Last Decade of the 19th Century

Victoria and Albert Museum. London.

It is known for its collection of valuable

objects Jrom all over the world

Victoria, the British Queen from 1837 until her death in 1901, was married to a German Prince Albert. He was greatly interested in art, music and science.

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At the end of the 19th century Great Britain became the leading colonial power of the world. By the end of the century Britain controlled much of the territory of the world. The English colonists arrived in Canada, Australia and New Zealand to take over the land and to farm it. In all three countries British settlers killed the local population. Most British strongly believed in their right to an Empire, but at the same time they under­stood that every new area conquered provoked new troubles and fears which involved all sorts of contradic­tion, and the colonies began to demand their freedom. At the end of the 19th century the struggle between the realistic and antirealistic trends in art and literature came to its peak. Some writers continued the traditions of the brilliant school of novelists. They were Thomas Hardy, Bernard Shaw, Herbert Wells, John Galsworthy. Their criticism of the social wrongs reached its highest degree in their works. On the other hand, the growth of those writers who didn't want to give the realistic description of the society but tried to escape from reality, indulging in the world of their imagination, was observed. They created the theory the main motto of which was "Art for Art's Sake". They rejected any kind of struggle. They just hated the bour­geois system. These writers called themselves symbol­ists, or aesthetes.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Oscar Wilde was born in Ireland, in Dublin, on October 16, 1854 into the family of a prominent Irish surgeon. His mother influenced him greatly. She was a remarkable woman. The home atmos­phere of love and happiness was fa­vourable for the development of poetic abilities of the boy.

His mother was well-educated, knew several lan­guages and was devoted to Ireland, writing poems and collecting the legends and folk songs of the Irish people. She even printed her early poems. She ignored the selfish morality and narrowness of English bourgeoisie; Oscar inherited his mother's views.

He was well educated at a private school, then at Trinity College in Dublin, and afterwards at Oxford. Like his mother, he was deeply interested in poetry and classics. He won the scholarship and many rewards for his excellent study. As the most capable student he was chosen to accompany his professor to Italy and Greece.

Oscar Wilde was a bright student, and he studied brilliantly. He listened to the lectures of a well-known art critic JohnRuskin about the aesthetic criticism of capitalism.

John Ruskin (1819-1900) praised the young painters for their seriousness of purpose. But his own views were much more profound and radical. In stud­ying art Ruskin realized that its mission was to make life more beautiful. The artist must not only create beauty but also make people feel that beauty.

His strong belief in the progressive power of art, his deep understanding of the social wrongs made him popular even outside England. The aesthetic works of; Ruskin were wide-spread all over the world. His prose] was pure and easy to follow, though his political and! economic ideas were naive. In "The Political Economy] of Art" he taught his students that art is a great! weapon in the struggle for beauty, because he associ-1 ated beauty with life.

Having graduated from Oxford, Wilde settled in Lon-| don. By this time aesthetism had become fashionable, j Oscar Wilde became the leader of this trend in literature. I Moreover, he became the symbol of Beauty. Wilde vis­ited the USA and Paris, and on returning to London he ] was busy with essays and reviews for several magazines. J He had to earn money by journalism. But he disliked this sort of activity. And he never signed his articles.

In 1882 Oscar Wilde published his first volume of poems, written under the influence of decadents.

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