Do you value beauty above all else? Do you believe there is little room for morality in art? Then it appears that you may be an aesthete. Aestheticism was an art movement which placed beauty at its core. Here we will look at the literature of the movement, noting some of its prominent figures and examples of their work.
Aestheticism in literature: art movement
The Aesthetic art movement formed in the late 19th century in both visual arts and literature. The movement placed beauty over social or political ideas in the arts. A famous slogan associated with Aestheticism is 'art for art's sake', that is to say, that the moral and didactic form of art at the time should make way for beauty. The movement originated in the middle of the 19th century, supported by artists Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Morris, although Morris was later critical of the movement.
From the 1870s, the Aesthetic movement came to the forefront of Victorian culture with the works of Charles Algernon Swinburne and later Oscar Wilde. Wilde and Swinburne rejected the need for the arts to set an example morally. The aesthetes later became associated with the decadent movement, a group across Europe that valued excess and artifice over the natural world. The work of both groups would be heavily symbolic and often suggestive rather than explicitly realistic.
Early influences on the aesthetic writers were the romantic poets, including John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley. However, unlike the romantics, the aesthetes were left uninspired by the natural world and used escapism to create a world of beauty and colour. Algernon Charles Swinburne and Oscar Wilde were the predominant aesthetic writers in Britain. In the visual arts, the Pre-Raphaelite Dante Gabriel Rossetti and American painter Whistler were the most popular aesthetic artists.
The Romantic poets were a group of British poets who wrote deeply personal poetry which was heavy with sentiment and 'high art'.
The Pre-Raphaelites were a group of painters and poets who strived the create art reminiscent of the classical period.
The movement is largely thought to have ended in 1895, after the trial of Oscar Wilde. Wilde was found guilty of indecency (on account of his homosexuality) and subsequently imprisoned. Most aesthetes became disillusioned with the victory of morality over the aesthetic ideal of beauty and freedom.
Fig. 1 - The aesthete valued beauty above all else.
Aestheticism in literature: Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde was born on October 16th 1854, in Dublin, Ireland. He was a playwright and a poet and wrote one infamous novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891). Wilde was almost as well known for his flamboyance and witticisms as he was for his literary output. He was firmly at the forefront of the Aesthetic movement in the 19th century.
Both Oscar Wilde's parents were writers. His mother was a poet, and his father wrote non-fiction on top of being one of Ireland's leading surgeons. Oscar Wilde attended both Trinity College and Oxford and was considered an excellent scholar and poet, winning the Newdigate Prize in 1878. It was while at Oxford that Wilde was first inspired by Aestheticism, particularly through the teachings of Walter Pater.
Wilde's wit and flashy persona brought him much attention, some of which was not always positive. He was satirised by Punch Magazine and in a musical by Gilbert and Sullivan. Oscar Wilde thrived on the attention laid on him, good or bad, and in 1882 he toured the United States and Canada in search of more. Announcing upon arrival that he had 'nothing to declare but his genius'.1
Fig. 2 - Oscar Wilde was at the forefront of the Aesthetic movement.
By 1884 Wilde was married and had two children. In 1888 Wilde published his first book, The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888). It was Wilde's first foray into writing fiction. Two years later he published The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) a key text in the Aesthetic movement which combined elements of decadent and gothic fiction. Wilde was most popular, however, as a playwright. He predominantly wrote social comedies like Lady Windermere's Fan (1892).
Gothic fiction is a work of literature that plays on human fears, using dark imagery and references to the medieval gothic period.
Wilde found further success with the plays A Woman of No Importance (1893) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). Despite his success, Wilde could not help but court controversy. His relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas had upset the upper echelons of British society, particularly Douglas' father, who had accused Oscar Wilde of being a sodomite.
A sodomite is a biblical term for someone who partakes in anal intercourse.
Many of Wilde's associates urged him to flee England but Wilde refused, believing that personal freedom would triumph over law. Despite his protestations, in 1895 Wilde was put on trial for indecency. He was found guilty and sentenced to be imprisoned in Reading Gaol for two years. After serving his sentence, Wilde left for France, bankrupt. He died suddenly from meningitis in 1900 in Paris, France.
Aestheticism in literature: Victorian culture
The Victorian era brought about great change with the rapid growth of industrialisation, which introduced mass production. Mass production meant that many items that were previously unavailable to the poor or working class now became affordable. This ready-made access marked a change in Victorian culture to accommodate a newfound audience. Theatre and literature became more melodramatic with clear lines between good and evil. It was also a period when the music hall flourished.
The music hall is a form of theatrical entertainment popular in Britain during the Victorian era. The shows would consist of a variety of performances including singing comedy and acting.
