The greatest fascination of the novel, as unanimously applauded by most readers, owes itself to the portrayal of Lord Henry Wotton, a dandy and cynic who treats life as a spectator sport and exercises a malign influence upon Dorian. It is through his scintillating remarks that Oscar Wilde finds an ideal outlet for his own outlook toward art and life. In Lord Henry three elements coalesce to distinguish Wilde as a leading aesthete: dandyism, cynicism and masterly use of paradox.
Dandyism:
The novel is, from the very beginning, set in a comfortable background “filled with the rich odor of roses”, in which Lord Henry “was lying, smoking, as was his custom, innumerable cigarettes”, with a self-conscious and satisfied air. Observant readers can find with no difficulty this pose of insouciance of Lord Henry in Wilde’s frequent use of such adjective words as “languid, listless, dreamy, languorous, etc.” when Lord Henry speaks. To highlight Lord Henry’s demeanor and habit as a dandy, Wilde employs Lord Henry’s uncle as his spokesperson who comments on his niece in chapter three---“what brings you out so early? I thought you dandies never got up till two, and were not visible till five”. It presents to readers the image of an indolent lad who speaks “with that graceful wave of the hand that was always so characteristic of him”. Lord Henry’s dandyism in dress and demeanor is also vintage Oscar Wilde. His appearance---long hair, velvet suit, fur-trimmed coat and his superbly judged, highly mannered style of lecturing contrive to show his exquisite sensibility as a dandy. But it is not only in demeanor but in thought that Lord Henry displays Wilde’s predilection for dandyism. His slackness in dealing with life, in the story, is everywhere to find when he preaches to Dorian Gray. For instance, “ never marry at all, Dorian. Men marry because they are tired; women, because they are curious; both are disappointed”. / “My dear boy, the people who love only once in their lives are really the shallow people. What they call their loyalty, and their fidelity, I call either the lethargy of custom or their lack of imagination. Faithfulness is to the emotional life what consistency is to the life of the intellect---simply a confession of failures”. / “Most people become bankrupt through having invested too heavily in the prose of life”. / “All that experience really demonstrated was that our future would be the same as our past, and that the sin we had done once, and with loathing, we could do many times, and with joy”. / “I never approve, or disapprove, of anything now. It is an absurd attitude to take towards life. We are not sent into the world to air our moral prejudices”. Even Dorian makes comment on Lord Henry in such way as “Harry spends his days in saying what is incredible, and his evenings in doing what is improbable…”. The dandy’s languid self-centeredness and his amoral, hot-house culture is echoed by aesthetes of the Wilde circle in whose lives everything gives way to detailed discussion of pictures and other art objects, or simply gossiping. Wilde is, in particular, a veritable dandy who in his ephemeral lifetime teases with the notions of love, marriage and human nature and makes various mild mockeries at life as a whole.
Cynicism:
In his propagating the notion of “Art for art’s sake” as a new kind of art untrammeled by social and moral rules, Oscar Wilde wears the badge of cynicism on his aesthetic coat. Slings of attack are often shot, in his works, toward the hypocrisy and utilitarianism prevailing in the 19th century of Victorian era. In “the picture of Dorian Gray” there exists an abundance of such examples, through which Lord Henry the incarnation of Wilde hurls satires at Victorian moral system. For example, when Lord Henry talks with his uncle about aunt Agatha’s charity appeals, he mockingly said: “philanthropic people lose all sense of humanity. It is their distinguishing characteristic”. And later at aunt Agatha’s home, he further satirizes by saying: “humanity takes itself too seriously. It is the world’s original sin. If the caveman had known how to laugh, history would have been different”, “there is no literary public in England for anything except newspaper, primers and encyclopedias” and “Of all people in the world the English have the least sense of the beauty of literature”. This cynic attitude toward the environment of which he is a part is more noticeable in his conversation with Dorian. He devalues people at that time as “knowing the price of everything, and the value of nothing”, and gives such disparaging remarks as “I quite sympathize with the rage of the English democracy against what they call the vices of the upper orders” and “they feed the hungry, and clothe the beggar. But their own souls starve, and are naked. Courage has gone out of our race. Perhaps we never really had it. The terror of society, which is the basis of morals, the terror of God, which is the secret of religion---these are the two things that govern us…”, “the costume of the nineteenth century is detestable. It is so somber, so depressing. Sin is the only real color---element left in modern life”. Doubtlessly Lord Henry stands as an ideal spokesperson for Oscar Wilde when he provokes a clash between himself and the high society. The pejorative remarks made by him are a faithful representation of Wilde’s impudent challenge toward the whole British society, which ultimately leads to his fall and imprisonment and leaves him a victim of moral autocracy.
Paradox:
Apart from the aesthetic colors with which it is painted, “the picture of Dorian Gray” is also a book strewn with illuminating paradoxes about love, marriage, life, mankind, etc, which leave not only a mesmerized Dorian Gray, but also amazed readers. Nicknamed as “prince paradox”, Lord Henry briefed Dorian on his life philosophy primarily through witty paradoxes. When talking about trust, he said “I can believe anything, provided that it is quite incredible”. And It is in this way that he comments on love “The only difference between a caprice and a lifelong passion is that the caprice lasts a little longer”. In terms of sympathy, he announces “I can sympathize with everything, except suffering”. And he observes human from this perspective “There are only two kinds of people who are really fascinating---people who know absolutely everything, and people who know absolutely nothing”. With epigrammic wit, paradoxes like these cast a spell upon readers throughout the pages. Lord Henry’s use of paradoxes would be less disturbing for readers if it were a style that Wilde had applied solely to depict an obviously corrupt character within the novel. But paradox is the hallmark of Wilde’s own style of speaking in his real life, and much of Lord Henry’s philosophy is reiterated in his critical discourses. For example, he holds to the belief that “There are only two tragedies in life; one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it”. / “The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it … I can resist everything but temptation”. Confusing as they are, these paradoxes carry with themselves some truth. So frequently are paradoxes used in Wilde’s address and writing that they become vintage the aesthete.
Despite all the pungent and unjust attack it incurred when it was published, “the picture of Dorian Gray” survives all the criticism upon it and joins the rank of world classics. Serving as a witness of Oscar Wilde’s aesthetic values from every perspective, the book, the three main characters involved in particular, offers an easy access to readers’ knowledge of the distinguished leading aesthete and invites more endeavors made upon the study of aestheticism as a literary trend.
【Bibliography】
[1]Oscar Wilde.“the picture of Dorian Gray” 外文出版社,1989年第1版.
[2]Peter Raby.“Oscar Wilde”.上海外语教育出版社, 2002年7月第1版.
[3]Anne Varty.“A preface to Oscar Wilde”.北京大学出版社,2005年3月第1版.
[4]张介明. 《唯美叙事：王尔德新论》.上海社会科学院出版社,2005年3月第1版.