Abstract This paper examines how Oscar Wilde's "Picture of Dorian Gray" and Thomas Mann's "Death in Venice" are literary works situated in the cultural phenomenon known as decadence. This cultural phenomenon began in the late nineteenth century and involved the production of a range of interrelated aesthetic, social and sexual personae. It looks at how the most prevalent of these in the work of Wilde and Mann are the beautiful boy, the dandy and the degenerate, because they represent the "Other". It also discusses how both novels also deal with the dichotomy of the Apollonian and Dionysian artistic impulses in literature, which serve to define the calm exterior/decaying interior that codifies decadence.
From the Paper "Felski argues that Decadent literature offers "explicitly feminized male protagonists, who are identified with love of artifice, excess, and everything unnatural." This is certainly true in the case of Dorian Gray. She also mentions the "association of femininity with ornamentation and detail in Western culture." Both Dorian and Tadzio's clothing is described with much attention to the detail and adornments of the garments. Wilde's novel regards the protagonist's cultivation of sense experience, passion and sensation in the pursuit of beauty. Dorian studies exotic perfumes, collects musical instruments and precious stones, and once attended a masquerade ball wearing a costume covered with 560 pearls."
Abstract The essay discusses Lord Goring who is socially "idle", yet ideal in terms of philosophy. Moreover, it describes Goring as the most interesting and outstanding persona in the play, his ambivalent behavior, and the change he goes through during the play, and why he could be considered Wilde's alter ego. The paper ends raising the question of whether or not Wilde has lost grip on this character. Did Wilde manipulate Goring's behavior in order to obtain the desired ending of the play?
From the Paper "The dictionary defines a "dandy" as "a man excessively and ostentatiously refined in dress and affected in manner; a fop"? Is the idea of being "ostentatiously refined: an oxymoron" Quentin Crisp was not the first to flout what the rest of society felt was Convention. There were Beaudelaire, Oscar Wilde, Rimbaud- among others. No doubt, the whole idea of dandyism and "fashion" out of the ordinary all began with Beau Brummell, who seems to have been among the most noted fashion-plates of his day. In fact, as the son of a wealthy man, his greatest "fame" came at Eton where he ?was distinguished chiefly for his taste in dress which afterwards made him an autocrat of fashion.? Unlike the legendary Brummell (he was a real person, who died insane) dandyism is not being an autocrat or imposing..."
Abstract This paper describes a hiker's personal struggle with a climb up a difficult mountain. The physical and emotional challenges of the climb are described, as well as the euphoria and satisfaction felt after successfully completing the climb.
From the Paper "As the sun was rising on the morning of the fifth day, I found myself biting my lip, while the intensity of that day's events fogged up my mind. Climbing Table Rock was becoming a reality, and I was doing everything I could to avoid thinking about it. I?ve always considered myself somewhat of a thrill-seeker, and my lifelong fear of heights had never failed to create a worthwhile thrill. But this climbing experience would be one that I would never forget."
Abstract In this work, Oscar Wilde's plays are partially taken into deep consideration as an analysis of his playwright identity. In the process of the discovery of his decadent resentment of the late nineteenth century orders, the influential figures of the new movement are also indicated. Oscar Wilde and Walter Pater have important parallels among their Epistemologies, ethics and aesthetics. The writer uses extensive examples primarily regarding to Pater's first book, Marius The Epicurean: His Sensations and Ideas (1885) and Wilde's plays of 1894, An Ideal Husband, and The Importance of Being Earnest, to display their aesthetic ideology to demonstrate the precise link between the two, for it has never been convincingly interjected. The main question underlying this paper is of how Wilde perceives art. While exploring his conception of art, dandy-ism is comprehensibly touched in order to reveal his aesthetic identity. However, this paper discusses his aesthetic ideology in the context of individualism through the referencing of some of his works, particularly his aforementioned plays. The question at the basis of this preoccupation is of how Wilde displays the expressing of individuality and idiosyncrasies through art and in particular the value of art.
From the Paper "The use of Puns is another concept that pars to both the aesthetic identity of Walter Pater as well as the aesthetic identity of Oscar Wilde. In this play "The Importance of Being Earnest", the pun, which is generally believed to be the lowest structure of oral humor, is hardly ever just a humor on words. The duality of the title in itself is proof of that. One example of such a notion lies in the earnest/Ernest humor that is utilized to hit the very truth of all the Victorian ideas and rules regarding propriety and responsibility. Gwendolen wants to be betrothed to a man named Ernest, without giving a thought to whether the man bearing such a name bears its qualities too or not. She, nevertheless, immediately exonerates Jack's dishonesty in personifying a man who is originally neither "earnest" nor "Ernest," and who, because of forces stronger than his own power, consequently develops both "earnest" and "Ernest." Jack is a perfect paradox and a compound emblem of Victorian duplicity."
