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AESTHETICISM
A new literary movement was born, in the context of decadence movement : aestheticism. It was a reaction to the strict Victorian moral code, and the consequent strict rules of writing. Written work was supposed to teach something, to have value: the aesthetics react in opposition and write focalizing their attention on the beauty , and the form of their works instead of its meaning. It was a movement developed in universities (elite intellectual circles), in the last decades of the 19 th^ century; it was an elevated movement. It originated in France and it reflects the artist’s reaction against the materialism and the restrictive moral code of the Victorian age (invented by the bourgeoisie = higher middle class). This moral code created restrictions, but it was also very monotonous so the aesthetic artists wanted to redefine the role of art. French artists escaped the political and social scene and focused on their art instead ( aesthetic isolation ). They followed the principle “ art for art’s sake ”. Art doesn’t have value because it teaches something, but it has value simply because it’s art. This principle was firstly claimed and used by Théophile Gautier. According to this principle, the artist tries to pursue an unconventional life : life must not be lived according to a moral code, but it must be lived as a work of art. “ Art is the only means to stop time ”, every moment of our life should be filled with an intense feeling. Every artist must look for new sensations all the time, for beauty , for excesses. This doctrine was imported into England by an American painter , who worked in England: James McNeill Whistler. The roots of this movement in England were born with John Keats (precursor of the movement), who believed in beauty as the aesthetes, before them. The movement also had a theorist (because it was born in literary circles, it was well thought out and researched): Walter Paiter. This theory implies that art has nothing to do with morality. Art is not moral and it doesn’t have to be. Features of aesthetic artists : Concentrated on themselves They prefer sensuous language, with detailed description (Keats, Oscar Wilde, D’Annunzio) Use of evocative language They all give a demoralizing message (very criticized by the Victorians) The first decadent novel is written by Karl Huysmans : “ À Rebours ” whose protagonist is Des Esseintes. He’s the first fictional “ dandy ” who tries to create a completely artificial life by looking for unusual sensations. He’s used as a model by Oscar Wilde to create Dorian Gray , and by D’Annunzio to create Andrea Sperelli. Dandy The origin of the word is a Scottish nickname for Andrew (patrono di Scozia). This word was first used in a song: “ yanky doodle dandy ”. Sung by the British troops during the American Revolution (1770). The words of this song mocked the American soldiers for their uniforms. So, in origin, the term dandy referred to a man who boasted his appearance without being elegant, weird appearance. Primo significato è negativo. (essere vanitosi senza essere eleganti).
In the 19th century the term was connected to a more positive idea (refinement). Dandy ≈ being
fashionable , having exquisite taste , exquisite manners , behaviours , being glamorous. Dandyism became a lifestyle in England because a public figure was considered a dandy: Lord Brummell , an aristocrat, friend of prince regent, who had these features of refinement, elegance
and extreme attention for details, but also for this exquisiteness of behaviours.
“The way I dress, mirrors how I behave”: vestiti eleganti ↔ persona di modi
eleganti. The Wildian dandy
Who is the Wildian dandy? he (not a woman) is an aristocrat, he is elegant →
which is a symbol of the superiority of his wit, intelligence. Oscar Wilde was a Dandy: he used to dress in bright colours, in a very refined way, particular clothes.
OSCAR WILDE (1854-1900)
Life He was born in 1854 in Dublin, (Irish). He was born an aristocrat and had a lot of names. His mum used to dress him like a girl when he was a baby because she wanted to have a daughter. When Oscar got married, he had various children and started writing stories for them, so that his wife could read them when Oscar wasn’t home. In 1890 he writes “Dorian Gray”, at first as a play, and later Wilde expanded it to make it a novel: “The Picture of Dorian Gray”. It was considered a scandal but also a “success” (“basta che se ne parli”). Oscar was actually a playwright. A few years later he writes “Salomé” and “Lady Windermere’s Fan”. The latter opens him to a great financial success, so he decides to write only comedies. He meets Lord Alfred Bosie Douglas, the third son of the Marquis of Queensberry, and they became “”””great friends””””. The last important comedies in English literature were the Shakespearean ones, this means more than two centuries earlier, indeed in 1642 the theatres had been closed by the Puritans, and had been re-opened only in 1660 but no one had written important plays since then, at least till the 1700s when William Congreve wrote a new comedy of manners for the upper
classes, but then no more plays. Romanticism (poetry) → Victorian Age (novel). Oscar Wilde
brought back people in theatres, he was “a genius”. He had reached and enormous popularity, so much so that he is called in the USA for some conferences, before him only Dickens had had this opportunity. In 1895 “An Ideal Husband” and “The Importance of Being Earnest” are performed. Once he came back to Europe he was sued by Bosie’s father and sentenced to two years of hard labour with the accusation of homosexuality. At this point he is abandoned by everyone, Bosie included who was really interested only in Wilde’s money. During these years in prison he writes a letter to Bosie “De profundis” and a ballad. He spends his last few years alone and in misery in France, Italy and Switzerland. Dies in Paris in 1900 after having suffered with alcohol addiction. Wilde and homosexuality Wilde’s conception of homosexuality was the same the ancient Greeks had: women were considered as inferior and useless beings, men used to marry them only to procreate. Real love, and deep connection could only exist between two men. The only possible feeling of trust, real love and complicity was achievable between two men, especially in the master-pupil relation. Oscar Wilde wanted to re-create this master-pupil relationship, so he “trained” young boys to establish it. He didn’t find that many “students”, but rather guys that wanted to be paid for that, until he met Alfred Bosie, who was gay. Oscar wanted to find a talented guy so desperately, that was convincing himself that Bosie had one, but he was actually ungifted. When Bosie’s father, Lord Alfred, found out about their affair, he denounced Wilde, accusing him of having “misled” his son. Wilde was thus brought in tribunal where he supported publically his idea in front of a Victorian court (he rebelled against the moral code of the time). He was so declared guilty and was sentenced to 2 years of forced work. He had actually never worked in his life, so these two years “destroyed” him both physically and mentally.
