Oscar Wilde may go down in history as one of the most interesting characters to ever live. A pure aesthete, he frequently remarked on the absurdity in taking life seriously, and fervently did not believe in creating art in order to analyze humanity. Rather, he firmly believed in creating "poetic passion, the desire of beauty, the love of art for art's sake" (page 828).
The preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray perfectly catches this belief. After having been accused of the novel fostering immoral ideas, he published the next edition with this added preface. The preface includes epigraphs (of which Wilde was famous for) that clearly reveal his feelings of art being used as a mode of moral or political assertion. "All art is quite useless," he declares at the end of the preface, as clear proof (from the author himself) that one is not to read into any of his works (page 847).
Wilde embodied the aesthetic movement, as his preface shows. He claims that "to reveal art and conceal the artist is the art's aim;" this is in contrast to previous movements, such as the Romantics, that hoped to reveal some new insight into Humanity through their works. Also demonstrating the aesthetic movement is when he claims that "All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their own peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their own peril;" once again, Wilde makes the assertion that those in the Aesthetic movement do not create art in order to give a deeper meaning into life, but merely for entertainment.
He also explains that "there is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book," clearly in reference to those who claimed that The Picture of Dorian Gray encouraged immorality in those who had (or will) read it (page 846). In the preface, Wilde makes no attempt to hide or veil his contempt for those who accused him of writing and creating something that had meaning behind it. This is quite reflective of his personality, as even though it was illegal to have homosexual relations in England at this time, he made no attempt to hide his romances; this flagrant attitude would eventually be his downfall.
Personally, I think it is very appropriate that Mr. Wilde's last name is Wild.
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Your first line sold me. SO VERY, VERY TRUE! I became a huge fan of Aestheticism back in the day, and I think you're on to something when you say Wilde may just be the purest aesthete who ever lived. I was upset about his downfall, but it's true. His flagrant attitude was bound to be the death of him. Last thing, I joked about his last name, too-- it was just too irresistible! :)
ReplyDeleteLeanne,
ReplyDeleteNice post on Wilde! You very smoothly set the stage for your discussion of the "Preface" to The Picture of Dorian Gray, and provide an informative and well-supported commentary. Good use of examples from the text.
Oh goodness, you sum this poem and poet up beautifully. He is uninhibited, flagrant, and a free sprit. Hence, the name Wilde
ReplyDeleteI agree with your interpretation of Wilde, he does use his work in order to better his understanding of humanity but I interpreted this as support that art has no one particular meaning because to each person there is a different interpretation.
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