... injuction "to know one's impression as it really is" underlies Aestheticism's guiding principle: the sole function of art is to inspire an emotion or create a mood. Oscar Wilde rejects nature and establishes the superiority of art. In his essay "The Decay of Lying", Wilde sustains that "Life imitates art" and ... us with its depiction of one of society's overwhelming obsessions - the cult of youthful beauty. It was originally condemned as "a poisonous book, the atmosphere of which is heavy with the mephitic odours of moral and spiritual putrefaction" and "a tale spawned from the leprous l...

• Word Count: 3731
• Approx Pages: 15
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... injuction "to know one's impression as it really is" underlies Aestheticism's guiding principle: the sole function of art is to inspire an emotion or create a mood. Oscar Wilde rejects nature and establishes the superiority of art. In his essay "The Decay of Lying", Wilde sustains that "Life imitates art" and ... us with its depiction of one of society's overwhelming obsessions - the cult of youthful beauty. It was originally condemned as "a poisonous book, the atmosphere of which is heavy with the mephitic odours of moral and spiritual putrefaction" and "a tale spawned from the leprous l...

• Word Count: 3731
• Approx Pages: 15
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School