Abstract: Regardless of the fact that aestheticism lasts for a very short time after its appearance in the late 19th century, it surprisingly makes many great aesthetes. Oscar Wilde is widely regarded as the most outstanding and the best-known advocate of aestheticism. He wrote a lot of classics, using distinctive point of view and swelling words, during this period, which made great contribution to the development of aestheticism. Although his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, in which his pursuit of beauty finds its full expressions, received some criticisms upon its publication, it is still a masterpiece. This essay aims at discussing aestheticism through exploring 3 main characters, namely the protagonist Dorian Gray, the painter Basil and Lord Henry, in this novel. The author wrote very comprehensively about these three characters, which is an important way for him to express his idea of aestheticism and will serve as the emphasis of this essay.

Key words： Aestheticism; Oscar Wilde; The Picture of Dorian Gray

Contents

Abstract

摘要

Introduction-1

Chapter I. Aestheticism in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray-3

1.1 Oscar Wilde and his view of aestheticism-4

1.2 Aestheticism in The Picture of Dorian Gray.-6

Chapter II. Basil Hallward--- A typical aesthete-7

2.1 The creator of art-8

2.2 The defender of art-9

Chapter III. Henry Wotton---A world-weary aesthete-10

3.1 The noncomformist of art-10

3.2 The propagator of art-12

Chapter IV. Dorian Gray---A decadent aesthete-13

4.1 The embodiment of art-13

4.2 The practitioner of art-14

Conclusion-16

Bibliography-17

Acknowledgments-19