Abstract:

The Aesthetic Movement happened in late 19th century, the one against Victoria trend. Over 100 years Oscar Wilde was identified as a symbol and leader of the Aesthetic Movement and his play Salome was also identified as a masterpiece during this movement. As the leader of the Aesthetic Movement, Oscar Wilde made his works and his life as artistic as possible. Scholars studied Wilde and his works on every aspect. This essay focuses on characterization in Salome, which is the key to study Aestheticism in Wilde’s works directly.

The slogan of the Aesthetic Movement was “Art for Art’s Sake”, which Wilde made efforts to achieve. The idea of “Art for Art’s Sake” fills in Wilde’s works, especially in Salome. Wilde was good at using images and similes to make his characters more vivid and artistic. He used splendid colors, weird words and actions of characters and unexpected plots and ending to achieve “Art for Art’s Sake” in Salome. Wilde showed “Art for Art’s Sake” in Salome through a series of characterizations. No matter what those characters said or did, they were full of Wilde’s expectation to achieve that slogan. By focusing on characterization in Salome, we can have a direct look at the beauty of Aestheticism. 

Key Words: Aestheticism; “Art for Art’s Sake”; Wilde; Salome; Characterization

Contents

Abstract

摘要

Introduction-2

1. Oscar Wilde and “Art for Art’s Sake” as the Principle for Aestheticism-3

1.1 The Concept of “Art for Art’s Sake”-3

1.2 The Impact of “Art for Art’s Sake” on Oscar Wilde-4

2. The Characterization in Salome-4

2.1 Appearances of Characters-5

2.1.1 Appearance of Salome-5

2.1.2 Appearance of Jokanaan-6

2.1.3 Appearance of Herodias-8

2.2 Personalities of Characters-9

2.2.1 Salome’s Personalities-9

2.2.2 Jokanaan’s Personalities-11

2.2.3 Herod’s Personalities-12

2.2.4 Herodias’s Personalities-12

2.2.5 The Guard’s Personalities-13

2.3 Actions of Characters-13

2.3.1 Looking-13

2.3.2 Dancing-14

2.3.3 Dying-15

3. Conclusions about Characters-15

Conclusion-17

Bibliography-17

Acknowledgement-18