Oscar Wilde:The Pioneer Writer of British Aestheticism

◎朱廣春

他是著名的作家、詩人、戲劇家，是十九世紀(jì)與蕭伯納齊名的英國(guó)才子。回顧他的一生，匆匆四十六年，在巔峰處跌落谷底，在病痛中走向人生的終點(diǎn)。然而，他留下的妙言警句卻仍然被后人征引，作品更是成為不朽的經(jīng)典。正如余光中所說，他的錦心繡口，微言大義，歷經(jīng)一百多年猶能令他的廣大讀者與觀眾驚喜甚至深思。他就是英國(guó)唯美主義藝術(shù)運(yùn)動(dòng)的倡導(dǎo)者——奧斯卡·王爾德。

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900),was an advocate of the British aestheticism art movement,and a famous writer,poet and playwright.He has been regarded as one of the greatest British writers and artists of the 19th century.

Wilde was born in Dublin,Ireland in 1854.His father was a surgeon and his mother was a writer.He received a good education in his childhood,and began to1)emergein the literary world after publishing his first bookPoetry Anthology.

Wilde entered Magdalen College,University of Oxford in 1874.During this period,he was influenced by the aesthetic concepts of Walter Pater and John Ruskin,and was exposed to the works of the Neo-Hegelian philosophy,Darwin’s theory of evolution,and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood movement,which laid the foundation for his later becoming a pioneer writer of aestheticism.

In 1888,his first collection of fairy tales,The Happy Prince and Other Tales,was published,which includedThe Happy Prince,The Nightingale and the Rose,The Selfish Giant,The Devoted Friend,and The Remarkable Rocket,causing an immediate sensation.These works not only attracted children,but also stirred up a lot of waves in the hearts of adults.They were deeply moved by its beautiful language and2)exquisitebeauty.Beauty has always been the theme of Wilde’s fairy tales,existing against3)ugliness.InThe Happy Prince,the prince and the little swallow,inThe Nightingale and the Rose,the nightingale,are all4)embodimentsof beauty and carriers of beauty,and Wilde attributes the ultimate beauty of human nature to ultimate love.

In 1891,his frist novel,The Picture of Dorian Gray,was published.In the same year,another collection of his fairy tales,A House of Pomegranates,was released,which includedThe Young King,The Birthday of the Infanta,The Fisherman and His Soul,andThe Star-child,bringing him great fame.However,what truly earned him a reputation was his theatrical works.His three works were once5)simultaneouslyperformed on the London stage.The most famous one isThe Importance of Being Earnest,which is a comedy that satirizes the mainstream society at that time.Therefore,he and George Bernard Shaw are called the “two flags” of modern British drama.

Wilde’s life was full of ups and downs.In the Victorian era at the end of the 19th century,there was a fierce conflict between the old and new fashions in the British upper class,and Wilde’s free style quickly made him a victim of this conflict.In May 1895,he was convicted and sentenced to 2 years in prison.In November 1900,he died of illness at a hotel in Paris at the age of 46.

In November 1998,after nearly a century of disrepute,the United Kingdom finally erected a bronze statue in honor of Oscar Wilde in Adelaide Street near Trafalgar Square,London.Under the bronze statue is written what he said,“We’re all in the gutter,but some of us are looking at the stars.”

In October 2007,according to Reuters,a British television channel called UKTV announced the list of “Most Intelligent British People”selected by the public through voting.Wilde received over 20% of the votes and was elected as the most intelligent master in the hearts of the public.

In October 2013,The Guardianreported that in the fifth edition of theOxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations,Oscar Wilde became the writer with the most quoted quotations.

Disobedience is man’s original virtue.

To love yourself is the beginning of lifelong romance.

Be yourself;everyone else is already taken.

...

Reading these words by Wilde,have you felt that he was too much of a maverick in the history of English literature?

