Oscar Wilde 's Ideal Of Art Essay

Personal identity has lost itself in a sea of branding and old pajama pants that society has deemed acceptable to be worn outside of the home to Walmart, but Oscar Wilde might not be as opposed to this as one might think. Comfort is not defined by luxury and process like the carefully designed bedrooms, home décor, and fashions that Wilde conjured up such with loving detail in his writings, most notably The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Grey. However, the influence of famous personalities, works of art, and exemplary athletic and intellectual performance on contemporary style and mass marketing would enthrall Wilde with its possibilities of wide reaching art. However, even though Oscar Wilde would approve of the fact that our art is so accessible today, he would be displeased with the products being made for their low quality and their tendency to devalue the art of personal style. Perhaps Wilde’s ideal of art as a common presence in life and its technical success in contemporary culture is nearly unavoidable, especially when we consider how defining ourselves with possessions manifests itself in everyday life so effortlessly. The upper and middle class are influenced by art that they then in turn use to influence the poorer classes. We buy according to what is made out to be renowned as fashionable, valuable, and popular because advertisements use the success of others to brand their products. In the case of celebrity endorsement, we are celebrating art and human…