On Oscar Wilde's Aestheticism
Oscar Wilde's Idea of Aestheticism is an ever new topic. With the appearance of commoditization of literature,quite a few scholars have called the "purity"of Wilde's aestheticism into question,contending that the main idea in Wilde's aestheticism is the hedonism and utilitarianism. The author of the present paper maintains that on the surface,Wilde 's aestheticism is featured with hedonism and utilitarianism that finds expression mainly in the life style of foppery he adopted,and with rejection of efforts to express ideas and advocacy of the importance of finely crafted forms in terms of art and literature. However,in depth,Wilde's aestheticism can trace well back to Plato and therefore,we cannot summarize his aestheticism simply from a mundane and utilitarian perspective. However,in effect his aestheticism transcends the mundaneness and utilitarianism and marches towards eternal spiritual pursuit. The author of the present paper attempts to argue about that by discussing some relevant issues such as beauty,art and characteristics Wilde discussed in his essays,the beauty of form and beauty of idea Wilde advocated and the relationship between Wilde's aestheticism and Plato's aesthetic ideas.