Dynamics of Aestheticism in Oscar Wildes The Happy PrinceWord文档下载推荐.docx

1、专 业 英 语 学 号 指导老师 Dynamics of Aestheticism in Oscar Wildes The Happy PrinceA Thesis Submitted to School of Foreign StudiesHunan University of Science and TechnologyIn Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements forThe Degree of Bachelor of ArtsBy*AcknowledgmentsThis paper is developed from my study on Os

2、car Wildes aestheticism and his The Happy Prince.Many people did me favors in completing this research. Firstly, special thanks go to Ms Ling, supervisor of this paper as well as a respectable teacher in the School of Foreign Studies, Hunan University of Science and Technology, whose frequent guidan

3、ce and suggestions lead to the accomplishment of this paper. Ms Lings hardworking and responsible spirits set a good example for all the undergraduates of 2007.Secondly, thanks go to all the university leaders and teachers as well as my classmates. All of them helped me in getting some ideas to star

4、t and complete this paper.Lastly, thanks go to all the school librarians, who have done very much in supplying us with reference books, as well as to those whose works have been quoted by me in the paper.Abstract Fairy tales are thought to be the ideal carrier of Oscar Wildes aestheticism due to a s

5、hared reverence for beauty. In his fairy tales, Wilde uses poetic language to create imaginary world and express his pursuit of beauty. But there are also some paradoxical features between the fairy tales and Wildes main aesthetic theories. Aestheticism holds the belief of art for arts sake. Accordi

6、ngly, Wilde always declares art should not be judged by a moral standard, but in fact no literature work can be divorced from that completely. There is no exception for his fairy tales. Taking The Happy Prince as an example, this paper sets out to illustrate how Wildes aestheticism works in practice

7、. Discussing both correspondences and paradoxes, it still tries to explore how the paradoxes arise. If doing so,Wildes aestheticism and his fairy tales can be better understood. Key words: Oscar Wilde; aestheticism; correspondance; paradoxes;The Happy Prince中文摘要 童话历来被认为是奥斯卡.王尔德唯美主义理论最理想的载体，因为二者天然相通。

8、在其童话中，王尔德用诗意的语言创造了一个又一个幻想世界，把他对美的追求表现得淋漓尽致。然而，童话与他的唯美主义理论主要观点还存在矛盾。王尔德一向信奉“为艺术而艺术”,反对对文学作品做出道德评价。但事实上任何文学作品都不可能彻底脱离现实，摆脱道德判断而完全融入美的殿堂。王尔德的童话也不例外。本文试以快乐王子为例，探讨王尔德唯美主义理论与其童话的契合性和矛盾性，并探究产生矛盾的根源，以便更好的理解王尔德唯美主义理论及其童话。关键词：奥斯卡.王尔德; 唯美主义; 契合性 ;矛盾性 ;快乐王子ContentsAcknowledgments . iAbstract （English Version） .

9、 iiAbstract （Chinese Version） . iiiIntroduction 1 I Aesthetic Beauty in The Happy Prince1.1 Imaginary World . . 31.2 Pursuit of Beauty . 41.3 Poetic language. 5II Paradox of Aestheticism in The Happy Prince 2.1 Reflection of the Reality 72.2 Criticism of Immorality 8III Resources of the Paradoxes3.1

10、 Conflicts in the Aesthetic Theories 103.2 Conflicts between Aesthetes and Society. 113.3 Character of Fairy Tales 12Conclusion. 14Works Cited . 15IntroductionOscar Wilde （1854-1900） , well-known poet, novelist, dramatist, and essayist, is not only versatile but also prolific. His literary output sh

11、ows the versatility of his inventive powers as well as the complexity of his artistic ideas. His only novel The Picture of Dorian Gray（1891）, his four comedies Lady Windermeres Fan（1893）, A Woman of No Importance（1894）, An Ideal Husband（1895） and The Importance of Being Earnest （1895）, and one trage

12、dy Salome（1891） are thought to be his representative works. Wilde is generally regarded as the spokesman for the aesthetic movement in England. Aestheticism was a cultural phenomenon prevailed in Europe in the middle of the 19th century. Its basic theory was “art for arts sake”. Aestheticism placed

13、art above life and held that life should imitate art, not art imitate life. It believed that art should sever no religious, moral or social end, nor any end except itself. Criticism on Wilde and his aestheticism has always been very active. Yet for a long time, people tend to focus on his novel and

14、dramas. Compared with Wildes novel and dramas, his fairy tales have been ignored. During his living time, Wilde has nine short fairy tales, published as two collections, The Happy Prince and Other Tales （1888）and A House of Pomegranates（1891）. Although Wildes plays are justly important, some critics