- The figure of the Dandy: Oscar Wilde is a dandy.
Basil was in love with Dorian. Lord Henry becomes a sort of teacher/tempter, thus driving the young boy into a life of aesthetic pleasures, without any moral restraints. Lord Henry shares the point of view of Wilde, he is the Master and Dorian is the Pupil. Dorian starts to change behaviour and makes a Faustian wish (Marlowe, and the pact with the devil for the supreme knowledge) to remain young, while his portrait will bear the marks of his ageing and degeneration. Dorian is the typical Dandy. Narrative technique Unobtrusive third person narrator, he doesn’t know everything. The point of view is internal, the one of Dorian, who appears only from the second chapter. If the narrator were obtrusive, we probably would have hated Dorian. (he is initially “Nice”, then he becomes evil) Characters reveal themselves through what they do and what they say (like in drama) Allegorical meaning It is an “aesthete version” of the Faust story: a man who sells his soul to the devil so that all his desires might be satisfied. This soul becomes the picture, which stands for Dorian’s double, the dark side of his personality. The moral of this novel is that every excess must be punished and reality cannot be escaped, indeed when Dorian destroys the picture, he can’t avoid his punishment. The horrible, corrupting picture could be seen as symbol of the immorality and bad conscience of the Victorian Middle class, while Dorian with his pure, innocent appearance stands for the bourgeoise hypocrisy. Another significant meaning: Art survives people, art is eternal: Dorian dies, the beauty of the picture is restored. Wilde wanted to write a novel without a moral, but in Dorian’s ending there is a moral. THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST – 1895 Plot It’s Wilde’s most famous play and is about two young aristocratic men: Ernest Worthing, ad Algernon Moncrieff. It turns out that Earnest is actually called Jack, that he was adopted at the an early age by Mr Thomas Cardew, who in his will made him the guardian to his grand-daughter, Miss Cecily Cardew, who lives in the country under the charge of her governess, Miss Prism. Jack gets bored very easily and finds a way to “flee” from the country whenever he wants: he pretends to have a brother living in the city, whose name is Ernest, and who causes a lot of troubles. Algernon does the same thing, and pretends to have a friend called Bunbury who is invalid and lives in the country. The story develops around the two young men’s attempts to marry Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily respectively. Jack has to overcome the obstacle of Gwendolen’s mother, Lady Bracknell who “interviews him”, but on finding out he was found in a handbag dismisses him. Title: It is a pun itself, because it can be spelled both “Earnest” and “Ernest”, a name that evokes the adjectives “earnest, honest and sincere”, but in reality none of the characters is actually named Ernest, or have these characteristics. A new comedy of manners Wilde “invented” a new sort of play”, in which the problems of his age were reflected through witty remarks. » Marriage and money : Wilde, through irony and absurd situations, that make the audience laugh, criticizes the hypocrisy of his own society. For instance the notion of marriage as an ideal state, which is the driving motive of the plot, is subverted regularly throughout the play. The play also concerns money and food : the characters are always eating, drinking, muffins, champagne, cakes… The emotional scenes are those involving food. Lady Braknell is mainly linked to the theme of money: the most important quality of a man is his money.
» Irony and imagination: Il tono della commedia è molto esagerato, paroloni, frasi complesse, tutto pomposo… the whole play is built on witty dazzling dialogues. What is important is not what the characters say, but how they say it. The irony comes from the use of a solemn tone and language in utterly ridiculous situations. Imagination is quite important in this play, since in this world the laws of reality can be suspended and for example characters may change their names as they wish.
