Abstract
In “The Picture of Dorian Gray” Oscar Wilde displays his artistic pursuit on art, life and society. Although he advocates “art for art’s sake”, yet his works could not be isloated from the social morality. In the novel, as Dorian sells his soul to the devil for his eternal beauty in appearance, the portait burdens the change of his ugliness. In some respect, the portait is a moral metaphor of Dorian himself. Basil Hallward, the painter of the protait, can be regarded as an artist metaphor to Wilde himself. Lord Henry Wotton, a famous dandy in the novel, manifests Wilde’s aestheic belief in lifestyle. So by analyzing the three main characters, this paper probes into the aesthetic moral metaphors involved in the novel, and talks about its influence on the modern Chinese aesthetic literature.
Highlights
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) created many artistic works including fairy tales, poems, novels, dramas and literary criticism
By analyzing the three main characters, this paper probes into the aesthetic moral metaphors involved in the novel, and talks about its influence on the modern Chinese aesthetic literature
This paper will focus on the aesthetic moral metaphors in “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and its influence on modern Chinese aesthetic literature
Summary
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) created many artistic works including fairy tales, poems, novels, dramas and literary criticism. In the literary circle of Shanghai scholars from different literary clubs, such as Xun-mei Shao, Ke-biao Zhang, Gu Teng and Ling-feng Ye canonized Wilde’s belief of “art for art’s sake” and regarded Wilde as the spokesman of Aestheticism. This thesis will be focused on the study of “Dorian Gray” with the intention of revealing the moral metaphors in the novel, and discusses its influence on the modern Chinese aesthetic literature. In 1928 Mr Shen Hong pushed out a film named “The Young Mistress’s Fan” which was similar to Wilde’s “Lady Windermere’s Fan” in the plot-design Another great modern scholar Mo-ruo Guo introduced Walter Pater’s works into China and stated his aesthetic idea on utilitarianism of the arts. This paper will focus on the aesthetic moral metaphors in “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and its influence on modern Chinese aesthetic literature
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