Wildean ecology : the representations of aesthetic culture and grotesque nature in Oscar Wilde's fairy tales

Younes Poorghorban

doi:10.5817/BSE2023-2-7

Wildean ecology : the representations of aesthetic culture and grotesque nature in Oscar Wilde's fairy tales

Vol.49,No.2(2023)

Younes Poorghorban

https://doi.org/10.5817/BSE2023-2-7

Stable URL (handle):
http://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/digilib.79908

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Abstract

In his fairy tales, Oscar Wilde represents his ideological worldview by engendering anthropomorphised characters who would respond to Wildean didactic and Christian values. While the major literature on Oscar Wilde's fairy tales concentrates on moral values, social inequality, the concept of beauty, and Victorian consumer culture, this article investigates Wilde's perception of Victorian culture and nature through Ecocritical lenses. Wilde, I argue, draws a strict line between culture and nature, and his representations of culture are elevated, majestic, and alluring while his nature is demeaning, grotesque, and distasteful. Wilde only cherishes the aspect of nature which has become both semantically and physically domesticated and naturalised. The Garden becomes an epitome of naturalised nature which uniquely responds to cultural values. Furthermore, through exploring some tales from both The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888), and A House of Pomegranates (1891), I suggest that Wilde's anthropomorphised characters are of less value in comparison to his human characters. Lastly, I elucidate how trespassing culture proves to be fatal for the Dwarf who represents pristine nature.

Keywords:
Oscar Wilde; fairy tales; ecocriticism; Victorian culture; Victorian nature

Pages:
145–158

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