15、 think when aestheticism is concerned, his fairy tales are just as important in that they are the ideal carrier of his aesthetic theories. In her On the Correspondence Between Wildes Aestheticism and His Fairy Tales, Peng Li expresses her idea that Wildes fairy tales are Aesthetic fairy tales, as th

16、e irony and dualism can be seen from here to there in Wildes fairy tales （95-98）. However, these have some paradoxes with Wildes main aesthetic ideas, just as Xue Jiabao points out in On the Paradoxes Between Wildes Art Idea and the Contents of His Works （18-20）. Then, what is the danamics of Wildes

17、 aesthetic ideas in his fairy tales? And how does the danamics come to beingThis paper aims to analyze the dynamics of Wildes aestheticism in his The Happy Prince, and try to find out the reasons for the paradoxes. The thesis is composed of three chapters, along with an conclusion. Chapter One deals

18、 with the correspondence between Wildes aestheticism and The Happy Prince, from the method of composing, the theme to the language in using. Chapter Two discusses the paradoxes between the two. Wilde holds the belief that art is just for its own sake and should have no reality or moral involvement.

19、But there are reflection of the reality and criticism of immoral in The Happy Prince. Chapter Three explores what underlies the paradox, from subjective factors to objective factor. In conclusion, it points out that if doing so Wildes aestheticism and fairy tales can be better understood.A critic cl

20、aims that the peculiar imagination of Wilde is most obvious in his poems and fairy tales and insists that anyone who wants to study Wildes aestheticism must study his poems and fairy tales（ 赵景深 145）. Wildes aestheticism artistic ideas have naturally linked with the fairy tales as fairy tales are alw

21、ays linked to beauty. Many people who read fairy tales just because they want to taste beauty. The correspondence between Wildes aesthetic theories and fairy tales makes his fairy tales among the most beautiful ones in the world literature of children. Meanwhile, his aesthetic theories have been ref

22、lected vividly in his fairy tales. The correspondence can be seen from the following aspects.1.1 Imaginary WorldThe first reflection of Wildes aesthetic idea inThe Happy Princeis the marvelous imagination. Wilde chooses imagination and fabrication as the main pattern in composing his works. The aest

23、heticism he pursuit to is thatrelates to things not exist （赵澧 徐京安 119）. Realism and naturalism were popular at that time, but Wilde formed a art view of himself. That is the skill of lying, the spirit of which is imagination. In Wildes opinion, when art gives up imagination, it also gives all up. As

24、 the powers of imagination is marvelous. Wildes aesthetic theories declare the importance of imagination. Meanwhile, imagination is the basic character of fairy tales. As it is childrens nature to imagine. They view everything has soul and personality as human beings. The character of imagination of

25、 fairy tales is determined by the nature of children. By using the skill of lying, Wilde created many marvelous worlds in his fairy tales, which are popular among the children throughout the world. The Happy Prince is the product of deliberate artistic decision: their fantastic form resulted from hi

26、s antirealistic concept of art being put into creative practice. He chose the genre of the fairy tales may be due in part to its attraction of magic and unreality（Beckaon,Karl 61）. the Happy Prince is a gilded statue covered gold leaf. When he is alive, he never knows sadness. After his death, he se

27、es all the misery and often cries. A swallow, which is going to Egypt to spend the cold winter, accidentally sees the princes tears and agrees to help him. The Happy Prince gives all that he could give to his people. When the winter comes, the swallow is frozen to death at one night and the princes

28、heart of lead is broken. With no diamond and gold leaf on him, the Happy Prince becomes so ugly that people pull him down. They melt the statue in the furnace but the leaden heart could not be melt. Coincidentally, the heart is thrown to the place where the swallows body lies. God sends one of his a

29、ngles to bring two most precious things in the city to him. The angel fetches the princes leaden heart and the body of the swallow. That is the story Wilde tells in The Happy Prince. The strange imagination and vivid description make this fairy tales a lasting famous one. That is the result of the c

30、ombination of Wildes aesthetic theories and the fairy tales.1.2 Pursuit of BeautyIn Wildes fairy tales, there are many sharp comparisons, through which Wilde described the goal of his aesthetic theoriespursuing the beauty of soul. From Wildes point of view, the world of reality is full of evil, and the only purity soil is kept in peoples deep heart, where we can sow the seed of beauty and gain the fruit of beauty. Pursuit of beauty is just in accordance with the teaching function of the fairy tales.There is a famous saying:True dignity lies in human, in humans inne