Oscar Wilde is associated with the doctrine Art for Art's sake. He is believed to be a pure aesthete who thought of morality as being independent of art. Critics often describe the decadence literature to which Wilde belongs as being immoral, morbid, sordid, and perverse. Some critics find his story The Happy Prince an example of his homosexuality. In his short story The Happy Prince he proved to be more a moralist than an aesthete. It shows that he did not in fact apply his doctrine Art for Art's Sake. The paper shows that Wilde also believed in the inherently moralist nature of art. He believed that art can transform society into a better one through better appreciation of art. Art may also create the conditions conducive to a further development of a society. Drawing a grim picture of a town where art is not appreciated, he presents the theory that a modern welfare state cannot be constructed without art. He charts the way towards achieving such a project. He makes a statue transform a misery-stricken town into a happy one. Thus he criticizes the crude Victorian society and their hostility to his theory of aesthetics as well as their obsession with the new materialism and ugly industrialization of the age. He indicts inequality, poor living conditions and misery. The Happy Prince is a celebration of the importance of art in any modern society. He concludes his story with the idea that religion does not disapprove of art making the story his proof that he does preach morality in his art and he is far from being morbid or perverse.
| Published in | English Language, Literature & Culture (Volume 2, Issue 1) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ellc.20170201.12 |
| Page(s) | 5-11 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Art for Art's Sake, The Happy Prince, Wilde's Art, Wilde's Aesthetic, Wilde and Pater
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| [3] | Pater, W. (1980). The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry (D. L. Hill, Ed.). California: First Edition. |
| [4] | Quintus, John Allen. The Moral Implications of Oscar Wilde’s Aestheticism. Texas Studies in Literature and Language. 22. 4. University of Texas Press, 1980. |
| [5] | Raby, Peter. (1988). Oscar Wilde. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. Smith, Philip E. (2010). “Approaches to Teaching the Works of Oscar Wilde”, Review by Colin Carman Rocky Mountain Review, Vol. 64. No. 1, (Spring). |
| [6] | Sumbul, Yigit. 'WILDE' TIMES: A Marxist Reading of Wilde´s The Happy Prince'. Pamukkale University Journal of Social Sciences Institute 2014. 19 (2004). |
| [7] | Tyson, Lois. (2006). Critical Theory Today, 2nd Edition. New York: Routledge. Waldrep, Shelton. (1996) “The Aesthetic Realism of Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray”, Studies in the Literary Imagination, 29.1, Spring, Georgia State University. |
| [8] | Wood, Naomi. (2002) “Creating the Sensual Child: Patron Aesthetics, Pederasty, and Oscar Wilde´s Fairy Tales.” Marvels and Tales. 16. 2. Wayne University Press. |
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APA Style
Ali Hafudh Humaish. (2017). Integration of Art and Morality in Oscar Wilde's the Happy Prince. English Language, Literature & Culture, 2(1), 5-11. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20170201.12
ACS Style
Ali Hafudh Humaish. Integration of Art and Morality in Oscar Wilde's the Happy Prince. Engl. Lang. Lit. Cult. 2017, 2(1), 5-11. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20170201.12
AMA Style
Ali Hafudh Humaish. Integration of Art and Morality in Oscar Wilde's the Happy Prince. Engl Lang Lit Cult. 2017;2(1):5-11. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20170201.12
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ellc.20170201.12,
author = {Ali Hafudh Humaish},
title = {Integration of Art and Morality in Oscar Wilde's the Happy Prince},
journal = {English Language, Literature & Culture},
volume = {2},
number = {1},
pages = {5-11},
doi = {10.11648/j.ellc.20170201.12},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20170201.12},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ellc.20170201.12},
abstract = {Oscar Wilde is associated with the doctrine Art for Art's sake. He is believed to be a pure aesthete who thought of morality as being independent of art. Critics often describe the decadence literature to which Wilde belongs as being immoral, morbid, sordid, and perverse. Some critics find his story The Happy Prince an example of his homosexuality. In his short story The Happy Prince he proved to be more a moralist than an aesthete. It shows that he did not in fact apply his doctrine Art for Art's Sake. The paper shows that Wilde also believed in the inherently moralist nature of art. He believed that art can transform society into a better one through better appreciation of art. Art may also create the conditions conducive to a further development of a society. Drawing a grim picture of a town where art is not appreciated, he presents the theory that a modern welfare state cannot be constructed without art. He charts the way towards achieving such a project. He makes a statue transform a misery-stricken town into a happy one. Thus he criticizes the crude Victorian society and their hostility to his theory of aesthetics as well as their obsession with the new materialism and ugly industrialization of the age. He indicts inequality, poor living conditions and misery. The Happy Prince is a celebration of the importance of art in any modern society. He concludes his story with the idea that religion does not disapprove of art making the story his proof that he does preach morality in his art and he is far from being morbid or perverse.},
year = {2017}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Integration of Art and Morality in Oscar Wilde's the Happy Prince AU - Ali Hafudh Humaish Y1 - 2017/03/28 PY - 2017 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20170201.12 DO - 10.11648/j.ellc.20170201.12 T2 - English Language, Literature & Culture JF - English Language, Literature & Culture JO - English Language, Literature & Culture SP - 5 EP - 11 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2575-2413 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20170201.12 AB - Oscar Wilde is associated with the doctrine Art for Art's sake. He is believed to be a pure aesthete who thought of morality as being independent of art. Critics often describe the decadence literature to which Wilde belongs as being immoral, morbid, sordid, and perverse. Some critics find his story The Happy Prince an example of his homosexuality. In his short story The Happy Prince he proved to be more a moralist than an aesthete. It shows that he did not in fact apply his doctrine Art for Art's Sake. The paper shows that Wilde also believed in the inherently moralist nature of art. He believed that art can transform society into a better one through better appreciation of art. Art may also create the conditions conducive to a further development of a society. Drawing a grim picture of a town where art is not appreciated, he presents the theory that a modern welfare state cannot be constructed without art. He charts the way towards achieving such a project. He makes a statue transform a misery-stricken town into a happy one. Thus he criticizes the crude Victorian society and their hostility to his theory of aesthetics as well as their obsession with the new materialism and ugly industrialization of the age. He indicts inequality, poor living conditions and misery. The Happy Prince is a celebration of the importance of art in any modern society. He concludes his story with the idea that religion does not disapprove of art making the story his proof that he does preach morality in his art and he is far from being morbid or perverse. VL - 2 IS - 1 ER -
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