Ekphrasis and Aestheticism in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde was a famous author and playwright, well known for both his literary works and the drama that surrounded his personal life. Born in Dublin in 1854, Wilde attended both Trinity College and Magdalen College, distinguishing himself early on as a classically talented individual. Upon graduation, he moved to London to pursue a literary career. With his charm and exuberance, he was quickly accepted into many prestigious social circles. His friend Frank Harris described him as “not only an admirable talker but […] invariably smiling, eager, full of life and the joy of living, and above all given to unmeasured praise of whatever and whoever pleased him (Harris 4).” As well as being charismatic and likeable, Wilde was extremely witty; he had a way with words that served him well both in his career and in his personal relationships.
With any book, article, propaganda, etc. the hero and villain are always apparent and either praised or criticized with everything they do. Many authors write with this perspective or intent to make the writing more intriguing and to develop the reader’s opinions on how they feel towards the characters. However, there are several authors that choose a different route. Charles Dickens, an author with many award winning novels and plays from the 19th century, used a different approach when creating his characters for his writings.
As the novice of Chardin and Boucher, who were Rococo artist, Fragonard had won the Prix de Rome and was able to attend the academy in France. Fragonard’s paintings were filled with high origin and importance as one of the last major artist of the rococo movement. His works shows to be filled with liveliness and elegance. One characteristics of Fragonard’s painting is his use of color especially in his work in Fig 1, The Swing that was done in 1766. In this painting, his intention was to flatter Baron and his mistress, giving them a carefree and trivial painting that provides a sense of intimacy in the moment of their relationship.
Man Ieng Wong Dr. Damian Shaw ENGB220-001 12 April 2016 Is Oscar Wilde’s The Importance Of Being Ernest Merely Written To Amuse An Audience, Or Does It Have A Serious Moral Message? Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest is a comedy produced and released in 1895. It is regarded as his most famous and successful work. Wilde showed his marvelous skills in using humorous and satirical words in the play. However, in the early and mid-twentieth century, many people criticized that it was barely a play to amuse the audience, but without any meaningful inspiration.
Three Messages from Nathaniel Hawthorne 's The Minister 's Black Veil Nathaniel Hawthorne may be this countries most interesting writer. His works not only spark interest in its readers, but also mess with the minds of these people as well. Michael Santangelo states about Hawthorne, “The legendary novelist’s life is portrayed as being as dramatic as the plotlines of his novels” He is completely correct as well. Hawthorne 's novel were filled with dramatic mind games that really entice readers to think. One of his more famous works, The Minister’s Black Veil, is most likely the king of this observation.
Oscar Wilde is relevant in the Victorian era and is also highly revered today because he spoke about human qualities. In Oscar Wilde 's short life he grabbed the attention of the Victorian audience and his works still have people fascinated now. Oscar Wilde expressed his words through novels, plays and even poetry. Once he began to write in different forms as he became a rising star in the early 1890 's. During the Victorian era the morals and standards posed by the society affected his writing.
Fatefully, he meets the artist Basil at a party due to Basil’s interest in Dorian’s striking and mysterious identity. Lord Henry’s charisma and charm draw Dorian to him when first introduced at Basil’s home. Sibyl Vane, an actress that Dorian became infatuated with when performing in the literary classic Romeo and Juliet, is in love with Dorian, who only appreciated her for her acting skills. However, between these three characters that cross paths with Dorian at various points, Basil and Sibyl share qualities in their relationships with Dorian that stand out as similarities. In the novel, Wilde creates specific parallels between the relationships that Dorian shares with Basil and Sibyl in terms of admiration for Dorian and honesty shared in the bonds, both of which make Dorian a better person.
Walter Pater’s influence on Oscar Wilde stretched across all of his work including “The Decay of Lying.” Pater was deeply passionate about Romanticism, which are reflected in Oscar Wilde’s works. While Oscar Wilde upset many people with his seemingly out of place writing, Wilde had people who also believed in his literary ideals. These opponents of realism were known as the decadent aesthetes . Writers of this title championed human creativity over logic and the natural world and created somewhat of a literary counter-culture to the modern way of writing. In “The Decay of Lying,” Vivian would identify with this movement based on his opinions of modernism and logic.
With Stephen King’s many successful works, he has single-handedly changed the way people perceive the horror genre. People do not read King for just entertainment, people read King to face their fears. King writes from his personal experiences which is what makes his horror so thrilling because to a point, his writing is realistic. An article called Criticism of Stephen (Edwin) King states, “If someone in the future wants to see what American life was like, what Americans cared about, what our stories were in the seventies and eighties, they’ll read Stephen King” (2003). The article even claims that in 50 years Stephen King will be regarded as “the dominant literary figure of the time” (2003).
William Somerset Maugham the popular English fiction writer of the twentieth century, wrote many novels, plays short stories, and marked his excellence as most eminent writer of Modern age in English history. Various features of his fictions drew attention of the critics and readers, which offered entertainment including the serious issues of human life, for that matter it resulted in being popular fiction of the time. The critics discussed his works with the advantage to explore the qualities of writer as well as to point out the flaws of his work and analyzed diverse features of his writing skills. The critics discovered many themes along with stylistic features of his novels in plays and short stories. Maugham has a range of production in various genres and experimented with writing skills.