Aestheticism and Dorian Gray
Laura Donahue
Professor Margaret Wiley
ENG160
December 3, 2012
A Picture of Dorian Gray: A Queer and Aesthetic Text Oscar Wilde lived in 1800s Victorian England, during the Aesthetic Movement. He had been known for his involvement in the movement, however more infamously for his crime against homosexuality. In 1895, Oscar Wilde had been imprisoned for homosexual offenses, and used against him in court was his own novel, A Picture Of Dorian Gray. Oscar Wilde’s novel has been argued to function as a queer text, a term coined during the 1990s that “…challenges either/or, essentialists notions of homosexuality and heterosexuality within the mainstream discourse…and instead posits an understanding of sexuality that emphasizes shifting boundaries, ambivalences, and cultural constructions that change depending on historical and cultural context” (Goldberg). Although the novel is a fictional text, it had been used against Wilde for proof of his homosexuality. It can be argued the novel functions as a queer text, however it also delves into aestheticism. Oscar Wilde’s novel delves into both topics of aestheticism and queer theory through a fictional story line. Donahue 2 Oscar Wilde had been an active member in the Aesthetic movement and in the introduction of his novel he made a reference to the concept of art. “All art is quite useless” (Wilde 4). Relating to the movement, Wilde explains that art should not have any meaning deeper than only for art to be pleasing to the eye, which sets the reader up for the plot of the novel. Dorian Gray, the model for the painter Basil Hallward, becomes obsessive over the portrait of himself. Dorian idolizes the idea of youthfulness being the most important quality one can have. Wilde reflects on the idea of Aestheticism: “To the aesthete, the ideal life mimics art; it is beautiful, but quite useless beyond its beauty, concerned only with the individual living it. Influences on others, if existent, are trivial, at best”
Professor Margaret Wiley
ENG160
December 3, 2012
A Picture of Dorian Gray: A Queer and Aesthetic Text Oscar Wilde lived in 1800s Victorian England, during the Aesthetic Movement. He had been known for his involvement in the movement, however more infamously for his crime against homosexuality. In 1895, Oscar Wilde had been imprisoned for homosexual offenses, and used against him in court was his own novel, A Picture Of Dorian Gray. Oscar Wilde’s novel has been argued to function as a queer text, a term coined during the 1990s that “…challenges either/or, essentialists notions of homosexuality and heterosexuality within the mainstream discourse…and instead posits an understanding of sexuality that emphasizes shifting boundaries, ambivalences, and cultural constructions that change depending on historical and cultural context” (Goldberg). Although the novel is a fictional text, it had been used against Wilde for proof of his homosexuality. It can be argued the novel functions as a queer text, however it also delves into aestheticism. Oscar Wilde’s novel delves into both topics of aestheticism and queer theory through a fictional story line. Donahue 2 Oscar Wilde had been an active member in the Aesthetic movement and in the introduction of his novel he made a reference to the concept of art. “All art is quite useless” (Wilde 4). Relating to the movement, Wilde explains that art should not have any meaning deeper than only for art to be pleasing to the eye, which sets the reader up for the plot of the novel. Dorian Gray, the model for the painter Basil Hallward, becomes obsessive over the portrait of himself. Dorian idolizes the idea of youthfulness being the most important quality one can have. Wilde reflects on the idea of Aestheticism: “To the aesthete, the ideal life mimics art; it is beautiful, but quite useless beyond its beauty, concerned only with the individual living it. Influences on others, if existent, are trivial, at best”
Cited: Goldberg, Michael. "Queer Theory." Definition: Queer Theory. A Concise Glossary of Cultural Theory, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2012. <http://faculty.washington.edu/mlg/courses/definitions/queer.htm>. Wilde, Oscar, and Robert Mighall. The Picture of Dorian Gray. London: Penguin, 2003. Print. “Wilde, Oscar (Fingal O’Flahertie Wills) (1854-1900).” The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide. Abrington: Helicon, 2010. Credo Reference. Web. 23 Nov. 2012. ENG160 November 18, 2012 GRADE 10/10 U need MLA WORKS CITED