Oscar Wilde on Morality in Works of Art and Literature

Oscar Wilde, Bing Images

How does Oscar Wilde's assertion square up to the dictionary definition of the terms "moral" and "immoral"? These terms apply to the goodness or badness of human behaviour. In "An Ideal Husband," Wilde says "Morality is simply the attitude we adopt to people we personally dislike." It seems reasonable to suppose that, from Wilde's viewpoint, a sense of morality towards literature might be approached in a similar way, ie: "Morality is the attitude we adopt towards books we personally dislike."

It seems fair to dislike badly-written books regardless of content - but, to admire well-written books, while disregarding moral or immoral content is a more difficult concept. Wilde says: "Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault," indicating that the onus for extracting ugliness from a book rests with the reader. "Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril." Wilde endows the artist with an elitist, God-like status.

The Ugliness in Dorian's Heart

In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde includes episodes about another book which, presumably, was well-written since it has a profound effect on Dorian. It was given to Dorian by Lord Henry, provoking the accusation: "Yet, you poisoned me with a book once... it does harm." This is supported by Wilde's statement: "The moral life of man forms part of the subject-matter of the artist." In another quotation, Wilde says: "It is the spectator, not life, that art really mirrors," suggesting that were the ugliness not already in Dorian's heart, he would not have been adversely affected. Therefore, the artist is absolved from responsibility, when s/he produces material that promotes and glorifies elements that might remain dormant or suppressed. Yet, according to Wilde: "An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style."

Freedom of Expression

Does Wilde have a moral right to distance himself from responsibility? In his essay: "Obscenity and Film Censorship," Bernard Williams examines the effects of offensive material in literature: "We emphatically reject a view.... that books have no good or bad effects at all. Quite certainly, books have all sorts of effects." Williams concedes that "there is no intrinsic reason why pornographic or obscene works should not also be capable of having artistic merit..." and he continues by commenting on the importance of freedom of expression. This is a paradox to which there is no easy answer.

The Picture of Dorian Grey presents many moral issues, for example, Dorian's wrenching with his conscience over the inhumane way he treated Sybil Vane, saying her beauty was in her art.. "Would it teach him to loathe his own soul?" He examines his emptiness of character, trying to find a way of assuaging his guilt for his cruelty. At this stage, Wilde's character is grappling with the very issues Wilde dismisses in the statement: "No artist has ethical sympathies." Dorian, the artist, admirer of the beautiful at the expense of all other human qualities, must face the ugliness in his soul, and may question whether good and beauty are mutually exclusive. Still using artistic status to justify his stance, Wilde insists: "Vice and virtue are to the artist materials for his art."

Artistic Psychical Distance

Central to Wilde's philosophy is that the aesthetic overcomes and makes meaningless all other issues. Beauty in expression is the primary function of literary excellence. The artist's role is separate from his/her art and only concerned with its perfect expression. Wilde sees no contradiction in making judgements in his writing about morality, yet keeping his artistic psychical distance. Producing a perfect work of art in which form is everything disregards the common concept of what might be acceptable and says that morality is irrelevant.

In his essay: "Psychical distance" as a factor in art and as an aesthetic principle," Edward Bullough says: "Distance... is obtained by separating the object and its appeal from one's own self, by putting it out of gear with practical needs and ends." According to Bullough's argument, this concept of being completely objective, of separating oneself from the artwork "sheds considerable light on a number of other problems of aesthetics."

Hope is Good

Two of Wilde's assertions create a further paradox. "All art is useless" and "Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these, there is hope." For most people hope is good as well as beautiful. It is a positive human emotion and exists in every aspect of human existence. If hope is a desirable quality in art, then it is also a useful and practical quality.

Yet, should we take at face value any single statement made by Oscar Wilde? He was an extrovert and sensation-seeker. He was always anxious to impress with a witticism or a throwaway remark. Wilde claims aesthetic beauty is the only element of value in an artwork, yet his entire argument is based upon his own subjective feelings for art and not on any rational philosophy. It appears that Wilde, for most his his artistic life until his decline into illness, took nothing seriously.

In conclusion, Wilde's work continues to stimulate our wonder and our imagination, and may never have caused psychological harm to his readers. Yet, it is doubtful that there are mitigating circumstances in Wilde's crude assertion that there are no moral or immoral books. This article would have been much more difficult to write if the central theme was "Books are well-written or badly-written. A consideration of the novel Justine by the Marquis de Sade."

The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde, first published by Ward, Lock & Company, 1891.

"Obscenity and Film Censorship" Bernard Williams, Art, Context and Value, The Open University, 1992.

"Psychical Distance" Edward Bullough, Theories of Art and Beauty, The Open University, 1991.

Oscar Wilde's quotations, unless otherwise specified, appear in the "Preface" of The Picture of Dorian Gray.