Two Faces Of Oscar Wilde

There are two different tendencies in the Aestheticism which are distinctively represented by Thophile Gautier and Walter Pater. The former admires the eternity of plastic arts while the latter indulges himself with drunkenness of moment sensory enjoyment. Therefore they could be in the person of spirits of Apollo and Dionysus.The two tendencies exist in Oscar Wilde at the same time, in other words, Wilde has two faces, one is Pater and the other is Gautier. Pater's face could be found obviously in the style of Wilde's life and works, while Gautier's face is deeply hidden beyond awareness.In this article, two of Wilde's classics, Salome and The Picture of Dorian Gray will be studied in the way of close reading and semasiological analysis, so that confrontation of the two faces will be described precisely, then be interpreted philosophically in succession.The life of Wilde and his works have structural similarity, in other words, Wilde himself has two faces outside the text as well as he does inside it. Although Wilde practices the philosophy of sensory Epicureanism of Pater throughout his life, his converting to Catholicism at last and epitaph drafted by himself expose his kindred world view with Gautier, that is to say, the pursuing of eternity and transcendency.