The aesthetics of tragedy in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray and De Profundis

Abstract

This dissertation seeks to exhibit the element of tragedy in Oscar Wilde's aestheticism as manifested in The Picture of Dorian Gray and De Profundis. In spite of offering himself up as a disciple of pleasure, Wilde's private life consists of much suffering and, ultimately, tragedy. As a child of the Aesthetic movement, he is greatly influenced by Walter Pater's aestheticism. In elucidating the aesthetic theories of Pater, Arnold, Adorno and Wilde, the introductory chapter endeavours to juxtapose the four and consequently set the latter apart. The consecutive chapter sheds light on Wilde's departure from Pater's aestheticism as highlighted in the controversial The Picture of Dorian Gray, as well as expounds on the novel's themes, character design and critics' reviews. In supplying his novel with a chilling dynamic that delves into the baser instincts of the human psyche, Wilde curiously foreshadows his own fatal nature. This point is elucidated in chapter three with reference to Wilde's work, De Profundis. In discussing the autobiographical epistle, this chapter delineates the implications of Wilde's darker aesthetics. The consequence of collating a fictional with a non-fictional work is that one is able to discover in the tragedy of the playwright, a tortured soul oscillating between base aestheticism and romantic idealism. This dissertation then concludes by discussing Wilde's public mask in an attempt to recognize the extent to which he is a victim of his own aestheticism.