The Aesthetic Movement

The new Aesthetic Movement in Great Britain became associated with the phrase ‘art for art’s sake’. It emerged out of the gray materialism of the Industrial Age and traversed the arts, from poetry to stage. Proponents of the Aesthetic Movement shocked fin-de-siècle English society by challenging traditional values and promoting artistic experimentation. Oscar Wilde became a figurehead of the explosion of this aesthetic philosophy in the late-Victorian era and extended its philosophy to life itself. However, he also questioned the relationship between art, expression, and morality through his writing. This guide will provide an overview of the Aesthetic Movement and explore Oscar Wilde’s engagement with it, onstage and off.

Terminology

• Aestheticism: An art movement in the late-nineteenth century which promoted the aesthetic value of literature, music, and the arts over their socio-political functions.
• Fin-de-siècle: The end of a century, used especially to define the last years of the nineteenth century.
• Victorian: Relating to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901) or a person who lived in the Victorian era.