Aestheticism and Decadentism in British Literature

Aestheticism: Origins and Development

AESTHETICISM
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A growing
pessimism
AESTHETICISM
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Aestheticism is a movement which developed
in the universities and in intellectual circles at
the end of the 19th Century.
Born in France, emerged in Britain as a
reaction against the strict morality and
utilitarian values of Victorian society.

Introduction to Aestheticism

IntroductionAESTHETICISM
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This movement claimed that art should focus
on beauty and sensory pleasure, rather than
morality or teaching lessons.
Art for art's
sake
The motto "Art for Art's Sake" captured this
idea.

Aestheticism in Britain

AESTHETICISM
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In Britain, this movement was theorised by
Walter Pater.
In his Studies in the History of the Renaissance
he affirmed that art was the only certainty in
life and the only means able to stop time.
He believed that life should be lived like a work
of art, filled with intense sensations and
aesthetic experiences. He rejected religion.
Aestheticism in
BritainAESTHETICISM
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In particular, English Aestheticism flourished
in the 1890s with Oscar Wilde, the author of
The Picture of Dorian Gray, and a group of
artists who used to meet at the Rhymers'
Club. They contributed to The Yellow Book, a
periodical that reflected the decadent taste'
*
of the time in both its themes and style.
Aestheticism in
Britain

Decadentism and the Dandy

Decadent Taste

AESTHETICISM
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Decadentism
"Decadent taste" refers to the artistic and literary
style typical of the Decadent movement in the late
19th century.
It is characterized by:

• love for beauty, luxury, and artificiality;
• fascination with decay, excess, and sensuality;
• refined, elegant style.
  It's closely linked to Aestheticism, but with a more
  pessimistic and provocative tone.

The Dandy Figure

AESTHETICISM
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Oscar Wilde famously embodied the idea that life
imitates art and presented himself as a "living work
of art."
He was "a dandy", a bourgeois artist who makes of
his elegance the symbol of his spirit's superiority.
As a dandy, he turned his own life into a work of art,
which is exactly what Aestheticism promoted.
The DandyAESTHETICISM
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The Dandy
Modes Parisienne&?
ches Markant
Observateur Des Modes, W.295.
Bureau, rue Montmartre , 1, 179.

• Dressed elegantly and differently,
  attracting attention with his unique
  style.
• Spoke in witty, poetic ways.
• Believed that pleasure, beauty, and
  art were the most important things
  in life.
• Rejected Victorian values like
  seriousness and hard work.

Connecting Aesthetes, Dandies, Beatniks

Exercise: Connecting Movements

AESTHETICISM
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Exercise
CONNECTING
AESTHETES, DANDIES, BEATNIKS
FIRST READING - Part 3 Read the text below. Use the word given in capitals at the end of some of
the lines to form a word that fits in the gap in the same line. There is an example at the beginning (0).
Oscar Wilde was the perfect dandy, the man for whom (0) perfection in dress was as important as
perfection in art. The distinction, indeed, was for Wilde irrelevant: he wanted his life to be his masterpiece.
Already in his Oxford days Oscar Wilde had made his reputation as an aesthete due to his fancy clothes and
extravagant poses.
Once he settled in London he became the perfect dandy, matching his philosophy of life with his elegant
and showy clothes and sparkling wit, all of which were (1)
imitated in fashionable circles. In
1881, before leaving for his triumphal tour of the United States, he styled himself'Professor of Aesthetics'
(2)
through customs at New York he famously stated that he had nothing to declare, except
his own genius.
WIDE
PASS
As a dandy, he had been preceded by such figures as the famous 'Beau' Brummel at the turn of the 18th
century, the man whose taste in (3)
and matters of personal cleanliness even influenced the
DRESS
court, and by Lord Byron in the Romantic age.
A dandy is, by definition, 'a man who dresses in expensive, (4)
clothes and is very interested
in his own appearance' (Cambridge International Dictionary of English). As such, he is by no means
(5)
of only one age.
FASHION
TYPE
A certain streak of dandyism also entered the youth revolution of the 1950s and 1960s, with the beatniks
and pop groups such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. In the famous cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band which is a mix of dandy, kitsch and extravaganza - Oscar Wilde is (6)
set
right behind The Beatles.
SIGNIFICANT
INTELLECT
STRIPE
There was also an (7)
side to the dandy of the Sixties, embodied by Andy Warhol, the guru
of pop art who set a fashion among young people and artists with his (8)
blouses and dark
glasses.
PERFECT

