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Policarpio
Daphne Policarpio
Mr. Dookhoo
AP Literature
10 April 2019
Much of what Oscar Wilde wrote in his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray reflected the ideas of the aesthetic movement, which said that art should exist just for its own sake. Wilde paid attention to detailed descriptions in The Picture of Dorian Gray, writing beautifully with a sensuous tone. Through the use of descriptive imagery and witty dialogue, he created a captivating fictional universe in his novel. In doing so, Wilde presented characters who mirrored the different aspects of the aestheticism movement.
Wilde’s lavish style of prose throughout his novel shows his aesthetic style of writing. Rather than using simple words, he uses very fancy words and writes in a way that is very descriptive and ornate. In a sense, Wilde writes beautifully for the sake of writing beautifully, mirroring the key ideas of the aesthetic movement. The sensuous tone in the novel draws the reader’s attention and in a way hypnotizes us with its beauty. Wilde’s long sentences are fluid and detailed, while the short sentences draw attention to the main ideas that he is trying to display. In addition, Wilde’s writing in his novel is distinct in his use of paradox. The use of paradox really makes the reader think about what Wilde is trying to say, and he uses this device to present his ideas and opinions in a way that seems contradicting and confusing when it is really quite easy to understand. The style of writ...
