Oscar Wilde's hedonism philosophy.

• Main Author: Sim, Wenqi.
• Other Authors: School of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/52181
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This paper will attempt to reconcile both sides and show that this binary can be viewed as a paradox instead – that both sides of the argument lies within the predominant idea of hedonism, such that the idea of comedy as an art form in its linguistic arrangement can also come to terms with the moralistic issues jarringly present in Wilde’s comedies. This will be done by firstly re-examining the idea of hedonism, that while it means to be self indulgent, it also represents the notion of giving an audience pleasure through one’s art, and in the construction of this art, Wilde’s characters become so artificial that the audience is alienated from the play and its plot, thus, becoming conscious of the morality behind the plays. Furthermore, the central plot of all three plays center around mistaken identities, lineage and birthright, which originates from the characters’ hedonistic agendas. Thus, Wilde plays with the idea of masks and performance, portraying Life as Art, simultaneously allowing himself to be both didactic and in line with the aesthetic movement. This paper will also attempt to delve behind this aesthetic façade of masks and the idea of life as a performance, exploring the purpose of Wilde’s dandy characters and the artificial world he has created.