian Gray'' occupies an important place in the social and legal history of literature, for

Its controversial meaning, has reflected more than ever its times. Wilde, in ‘‘decay of lying’’ insists that life imitates art. That’s a representation of the English decadence, a key to understand the psychic and creative life of authors and the prejudices of an era that blamed the artist for moral corruption.

The novel was considered scandalous by many, but Wilde considered it ‘‘poisonous but perfect’’ with the aim of inflaming his critics the more. Today the majority of critics are in favor of Oscar Wilde.

Those who read the uncensored edition (Lippincott) are better aware of what the critiques were about, than those who read the revised edition. However, American readers of Lippincott edition don’t notice the same obscenities as the London critics. The ‘‘New York times’’ for June 29, 1890, talks about the reason why English were so affected by the work: they have been exposed to the West end.

scandals(homosexual male brothel (bordello) in Cleveland Street, London, was discovered by police. Thegovernment was accused of covering up the scandal to protect the names of aristocratic like princeAlbert Victor and lord Arthur Somerset. At the time, sexual acts between men were illegal in Britain).The stories of scandals were providedto the press until march 1890, sixty days before the Lippincott’sDorian Gray appeared.The publication of ‘’the portrait of mr W.H.’’ contributed to the critiques against Wilde’s aestheticphilosophy. The essay provides an elegant defence of a Shakespeare’s old theory: this essay is in a waya demonstration of the thesis of ‘’the critic as artist’’(the true criticism should be creative enough tomove beyond the limits of the object of the critique to the region of the artistic invention). The mr W.H.is Willie Hughes to whom Shakespeare dedicated his sonnets, but his existence has never been

The fact that his sonnets are dedicated to a person, whose existence is uncertain, demonstrates the superiority of art (in this case criticism) to life. Most of the critiques towards Wilde were based on his homosexuality.

The Victorian England was naivete (ingenuous) and the code to deal with unpleasant things, was to suppress them. Wilde broke this code at a time in which society was too sensitive on these issues.

Another critique leveled against Wilde was his treatment of vice and crime because they thought that an author shouldn't talk about aspects of life that the Victorian middle class didn't accept. The poisonous atmosphere of sin and corruption were necessary for working out Dorian's fate.

Oscar Wilde made a critic of his own novel saying that the characters are puppets (excessive people) and that the novel contained too many melodramatic incidents.

The Hawthorne essay, a review of the Lippincott's edition, talks about novel's properties as fantasy and romance.

Pater, who was Wilde's mentor during the writing of Dorian Gray, wrote what is considered asthe best analysis of the novel, which gives insights into Wilde's intention in making his last revision.Wilde answered the "art and morality" debate publishing separately as "the preface" of Dorian Gray.Dorian Gray was prosecuted 3 times, the first time in the spring of 1895that was a trial for libel broughtby Wilde against Marquess of Queensberry because after seeing a spectacle oh his estranged son,Alfred Douglas, posing as somdomite with Wilde, he felt outraged and wrote a card "For Oscar Wildeposing as sodomite" and left it at Wilde's club.The trial was an opportunity for Douglas to send hisfather to prison. Finally Wilde was guilty.The second trial was lead by Edward Carson (was Wilde's classmate and they were rival)a because hewanted to prove that Wilde was corrupted and had a bad influence over Alfred Douglas by raising againthe

“art and morality” issue, but Wilde waswell-schooled and prevailed. The second day of trial, Carsonaccused him of homosexual prostitution and Wilde's counsel conceded justification for the libel hopingto avoid criminal prosecution. Two trials followed, the first ending in a hung jury (verdettosospeso), thesecond in conviction (condanna) which sent him away for two years at hard labor.The cost of the Queensburry trial ruined Wilde financially and the conviction destroy him socially as awriter. His genius died during the exile. He died in Paris in November 1900.

A STUDY IN PUPPYDOM – SAMUEL HENRY JEYES, ST. JAMES’S GAZETTE

Nel 24 giugno del 1890, anonimamente, Samuel Henry Jeyes descrive The Picture con il sottotitolo AStudy in Puppydom, evidenziando secondo lui solo uno dei difetti di un testo noioso e volgare, ispiratoai pessimi esperimenti del decadentismo francese. A sua detta, Wilde, incapace di mettere a frutto lasua educazione ad Oxford e

L'opportunità di associarsi con i gentlemen, avrebbe preso spunto dal carpediem di Orazio per inventare la storia di tre gradassi: il “Blasè Puppy” (Lord Henry), “l'Art Puppy”