1) emergev.浮現(xiàn)；顯露

2) exquisiteadj.精美的

3) uglinessn.丑陋

4) embodimentn.化身

5) simultaneouslyadv.同時(shí)地

奧斯卡·王爾德（1854—1900），英國(guó)唯美主義藝術(shù)運(yùn)動(dòng)的倡導(dǎo)者，著名的作家、詩人、戲劇家，被譽(yù)為19 世紀(jì)英國(guó)最偉大的作家與藝術(shù)家之一。

1854 年，王爾德生于愛爾蘭的都柏林，父親是一名外科醫(yī)生，母親是一位作家。他自幼受到良好的教育，從出版首本書《詩集》后，便在文壇嶄露頭角。

王爾德于1874 年進(jìn)入牛津大學(xué)莫德林學(xué)院學(xué)習(xí)。其間，他受到了沃爾特·佩特及約翰·拉斯金的審美觀念影響，并接觸了新黑格爾派哲學(xué)、達(dá)爾文進(jìn)化論和前拉斐爾派的作品，這為他之后成為唯美主義先鋒作家奠定了基礎(chǔ)。

1888 年，他的第一部童話集《快樂王子及其他故事》面世，其中包括《快樂王子》《夜鶯與玫瑰》《自私的巨人》《忠實(shí)的朋友》和《神奇的火箭》，轟動(dòng)一時(shí)。這些作品不單吸引了孩子們，也在成年人的心里激起了漣漪。他們都被作品中優(yōu)美的語言和精致的美感深深打動(dòng)。美，一直是王爾德童話的主題，它在與丑惡的對(duì)比中展現(xiàn)。《快樂王子》中的王子與小燕子和《夜鶯與玫瑰》中的夜鶯都是美的化身、美的象征，王爾德將人性的至美歸于至愛。

1891年，他的第一本小說《道林·格雷的畫像》發(fā)表，同年他的另一部童話集《石榴之家》問世，其中包括《少年國(guó)王》《西班牙公主的生日》《漁夫和他的靈魂》和《星孩》，使他聲名大噪。然而，真正為他贏得聲譽(yù)的是戲劇作品。曾經(jīng)的倫敦舞臺(tái)同時(shí)上演他的三部作品。其中最著名的是《不可兒戲》，這是一部諷刺當(dāng)時(shí)主流社會(huì)的喜劇。因此，他與喬治·伯納德·蕭并稱英國(guó)現(xiàn)代戲劇的“兩面旗幟”。

王爾德的一生大起大落。19 世紀(jì)末的維多利亞時(shí)代，英國(guó)上流社會(huì)里新舊風(fēng)尚沖突激烈，王爾德的自由作風(fēng)很快使他成為這場(chǎng)沖突的犧牲品。1895 年5 月，他被判有罪，在監(jiān)獄服刑兩年。1900年11 月，他病逝于巴黎的一家旅館，終年46 歲。

1998 年11 月，在遭到毀譽(yù)近一個(gè)世紀(jì)后，英國(guó)終于在倫敦特拉法爾加廣場(chǎng)附近的阿德萊德街樹立了王爾德榮譽(yù)銅像。銅像下寫著他說過的話：“我們都生活在陰溝里，但仍有人仰望星空。”

2007 年10 月，據(jù)路透社報(bào)道，英國(guó)一家名為UKTV 的電視頻道揭曉了由民眾投票選出的“最具智慧英國(guó)人”榜單，王爾德獲得了超過20%的選票，當(dāng)選為民眾心目中最有智慧的大師。

2013 年10 月，據(jù)英國(guó)《衛(wèi)報(bào)》報(bào)道，奧斯卡·王爾德成為第五版《牛津幽默語錄詞典》中被引用語錄最多的作家。

不服從，是人類與生俱來的美德。

愛自己，是終身浪漫的開始。

做你自己！因?yàn)閯e人都已經(jīng)有人做了。

……

讀著王爾德的這些句子，你是否已感受到了他在英國(guó)文學(xué)史上的特立獨(dú)行？