The accessibility of print media was aided not only by new means of production but also by the rising literacy rates of the population. Newspapers and magazines could be made quicker and would often feature fictional works in serial form. Since novels became more affordable, they began being more widely read. As a result, stories were written with the aim of exciting readers. Novels would reflect some of the more sensational stories found in newspapers, which often included tales of murder and mystery.
The thirst for excitement was proven by the popularity of high-octane tales written by the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Louis Stevenson. Despite the abundance of thrilling tales demanded by audiences, much Victorian literature was influenced by morality. Writers and critics considered it important that works of fiction should be moralistic and even didactic. Aestheticism broke away from this belief, exemplified by their motto, 'art for art's sake'.
Aestheticism in literature: examples
Here we will take a look at some of the more famous examples of aesthetic literature.
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890)
The most famous example of Aestheticism in literature is Oscar Wilde's novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray. A story of a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth, a bargain that emphasises the theory of Aestheticism, valuing beauty over morality. The young man, Dorian Gray sees a portrait of himself and expresses a desire that the picture would age instead of him. The artist, Basil Hallward, decides to paint Dorian's portrait.
A friend of the artist decides to take Dorian under his wing and soon starts to corrupt young Dorian. As Dorian grows more corrupt and amoral, his portrait becomes more aged and hideous. The novel was largely reviled by the Victorian public upon its publication. The book was even used against Wilde when he was on trial. Despite the backlash at the time, the book has become an enduring classic of English literature which helped to secure Oscar Wilde's legacy.
'A Leave-Taking' (1866)
Written and published in 1866, Algernon Charles Swinburne's love poem is a dramatic monologue about the speaker's rejection from the lady they love. The monologue is not directed at another human but at the speaker's poetry itself. The title refers to the speaker's insisting that their verse take its leave of the lady for she no longer hears their song. The object of the speaker's desire is seemingly ignorant of their love. The poem is a lyric poem that is largely told in iambic pentameter. It consists of six stanzas of seven lines each.
A lyric poem is a deeply personal form of poetry that focuses on the speaker's emotions and is usually told in the first person.
Iambic pentameter is a form of poetic meter where each line is made of five syllables, the first of the pair unstressed followed by a stressed syllable.
'Vitae Summa Brevis' (1896)
Included in his famous collection, Poems and Ballads (1866), Ernest Dowson's brief poem is an ode to the fleeting nature of life. This is exemplified in the famous line, 'They are not long, the days of wine and roses'. The speaker here lamenting on the brevity of one's 'happy days'. The title is a shortened version of a line from Horace, which means, 'The brief sum of life denies us the hope of enduring long'. Dowson's poem can be seen as an elegy to the Aestheticism movement, written shortly after Oscar Wilde's imprisonment.
An ode is a type of poem which aims to praise a certain person, animal or object.
An elegy is a poem which often laments the death of a person or situation.
Aestheticism in literature: author examples
Having previously looked at the life and work of Oscar Wilde, the Irish writer has been omitted here. We will instead look at two other predominant writers from the Aesthetic movement.
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Born in London on 5th April 1837, Algernon Charles Swinburne was known predominantly as a poet, but also wrote plays, novels and criticism. A prolific writer, Swinburne even managed to contribute to the Encyclopaedia Brittanica. Like many of his aesthete peers, Swinburne cut a controversial figure. Swinburne often tackled subjects such as atheism, cannibalism and sadomasochism in his poetry.
Swinburne was born into a wealthy family and was educated at both Eton and Oxford University. While at Oxford, Swinburne met many of the Pre-Raphaelites, including Dante Gabriel Rosetti. Swinburne appeared to delight in shocking the wider public, often making outrageous claims about his private life. His most famous publication includes Poems and Ballads (1866), a poetry collection inspired by the Greek poet Sappho.
Ernest Dowson
Ernest Christopher Dowson was born in Kent, England in 1867. He was a novelist and a poet. Dowson is sometimes referred to as a decadent writer due to his young age and reputation, but the poet's work largely followed the ideals of the Aesthetic movement. His most renowned poetry appears to be inspired by one woman, who seemingly did not return his love. Dowson's poetry is almost more famous for the phrases within them, such as 'the days of wine and roses' and 'gone with the wind'.2 Dowson spent the latter part of his life in poverty in France. He died at the age of 32 from tuberculosis.
Aestheticism in Literature - Key takeaways
- The Aesthetic art movement formed in the late 19th century in both visual arts and literature.
- From the 1870s the Aesthetic movement came to the forefront of Victorian culture with the works of Charles Algernon Swinburne and later Oscar Wilde.
- A famous slogan associated with Aestheticism is 'art for art's sake', emphasising the movement's belief in beauty over morality.
- The most famous example of Aestheticism in literature is Oscar Wilde's novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890).
- Victorian writers and critics considered it important that works of fiction should be moralistic and even didactic. Aestheticism broke away from this belief.
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