Oscar Wilde: Life and Works

Oscar Wilde's Persona

OSCAR WILDE
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Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) is the best
representative of the Aesthetic or
Decadent movement in England. He
was a brilliant writer and
conversationalist famous for his wit
and aphorisms.
His life was scandalous and his
personality was eccentric and
unconventional. He was a Dandy.
10495
27

Life and Works of Oscar Wilde

OSCAR WILDE
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• Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin in 1584 and he
  belonged to an upper middle-class family.
• He got a great classic education, first at the Trinity
  College and then at Oxford University.
• At university he started getting noticed for his
  eccentricity and became a follower of Walter Pater's
  theories.
• After graduating, he settled in London and became a
  celebrity for his admirable wit and the fact that he
  was a 'dandy'.
  Life and worksOSCAR WILDE
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• A few years later he got married and he had two
  children.
• As regards his career, he was first noticed as a
  speaker, his presence became a social event and his
  remarks appeared in the most fashionable London
  magazines.
• Then his literary talent was revealed: after publishing
  essays and some famous short stories and fairy tales
  for children, his published his most successful work
  and only novel: The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890).
  Life and works
  (2)OSCAR WILDE
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• Later he became interested in drama and in the late
  1890's he produced some light and witty plays like his
  masterpiece, The Importance of Being Earnest (1895).
• Before the year ended, he had lost everything: a few
  years earlier he had met the young and beautiful
  Lord Alfred Douglas, with whom he had had a
  homosexual affair. This was illegal in England and,
  When Bosie's father found out about their
  relationship, he forced a public trial.
  Life and works
  (3)OSCAR WILDE
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• Wilde was blamed for homosexual practices and
  obliged to do two years of hard labour.
• His wife divorced him, and he never saw his children
  again.
• While he was in jail, he wrote De Profundis, a long
  essay composed as a letter to Lord Douglas, which is
  also a reflection on art, life and Wilde's spiritual
  journey.
• He spent his last years in poverty in France and died
  of meningitis in 1900.
  Life and works
  (4)

Focus on Wit and Aphorism

OSCAR WILDE
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Focus on ...

• Wit: refers to intelligent humor - the ability to say or
  write things that are both clever and amusing. He
  used his wit to shock and to express his rebellion
  against the moralism and materialism of Victorian
  society
• Aphorism: a short, clever, and memorable statement
  that expresses a general truth or observation about
  life. He filled his plays, essays, and dialogues with
  short, striking phrases that capture ideas about
  society, morality, and human nature.

Famous Quotations by Oscar Wilde

OSCAR WILDE
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'I have nothing to declare except my genius.'
'Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.'
'A man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love
her.'
'One should always be in love.
That is the reason why one should never marry.'
'Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has
known.'
Famous
quotations

Themes in Wilde's Works

OSCAR WILDE
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Themes
In general, the main themes in Wilde's works are:

• Double lives, masks and secrets.
• Art vs Reality, where usually art wins.
• Criticism of society: he was a provocative critic of
  society and he seemed to enjoy shocking his public,
  even though he often used aphorisms and jokes to
  do so. He attacked conventional morality, the
  institution of marriage, the class system (especially
  members of the middle class who claimed to be
  moral but were shallow and hypocritical).

Wilde's Aesthetic Ideal

OSCAR WILDE
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Oscar Wilde adopted the aesthetical ideal:
he affirmed 'my life is like a work of art'.
Wilde's
aestheticism
His Aestheticism clashed with the didacticism
of Victorian novels.

• The artist > the creator of beautiful things.
• Art >used only to celebrate beauty and the sensorial
  pleasures.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Introduction to the Novel

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
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Introduction
The Picture of Dorian Gray was
first published in 1890 in an
American Magazine, and was
then revised and extended in
1891.
This work reflects Wilde's
personality and was considered
immoral by the Victorian Public.