外表的魅惑奥斯卡·王尔德的“浅薄哲学”.pdfVIP

K eyw ord s W ilde Ph ilosophy of the Superficial Form M ask D ecorative A rts C L C 1 10 9 .9 In tr o d u c tio n T h e nam e O scar W ilde naturally conjures up an icon of V ictorian aesth eticism m arked by h is dazzling p ersonality, flam boyant dress, b iting w it and unconventional thought. Prim arily kn ow n as a dram atic gen iu s for h is spark ling social com edies and p aradoxical w it, W ilde is also acclaim ed for h is m arvelou s fairy tales, h is on ly n ovel The P icture of D orian G ray , the one-act p lay Sa lom e, and m ore recently, h is brilliant and in cisive critical essay s. A s a leadin g expon ent of th e B ritish A esthetic M ovem en t, W ilde dedicated h is art and life to the fu lfillm ent of the gosp el of F art pour Iart in th e light of w h ich art is treated as a self-sufficient entity concerned solely w ith b eauty, a belief that grants art sov ereign autonom y from any conn ection w ith social, m oral or pragm atic purposes. T h e term “ph ilosophy of th e sup erficial” in the thesiss title derives from on e of W ildes signature ep igram s, a line uttered b y L ord lllingw orth in A W om an of N o Im p ortance, “P eop le now adays are so ab so lutely superficial th at they don t understand the ph ilosophy of th e sup erficial” {C om p lete W orks 493). A nyone cap ab le of appreciating W ildean paradoxes w ith an understanding of th em to b e m ore th an a m ere verb al gam e w ill refu se to take the phrase at its face valu e. In effect th e ph ilosophy of th e sup erficial claim s a p ivotal status in W ildes aesthetic system . T h is th esis aim s to exp lore th e content and sign ificance of W ildes ph ilosophy of the sup erficial b y exam in ing and analyzing its concrete m an ifestations in b oth h is art and life. B y doing so the author expects to prov ide a d ifferent perspective to evaluate W ildes aesthetic th ou ght and in the m e