Aestheticism

meaningful art. Throughout his career, Oscar Wilde preached Aestheticism, which was an arts movement that began in Europe in the mid-1800s. Aestheticism centered on the doctrine that art exists solely for art’s sake. In other words, Aestheticism said that art should not have any other purpose than to display its own beauty and the beauty of the artist’s personality. This movement was also adamant that art should serve no political purpose; a contradiction to what many artists were producing at the time. The Aestheticism art movement “began in reaction to prevailing utilitarian social philosophies and to what was perceived as the ugliness and philistinism” of the Industrial age during the Victorian era (“Aestheticism” Encyclopedia Britannica Online). “Its philosophical foundations were laid in the 18th century by Immanuel Kant, who postulated the autonomy of aesthetic standards, setting them apart from considerations of morality, utility, or pleasure” (“Aestheticism” Encyclopedia Britannica Online). The idea was amplified by Victor Cousin, who “coined the phrase l’art pour l’art,” which means art for art’s sake (“Aestheticism” Encyclopedia Britannica Online). Oscar Wilde’s "Pen, Pencil and Poison,” first published in January 1889, talks about the notorious writer, murderer, and forger Thomas Griffiths Wainewright; this essay also displays the importance of displaying one’s personality, a major theme of the Aestheticism movement. The Wainewright persona is strictly devoted and…

Between the Late Renaissance and the Enlightenment, there was a shift away from aestheticism in collection displays. In the Late Renaissance, objects were displayed according to their material or figurative groupings, each of which was also displayed in ways that were aesthetically pleasing. Ferrante’s cabinet, for example, has balance and symmetry, seen in the symmetry of the fish displayed around the window. Not only was organization influenced by aestheticism, but the objects themselves…

Abstract: The play “Red Oleanders” is first written in Bengali language under the title “RaktaKarabhi”. Tagore conveys the message that the Utilitarian approach and vast industrialization throughout the world would resulting in diminishing human compassion and cause Ecological Imbalance.So he used characters as a metaphor of human instincts such as greed, power, envy, love, trust, and sacrifice. The play Red oleanders is a One-act play which follows the Aristotle’s rules. He fallow’s three…

The Importance of Importance in the Imported The Importance; Or, A Title of No Importance To start an essay with a definition is one of the go-to cliches of procrastinating students across the nation; a definition is a clear, simple, indisputable, and its role as the figurehead on the prow of the essay is to set the parameters of logical argument (as well as to ward off the evil spirits of creativity and uniqueness.) However, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition of…

The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde states that ‘there is no such thing as a moral or immoral book’ which implies that the aestheticism of a piece of writing is more vital to its success than the skill of the author. This view is reflected in Victorian society where ingrained aestheticism was simply used as a facade to hide the truth, however, Wilde is actually making a deep societal criticism of this. Paradoxically, as an author he has a prerequisite to please his audience, in this case by…

This is why art’s role in society is to allow an artist to communicate a message and express beliefs, so the audience can create their own interpretation of the art and therefore reflect their own nature in the work. During the Victorian Era in England, refined sensibilities and traditional customs were followed by most of society. However, Oscar Wilde was a prominent figure in opposing these ways of life with his flamboyant appearance and contempt for cultural values. While he was an…

his philosophy and indulge his desire to manipulate him for his own pleasure. Lord Henry’s philosophy of Aestheticism is not inherently bad, it simply allows an individual to experience things their beauty and pleasure are regardless of the moral inclination. However this ability to experience aspects of life without moral accountability gave way to Dorian’s temptation, something Henry did not know about, and allowed…

In Victorian society, art was regarded as to having a societal purpose or value, most commonly of religious purpose. Wilde, disagreeing with this idea, responded by becoming a major figure in the aestheticism movement, a movement in response to the idea that all art needs to have a purpose. The aestheticism movement is very prominent in The Picture of Dorian Gray, as Wilde used it to expose society for its lack of freedom and “art for art's sake” (The Picture of Dorian Gray, 152). Basil is…

that we were ever young; / It is to add, immured/ In the hot prison of the present, month/ To month with weary pain” (Arnold 21-25). Similar to Dorian Gray, the speaker would do anything to stay young and beautiful, aware of the better life one can live in society. During the late Victorian Era, there was an immense pressure put upon people to maintain their beauty. Aestheticism was an ongoing movement where individuals only had a value in society if they had a youthful appearance. Pressure to…

novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde emphasizes his belief in aestheticism. He attempts to enforce the idea that art should be created for art’s sake, and that people can not conclude anything about the artist from their art. In the preface, Wilde warns readers that “all art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril” (Wilde 2). Nearly all readers disregard Wilde’s warnings and attempt to compare Wilde to many of the characters in the novel.…