Analysis of Wilde’s Aestheticism in Salomé and Lady Windermere’s Fan

Abstract：The British novelist and playwright Oscar Wilde was a leading figure in Aestheticism and a representative of the British Aesthetic movement. He made an indelible contribution to the British literary arena. The aestheticism of his plays can be seen in his subsequent work. If Salomé concentrates on Wilde’s aestheticism， then through Lady Windermere’s Fan， Wilde challenges the hypocritical domestic ethics of the upper class， reflecting his advocacy of aestheticism.

This paper will analyze his works Salomé and Lady Windermere’s Fan from the perspective of Wilde’s aestheticism and reveal the concentration of Wilde’s aestheticism in his works.

KEY WORDS： Oscar Wilde; Salomé; Lady Windermere’s Fan ;aestheticism;

1.Oscar Wilde’s Aesthetic Theories

During the Victorian era of the 19th century， British society underwent an unusually vigorous Aesthetic Movement. The aesthetes， led by Oscar Wilde， believe that the mission of art is to provide human beings with a sense of pleasure， rather than to convey some moral or orthodox information. Therefore， they refuse to view art as a practical thing carrying morality. On the contrary， they believe that art should not have any preaching factors， but is the pursuit of pure beauty. They are infatuated with the pursuit of the “beauty” of art， thinking that “beauty” is the essence of art， and advocate that life should imitate art. Generally speaking， the main characteristics of aestheticism include the pursuit of suggestiveness rather than declaration， the pursuit of sensory enjoyment rather than practical value， etc.

1.1Art for art’s sake

Wilde’s aesthetic views can be summarized in two points. His first aesthetic idea is art for art’s sake. That is， art is superior and we should put aside everything that happens in real life to pursue the artistic sensation. He therefore had a disdain for the realist approach to art. He held up as models those artists who drew on myths， legends and ancient stories （Homer， Aeschylus Shakespeare and Keats， among others） as models and scorned artistic themes that represented real life， which is particularly evident in Salome.

1.2 Beauty without morality

The second one is that beauty espoused by aestheticism is immoral beauty， so beauty without morality is a manifestation of aestheticism. As a representative of the aesthetes in the era， Wilde pursues pure beauty， unadulterated by any other factors， and emphasizes that beauty and morality are incompatible. In his idealist conception， art and beauty are rebellious against utilitarianism， purely transcendental to life， not involving moral judgements， but with its formal beauty as absolute beauty， landing on sensual pleasure， to certify art for art’s sake.

2.Art for art’s sake in Salomé

The first aspect of aestheticism shown in the play Salomé is that it adheres to Wilde’s aesthetic view of “art for art’s sake”， no matter it is the content of the story or the artistic form. It puts into practice the requirement of “form is everything”.

Salome， the heroine in the drama， is a lovely and charming girl. As a princess， she has attracted the attention and admiration of men as soon as she appears. The ornate rhetoric and elegant phrases show the princess Salome to be a person extremely concerned with formal beauty of aestheticism; moreover， the words of the soldier and the young Syrian do not involve any praise for Salome’s inner morality， which totally shows that Salome is a typical image of beauty in the view of the aesthetes in the era of Wilde’s. As shown in the first point of Wilde’s aesthetic view， it is only form and appearance that matter， thus discarding all other virtues.

Oscar Wilde’s efforts to depict the beauty of Salome’s features also serve to highlight Salome’s desire for and pursuit of beauty at the same time. She is an extremely beauty-oriented person， and when she meets Prophet John， she is deeply impressed by him. Salome is fascinated by Prophet John’s face， his voice and even more by his flesh. But when John repeatedly refuses her love， she is completely disheartened and completely loses her mind. Her pure and true love for John gradually deteriorates. As introduced in the previous section about Wilde’s aesthetic view， formal beauty is what Wilde’s aestheticism advocates as art for art’s sake. Salome is deeply obsessed with the flesh of Prophet John， and when the flesh is the subject of beauty， it can only become the form of beauty， not the essence of beauty. So in Salome， the heroin’s fascination and instinctive lust for Prophet John’s flesh is one embodiment of the aestheticism proposed by Wilde.

3.Beauty without morality in Lady Windermere’s Fan

The play Lady Windermere’s Fan is full of irony. When Lady Windermere’s mother， who appears under the pseudonym of Mrs. Erlynne， tries to use her daughter’s fame to return to high society， Lady Windermere is repulsed and disgusted by her. But Mrs. Erlynne， as a mother， is reluctant to reveal her true identity to her daughter because of the painful experiences she has had in the past. Mr. Windermere also tries to conceal the true nature of Mrs. Erlynne， with whom he is in constant contact， in order to avoid the “shame” that would “kill her”. In this complex relationship， Mrs. Windermere is portrayed as a virtuous， pure and loving wife， in contrast to her mother’s flirtatious， hypocritical and power-loving persona. Such a characterization is actually Wilde’s challenge to the nineteenth-century Victorian aristocratic tradition， where the protagonists are not always wealthy， aristocratic and unconstrained by the mundane， but also， like Lady Windermere， tragic in origin and full of misfortune in a seemingly happy marriage， which is indeed the reality of most aristocratic lives in a realistic tradition. It is Wilde’s interpretation of the aesthetic idea that reveals the truth behind the shadows of a benevolent， formally beautiful world of the upper-class society， which is really squalid and messy.

The common understanding of Wilde’s beauty without morality，or to say， beauty but immorality， as viewed in nineteenth-century England was that manners before morals.

At a time when the comedy of manners was booming and social mores were valued over traditional moral codes， Wilde successfully incorporated this idea into his play， expressing his own vision of beauty and gaining the affection of audiences. As a result， this play was a huge hit at the theatre， far more popular than the previous one-tragedy Salomé， which was also based on the theory of aestheticism.

Conclusion

The Aesthetic Movement was a loosely organized anti-social movement in British art and literature in the late nineteenth century， occurring in the late Victorian Era. Oscar Wilde， as a leading figure and faithful advocate of aestheticism， firmly believed art for art’s sake， and that art is above all else， also higher than morality.

And the two works， Salomé and Lady Windermere’s Fan， written in the late nineteenth century， are both a concentrated expression of Wilde’s idea of aestheticism and also a continuation and development of the aesthetic movement in literature. Through these two dramatic works， we can summarize the artistic techniques of aestheticism used by the writers： the extensive application of symbolism， the pursuit of the sense of connection between things， It is the reason for the proliferation of the Victorian Era theatre and its later rise to prominence. In addition to the aesthetic approaches， the writers also attempts to convey the spirit of aestheticism in their works - the pure pursuit of sensual pleasure at the expense of morality， art for art’s sake， and the emphasis on the supremacy of beauty， which was and still is a consistent claim of aestheticism in literature.

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