Abstract: Oscar Wilde is the leader of British aesthetic movement in 19th century, his work The Picture of Dorian Gray, which is seemed as one of Wilde’s masterpieces, fully reflects Wilde’s aestheticism theories. By evaluating and analyzing this work, people can better understand Wilde himself and his aestheticism theories. This paper aims to present Wilde’s aestheticism theories from the text of The Picture of Dorian Gray. It interprets aesthetic views and aesthetic understandings of Oscar Wilde from the analysis of the plot, characters, conversations, mental activity and changes of personalities. Wilde’s aesthetic opinions from the writing features of The Picture of Dorian Gray are also be analyzed in the paper.

Key words: aestheticism; art for art’s sake; life imitating art

CONTENTS

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction1

2. Literature Review.1

3. Aestheticism.2

3.1 A Brief Introduction to Aestheticism.2

3.2 Oscar Wilde3

3.3 The Picture of Dorian Gray3

4. Wilde’s Aestheticism Theory in The Picture of Dorian Gray4

4.1 Art for Art’s Sake.4

4.2 The Non-utilitarian Art5

4.3Life imitating Art6

5. Wilde’s Aesthetic Writing Features in The Picture of Dorian Gray7

5.1 The Use of Rhetorical Expressions7

5.2 The Use of Irony7

6. Conclusion8

Bibliography.10

Acknowledgements11