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Dorian Gray Aestheticism

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The popularity of the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde has much to do with the scandals surrounding the author as well as being known for homoerotic codes within the writing. Eventually, Oscar Wilde had to deal with the charge of sodomy and gross indecency for which he was sentenced two years of hard labour in prison (Drew XXVI). In the Victorian age, homosexuality was not only judged as something amoral, but was a punishable crime under the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885, along with sodomy (Drew XI). Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde, born in Dublin in 18546 developed an interest in writing, influenced by witty ideas and his philosophy of life. Approaching his thirtieth year, he married Constance Lloyd, with whom he …show more content…

Accordingly, Wilde stated that “all art is quite useless” (Wilde 4) in his preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray. The enhancement of aestheticism lies upon the significance and value of beauty. The admiration of Dorian Gray’s beauty is comprehended as a basis for homoerotic interests. The painter Hallward himself expresses the importance of Dorian’s beauty as well as the aesthetic value of their relationship for his art: “He is absolutely necessary to me. […] He is all my art to me now. […] – his personality has suggested to me an entirely new manner in art, an entirely new mode of style.” (Wilde …show more content…

Art has no influence upon action.” (Wilde 172). This statement is opposing to Wilde’s idea presented in his first letter to the St. James’s Gazette, where he claims that The Picture of Dorian Gray is a “story with a moral”, that “all excess, as well as all renunciation, brings its own punishment” 8. Thus, it can be argued that Wilde did not alter the idea of a moral story, but rather covered the idealised love of the painter Hallward for his muse to hide any homoerotic

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The Picture Of Dorian Gray And The Beautiful And Damned

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Wilde is greatly influenced by the societal movements in the Victorian Era, therefore the theme of hedonism is prominent displaying the influence of Aestheticism in The Picture of Dorian Gray and further explaining the consequences of selfishness and self-pleasure. The Aestheticism movement shockingly challenged all past standards of love, pleasure, and sexuality. Specifically this Victorian movement “promotes sexual… experimentation. ”(Burdett)

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828 Words | 4 Pages

“” At least you are like it in appearance. But it will never alter,” sighed Hallward. “that is something.”” (Wilde 33) The reader begins to perceive that Dorian is both intrigued and disgusted by the never changing portrait of his innocence.

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782 Words | 4 Pages

The Picture of Dorian Gray, one of Oscar Wilde’s masterpieces, portrays one of the most important values and principles for him: aestheticism. As a criticism to the life lived during the Victorian era in England, Wilde exposed a world of beauty a freedom in contradiction to the lack of tolerance a limitation of that era; of course inspired due to Wilde’s personal life. All the restrictions of the Victorian England lead him to a sort of anarchism against what he found to be incoherent rules, and he expressed all this to his art. His literature is a strong, political and social criticism. He gave a different point of view to controversial topics such as life, morality, values, art, sexuality, marriage, and many others, and epigrams, for what he is very well known, where the main source to the exposure of his interpretations of this topic.

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937 Words | 4 Pages

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