The Aesthetic "Les Fleurs Du Mal"

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) who is an Irish-born writer, is associated with the nineteenth-century"Art for Art's Sake"Movement in Britain. He has long been considered as a paradoxical figure, and many critics have pointed out the contradictory nature of his aesthetic theories.The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde's only novel, is the representative work of British aesthetic literature. Under the banner of"Art for Art's Sake", Wilde pursues"pure beauty"and"formal beauty". He insists that in literary creation art should be detached from reality; it is life and nature that imitate art, not art imitates life and nature; art should not be restrained by morality. Art is useless and independent, but it is the supreme reality. Wilde's aesthetic conception violates the conventional concept, and is opposed to the common sense. Consequently, Wilde's only novel, written according to his aesthetic conception, incurs quite a few reproaches.This thesis is devoted to exploring Wilde's aesthetic conception conveyed in the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. The vicious and decadent elements employed by Wilde as his raw materials will be analyzed to display Wilde's inheritance and development of Aestheticism in Britain while we appreciating the"beauty"in the novel. The contradiction between his aesthetic theory and his creative practice will be elaborated explicitly, so that we can have an overall understanding about Wilde and his aesthetic conception.