TheNightingaleandTheRose
OscarWilde(1856-1900)BorninDublin,OscarWildeisanIrishpoet,dramatist,novelistandessayist,waseducatedatOxford,wherehewasgreatlyinfluencedbyhisteacherWalterPater.Bothofthemareconsideredthemostimportantrepresentativesofaestheticists(唯美主义者)inEnglishliterature.
Aestheticism(唯美主义)wasaculturalphenomenon,whichbegantoprevailinEuropeatthemiddleofthe19thcentury,whenthetheoryof“artforart’ssake”wasfirstputforward,declaringthatartshouldservenoreligious,moralorsocialpurpose,noranypurposeexceptitself.Actuallyitwasakindofescapisminessence.“Artforart’ssake”isonlythehopelessansweroftheartisttotheslogan“artformoney’ssake”---hopelessbecauseivoryneverwasagoodmaterialforfortifications(要塞).Thus,aestheticismwasregardedfin-de-sielesentiment(世纪末的感伤)
OscarWilde’sliteraryoutputshowstheversatilityofhisinventivepowersaswellasthecomplexityofhissocialandartisticideas.Fromtheeightiestothenineties,Wildewroteandpublishedallhismajorworks,whichincludetwocollectionsoffairystories:TheHappyPrinceandOtherTales1888《快乐王子和其他故事》AHouseofPomegranates《石榴屋/石榴之家》1891
Acollectionofshortstories:LordArthurSavile’sCrimeandOtherStories《亚瑟·萨维尔勋爵的罪行和其他故事》Hisonlynovel:ThePictureofDorianGray1891《道林·格雷的画像》Hismaindramas:LadyWindermere’sFan1893《温德密尔夫人的扇子》AWomanofNoImportance1894《无足轻重的女人》AnIdealHusband《理想的丈夫》1895TheImportanceofBeingEarnest《认真的重要性》1895Salome《莎乐美》(writtenoriginallyinFrenchandpublishedinEnglish)
InMay1895,whenWilderosetothesummitofhisfame,hewassentencedtotwoyears’hardlaboronachargeofimmoralconduct.Afterrelease,hewenttoFrance,forhewastotallydisappointedatthesocietyoftheVictorianEngland.Andthendiedsuddenlyin1900.