Most literary movements have one
or two people who are generally the first people thought of when it is mentioned. Although a new way of writing literature
must have incredible support in the artistic community involved to become a "movement" a vast majority of these hundreds of
authors are basically forgotten when the movement is being looked at in a historical context. For the Nineteeth Century's
Aesthetic Movement, Oscar Wilde was that person.
The roots of the Aesthetic Movement began
around the time Wilde was being educated in the 1860s. Before it began, many poets of earlier decades wrote pieces that inspired
the aesthetes, some popular influences on the movement were Shelley and especially John Keats. The Aesthetic Movement was
essentially a British version of French Decadence once it finally made its way to England. In fact the creed of the movement,
the phrase "Art for Art's Sake" was originally Victor Cousin's "L'art pour l'art."
Once it made its way to England Aestheticism
was hugely embraced by a populace so oppressed by the need to be good that the idea that art could be a form of self-expression
(or really, that anything could be a form of self-expression) was both revolutionary and welcome. Of course, those interested
in maintaining the status quo were hostile to the new movement and mocked it piteously; Aesthetes did not mind and ultimately
hostile publications simply brought more attention to the movement.
Now that we know the history of and public
response to the movement, a better explanation of what the Aesthetes believed is necessary. Basically, the Victorian society's
obsession with preserving its values penetrated every aspect of culture--including literature. Writers began to write stories
only to make sure the reader was thoroughly aware of what was expected in a situation, morals became more important than decent
writing or plot.
The Aesthetes rebelled against the didactic
literature of the early Victorian period claiming that the use of art was to be beautiful and not to teach lessons. Aesthetes
wrote stories with dark characters and shocking events they focused on the artistic value of pieces instead of forcing the
reader to take something out of their work. Art they believed, was useless, was supposed to be useless, and was destroyed
if it became useful. Self expression became their aim and if a story ended up going against what society would have wanted
it to, well, that was just too bad.
Enter Oscar Wilde the flamboyant embodiment
of the decadent ideals promoted by the movement. Wilde quickly became a favorite to supporters of the movement and a menace
to critics of it; he was catapulted to the front of the movement and is still there today. In fact, Wilde's contribution to
the Aesthetic Movement was so great that most experts agree that the movement died with the Trials of Oscar Wilde and his
downfall in society. Wilde's peak and the movement's peak are the same; in reality the movement could have died quite
quickly if not for Wilde which means we might still be reading books more focused on teaching us a lesson than giving us a
decent piece of writing. When the U.S. had a rising interest in the movement, it was Wilde they demanded, his U.S. tour was
hugely successful, Wilde delighted the people of America with his devil-may-care wit, disregard for social norms, and ridiculously
fancy dress. He returned to his home shores even more famous than he had left and wrote many plays that are still often staged
that made his Aesthetic inclinations popular throughout Europe.
Wilde's belief in the cause of the Aesthetes
stems from a love of beautiful things he partially got from his mother, Speranza, and partially from studying the classics
of Ancient Greece and Rome which seemed to him to focus on just the right kind of beauty and which rarely put the good guys
in the winning place just to prove a point. Whatever the cause of Wilde's belief in the movement he was passionate throughout
most of his career encompassing overly intricate and oftentimes weather-inappropriate dress and "useless" but passionate male
relationships to satisfy his craving for beautiful things.
