1 / 8

Aestheticism and Decadence: The Fin-de-Siècle Shift in Late 19th Century Britain

The late 19th century in Britain, often termed the "Fin-de-Siècle," marked a crucial transition between Victorian and Modernist eras, reflecting a pervasive sense of exhaustion and paradox. This period, characterized by an embrace of Aestheticism and Decadence, centered on the autonomy of the artist and a focus on sensory experiences rather than narrative events. The emergence of new gender roles, such as the "New Woman," alongside an amoral approach to art and culture, resulted in a vibrant yet controversial cultural landscape, inviting reflection on the nature of individuality, society, and morality.

burt
Télécharger la présentation

Aestheticism and Decadence: The Fin-de-Siècle Shift in Late 19th Century Britain

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Fin-de-Siècle Aestheticism & Decadence in late c19 Britain

  2. Fin-de-siècle • “End of the Era” – felt during the time, sense of ending • Distinct period between Victorian and Modernist periods • Age of Paradoxes • Sense of exhaustion, loss of vitality – “Culture” enervated • Literary focus on images rather than events(cf. C20 Modernism) • Belief in autonomy of artist (Elizabeth Barrett Browning?) (p. 1888) • New possibilities for gender roles and self-invention (p. 1888) • “Manly Woman” and “Womanly Man” • “New Woman” -- Intellectually and sexually independent • “Aesthete” – interested in finery, witty dialogue, and manners – FLAMBOYANCE

  3. AESTHETICISM • Reacted by inverting many of the Victorian values (p. 1885) • “Art for art’s sake” (not public good) • Appetite for the sensuous, desire for the intense (images pp.1886-87) • Exquisite attention to surface and trite detail

  4. decadence • Tawdry subject matter • Amoral attitude • Ultra-refined sophistication of taste • Sex and the forbidden pervading much of literary output (p. 1888) • Mainstream believed Decadence heralded collapse of Western Civ(p. 1887)

  5. Alone (1896) – Henri de toulouse-lautrec

  6. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) • Goal of social evolution is “joyous individualism” (p. 1819) • Inversion of traditional Victorian Values: treat serious things trivially, trivial things with studied seriousness (p. 1820) • Relatively open about homosexuality while it was still illegal • Trial, prison, harsh end of life (p. 1821)

  7. Upcoming lecture by Merlin Holland, Wilde’s grandson

  8. The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) • Epigrammatic – series of witty statements that can stand on their own • Victorian ideal of Earnestness as character trait plus moral philosophy (p. 1829) • Neat resolution of popular British C19 Drama • Comedy in the classical sense: begin with error & confusion, end with knowledge, recognition, self-discovery (also Comic). • Questions social hierarchies based on birth • Explores fictions of personality • Men freely explore fictive selves yet are completely controlled by women • Anticipates modernist Theater of the Absurd

More Related