An Aesthete In Consumer Society

As an outstanding writer in the late Victorian Age, Oscar Wilde is the forerunner, initiator and spokesman of the Art-for-Art's-Sake movement in relation to the history of aesthetics in Britain. In his short life, he has written many excellent works, including one novel, four social comedies, one tragedy, many fairy tales, and a number of literary critical essays and poems. The witty, humorous and significant paradoxes and aphorisms in his social comedies have laid a solid foundation for his reputation as the'great master of language', and The Picture of Dorian Gray, his only long novel, is exemplary of British aesthetic literature.However, Wilde's aesthetic doctrine and his works have all been controversial for their uniqueness. Under the banner of"Art-for-Art's-Sake", he pursues'pure beauty'and'formal beauty'. He insists that art should be detached from reality; it is nature that imitates art, not art imitates nature; and art should not be restrained by morality. According to this doctrine, he completed this only long novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. New hedonism advocated in this novel and the characters---Dorian Gray and Lord Henry Wotton had become the targets of violent criticism from the moralists who stood for the hypocritical morality in the late Victorian society. Besides, Wilde's life is full of controversy. Taking"Life for Art's Sake"as his principle for life, he wears eccentric clothes, lives in his'Aesthetic Home'in Tite Street which is decorated in oriental style. All of his behaviors are incompatible with the late Victorian society.Then, how to interpret such controversial texts and life of Wilde's? The thesis proposes a new angle. It explicates his theories, life, and especially his only novel The Picture of Dorian Gray from the perspective of consumerism, which is different from previous researches.This thesis consists of five parts: Introduction, Wilde---An Aesthete in Consumer Society, Prior Research on The Picture of Dorian Gray, Consumerism in The Picture of Dorian Gray and Conclusion.In the introduction, the author first of all makes a general introduction about Oscar Wilde and his main thoughts. Then, the research angle of this thesis is put forward, that is, to understand Wilde and his literary achievements from the perspective of consumerism. Last, some literary reviews both home and abroad in this field are also presented.Chapter Two contains two parts. The first part is a detailed description of the emergence of consumer culture in the late 19th century. The second part discusses Wilde's Theater, the'Japanese effect'and the Notion of Time and Space, to prove the penetration of consumerism in Wilde's art and life.Chapter Three introduces some important prior review on aestheticism and consumerism in the text The Picture of Dorian Gray。Chapter Four focuses on the consumerism in the text The Picture of Dorian Gray, which includes three parts: Pleasure, The Notion of Time and Dorian Gray's Urban Experience.The conclusion admits that Wilde did play an important part in aesthetics. However, art could only survive in reality; in consumer society, an artist will never be able to preserve his untainted'Aesthetic Dream'without the'contamination'of consumerism.With the forgoing analysis, one important idea must be presented here, that is, the influence of consumerism on Wilde's works is a significant topic worthy of studying. It is not only a study in British literature; more actually, it is also a study in culture. Thus, the author believes that further research in this field will be of great value.