Oscar Wilde's Aesthetic Education: The Oxford Classical Curriculum (palgrave Studies In Nineteenth-century Writing And Culture)

This book focuses on the role that the Oxford classical curriculum has had in shaping Oscar Wilde’s aestheticism. It positions Wilde as a classically trained intellectual and outlines the path he took to gain recognition as a writer and promoter of the aesthetic movement. This narrative is conveyed through a broad range of literary sources, including Wilde’s travel poetry, American lectures, and canonical works like ‘The Critic as Artist’__, The Soul of Man__, __The Picture of Dorian Gray__ and __De Profundis__. This study proposes that Wilde approached aestheticism as a personalised, self-directed learning experience – a mode of self-culture – which could be used to maintain an intellectual life outside of the university. It also explores Wilde’s thoughts on education and considers the significance of male friendship at Oxford, and in Wilde’s life and literature. Acknowledgements 7 Contents 9 List of Figures 11 Chapter 1 Introduction: Greek Forms and Gothic Cloisters 12 1 Oscar Wilde and Oxford 14 2 The Oxford Classical Curriculum 18 3 Wilde Scholarship and the Classics 23 4 Chapter Outlines 26 Bibliography 39 Chapter 2 Popery and Paganism: Divided Loyalties in the Travel Poems 42 1 Roman Catholicism in Context 44 2 Going Over to Rome 52 3 Impressions of Greece and Rome 58 Bibliography 85 Chapter 3 American Beauty: Aestheticism Across the Atlantic 89 1 The Arrival 91 2 Theories in Practice 106 3 Aestheticism and Practical Education 114 4 Impressions of America 118 Bibliography 130 Chapter 4 Civilizing England: Oxford, Empire, and Aesthetic Education 133 1 The Formation of Greats 137 2 The Tyranny of Work 143 3 Oxford and Aesthetic Consumption 149 Bibliography 166 Chapter 5 Fervent Friendships: Oxford Platonism and The Picture of Dorian Gray 169 1 Eros According to Jowett and Pater 174 2 The Picture of Dorian Gray and the Aesthetics of Desire 183 Bibliography 214 Chapter 6 Wilde and Douglas: Redefining the Beloved 218 1 Classicism in the Courtroom 222 2 Finding Fault 228 3 Finding Christ 241 Bibliography 263 Epilogue: Some Thoughts on Aesthetic Education 266 Appendix: Notes from Oscar Wilde’s Copy of the Symposium 270 Index 274 Front Matter ....Pages i-xi Introduction: Greek Forms and Gothic Cloisters (Leanne Grech)....Pages 1-30 Popery and Paganism: Divided Loyalties in the Travel Poems (Leanne Grech)....Pages 31-77 American Beauty: Aestheticism Across the Atlantic (Leanne Grech)....Pages 79-122 Civilizing England: Oxford, Empire, and Aesthetic Education (Leanne Grech)....Pages 123-158 Fervent Friendships: Oxford Platonism and The Picture of Dorian Gray (Leanne Grech)....Pages 159-207 Wilde and Douglas: Redefining the Beloved (Leanne Grech)....Pages 209-256 Back Matter ....Pages 257-273