Utopian Works and Aestheticism in 19th Century Literature
Fin de Siècle: Utopian Works – News from Nowhere (1893)
The Origins of the 20th Century (1888-1901)
Fin de Siècle: Mechanical. Social: class shift, money is important, religion is important, and good manners are extremely important as evidence of new status and respect for laws. Art is an imitation of artistic works. The artist is a special individual; the work of art is an elitist product. There is a rejection of the middle and working classes.
Utopian Works: What is utopia? It is a concept with multiple meanings, an explanation of a better world, an ideal, a dream that is never attainable. Its unattainability creates frustration. Utopian socialism sparks the debate to imagine and build egalitarian societies. In the Communist Manifesto (1848), it provides an understandable underpinning for the emergence of socialism during a phase when the proletarian movement is not fully developed, criticizing the existing basis of society.
Work = pleasure = creation of art.
William Morris
He was an anarchist, a polyartist, a painter (calligrapher, designer of furniture, wallpaper, etchings, and woodcuts). He was also a publisher, a writer, an essayist, and a poet. For him, it was imperative to build a means by which the people could destroy the chains of slavery.
His novel News from Nowhere clearly portrays an anarchist world where society has no trace of authority and does not perceive the existence of any government apparatus to monitor the interests of a particular class or to ensure the defense of private property.
One cannot read News from Nowhere solely from a literary perspective. This novel should be viewed as a manifestation of an era in which the advent of socialism was seen as a dream that could be achieved, as an emancipatory utopia for all humanity, freeing men and women from the shackles of poverty.
Poet-Essayist: When a writer wants to underline or reveal the defects of society, he may provide justifications. Why is the UK a powerful country? – Imperialism: “The more land I have, the richer I am; we, the Christians, have the divine mission to colonize the world.” England was an Empire, and people were happy with this idea. Morris attacks imperialism, believing that it is criminal.
Utopian Works: The idea of utopian works is to find pleasure and sexual passion while working.
Work-art worker-artist in News from Nowhere.
Aestheticism:
Rejection of the industrial world and rejection of reality/realism.
In Yeats: The most important aspect of life is beauty; art is based on beauty to avoid the physical model.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was born in Dublin. His mother was a poet and journalist, while his father was an Irish antiquarian, a gifted writer, and a specialist in diseases of the eye and ear. His lifestyle and humorous wit made him the spokesman for Aestheticism, the late 19th century movement in England that advocated art for art’s sake. His plays include The Importance of Being Earnest (1885) – a realistic comedy that critiques middle-class values (family, marriage, good manners, hypocrisy) and his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1881).
Pathetic Fallacy: The writer changes the context according to the character’s emotions. Intentional Fallacy: We don’t discuss writers but texts; one cannot assume to know the intentions of the author.
Salomé (1892) is a symbolistic play written in French. He is from Ireland and was translated into English by Lord Alfred Douglas, his boyfriend. Wilde was sentenced to two years in Reading prison for indecent behavior (1895).