The Emergence of Decadence and Aestheticism in Victorian Literature
Keywords:
Aestheticism, Decadence, Victorian Literature, Charles Dickens, Walter Pater, Oscar Wilde, Art for Art’s Sake, Fin de Siècle, Industrial revolutionAbstract
This article explores the transition of late-Victorian literature from the moralistic constraints of the early 19th century to the rebellious philosophies of Aestheticism and Decadence. By analyzing the core tenet of l'art pour l'art (art for art's sake), the piece examines how writers like Walter Pater and Oscar Wilde shifted the literary focus from social utility to sensory experience and artifice. It further investigates the "Decadent" fascination with decay, transience, and the subversion of nature, marking the dawn of Modernism.
References
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