Wilde and Aestheticism
The Uselessness of Art: Celebrating the Paradox of Oscar Wilde’s Aestheticism in a Utilitarian World
Oscar Wilde, the master of wit and paradox, wrote one novel in his life: The Picture of Dorian Gray. He ends the preface with a scandalous sentence:
“All art is quite useless.”
Was he condemning art, undermining its value, and downgrading its significance?
The world around us is obsessed with practicality, profitability, productivity, function, and purpose. Art, being at odds with all of this, is the ultimate rebel, the nonconformist who refuses to play by the rules.
In its supposed uselessness, art achieves something greater than mere utility: it elevates the human experience and serves as a portal to worlds unseen. It is a mirror reflecting human emotion, an enigma that defies explanation.
Art isn’t a hammer or an axe. It’s not here to fix your leaky faucet or build your wooden furniture. Its purpose is not to serve a practical function or fill a tangible need. In its ornamental and delightfully pointless existence, art reminds us that there’s more to life than the cold, hard grind of survival.
So, when Wilde declared that “all art is quite useless,” he wasn’t dismissing its value; he was celebrating its very essence. He was doing what he did best: making us question our established beliefs.
Wilde continues:
Art is not meant to instruct or influence action in any way. Suppose the contemplation of a work of art is followed by an activity of any kind. In that case, the work is either of a very second-rate order or the spectator has failed to realize the complete artistic impression. A work of art is as useless as a flower is useless.
(Logically, if all art is useless, then anything useful is not art. Thus, Picasso’s paintings, or any painting or music, such as Beethoven’s Third Symphony, Bob Dylan’s albums, and poems of T.S. Eliot are allegories with political intent and are not true art ? Something to think about…. )
The Picture of Dorian Gray and the Aestheticism Movement:
Industrialization and the utilitarian values of the Victorian era wore people down. The Aestheticism movement, which emerged in the late 19th century, was an artistic and literary movement that advocated “art for art’s sake” as its central motive, emphasizing the importance of beauty and aesthetic experience over practical and moral considerations.
The two main figures associated with the Aestheticism movement are Oscar Wilde and James McNeill Whistler.
Nocturne in Black and Gold — The Falling Rocket is a famous painting by James McNeill Whistler, which he said was painted to convey the other-worldly shadows and fogs that appear and disappear after fireworks: the ghost of fire-lights. This painting exemplified the art movement by conveying nothing other than the beauty in the death of fire.
Art critic John Ruskin, triggered by Whistler’s attempt, accused him of “flinging a pot of paint in the public’s face” for not including any social values in it. Whistler sued Ruskin for defamation and won the case, marking a victory for the Aestheticism movement.
Oscar Wilde, however, understood both the importance and the dangers of the Aestheticism movement. The movement advocates for individualism and rejects collective thinking, it encourages people to go to any lengths to achieve a life that is beautiful and aesthetically pleasing. Wilde recognized that this pursuit could lead to dismissing the practicalities and moral considerations essential for a well-rounded life.
Lord Henry, the supposed antagonist of the novel, manipulates a naive, gullible, and superficial young man, Dorian Gray, under the guise of wisdom. He feeds him the idea that one should live a life where he would never accept a theory or system that requires the sacrifice of passionate experience (Hedonism).
According to this view, the aim of life is the experience itself, not the outcomes of that experience, whether sweet or bitter they may be.
Dorian confesses his profound love for an actress, Sybil Vane, after seeing her perform in the theatre. He falls for her enthralling performances in Shakespearean plays. This attracts the aesthetically inclined Dorian. He abandons her unceremoniously when he finds her performance no longer enchanting.
“Without your art, you’re nothing,” he says.
Sybil Vane takes her life. Dorian won’t regret his actions, saying, “If I had read all this in a book, Harry, I think I would’ve wept over it. Somehow, now that it has happened actually, and to me, it seems far too wonderful for tears. Here is the first passionate love letter I have ever written in my life. And how strange that my first passionate love letter should have been addressed to a dead girl.”
To him, all this seems a wonderful ending to a wonderful play. It has all the beauty of a terrible Greek tragedy, a tragedy in which he took a great part, but by which he hasn’t been wounded.
(I’m not going to spoil the book for you anymore)
At first glance, the book seems to advocate the Aestheticism movement, suggesting one’s actions should create maximal beauty and pleasure in one’s life. But upon closer inspection, we see that Wilde isn’t entirely endorsing this movement. The book’s ending, where Dorian finally reflects on his lack of remorse, his self-absorption, and his intellectual and moral regression, suggests otherwise.
Even if Wilde believes in “art for art’s sake,” he propagates that in pursuit of the beautiful aspects of life, one shouldn’t jeopardize their moral values, and the enjoyment garnered must be sacrificed for the greater good if necessary. Only through restrained aestheticism can a morally sound and happier life be achieved.
