The Lust Beauty In Aphrodite

Pierre Louys (1870-1925) was one of the most controversial writers among aesthetic Symbolist school in France. His novel Aphrodite, published in 1986, is his most representative and also most controversial one. The bold depiction of lust in this fiction is blasted by the moralists, and Louys is condemned as an immoral erotic writer.This thesis interprets the relationship between lust and morality in Aphrodite, with the theory of Dionysus and Apollo of Nicaragua. It analyzes how Louys frees lust from Christian ethics and the excessive indulgence of Dionysus and successfully puts it under the esthetic interpretation of art. Furthermore, it intends to inspire people's reappraisal of morality and meditation on loss of divinity and poeticity in modern culture. This thesis consists of three parts as follows:The first part, namely Chapter One presents a brief survey of the present domestic and overseas studies of Pierre Louys and his masterpiece Aphrodite, and also the methodology applied in this thesis.The second part includes three chapters. Chapter Two introduces Nicaragua's esthetics, Dionysus spirit and Apollo spirit and the relationship between lust and morality, lust and art are also given full interpretation. Chapter Three beginning with the archetype of Aphrodite, expounds the lust beauty represented by heterosexuality and the androgyny beauty represented by bisexual love, and come up with the viewpoint that lust can be sublimated by art. Chapter Four analyzes the creation intention of Louys. The author contemplates modern culture with Hellenism so as to lead people ponder on the questions of morality reappraisal and poeticity beckon and so on.The conclusion part emphasizes Louys's tolerant attitude towards lust and morality, and points out Louys'thinking about intact humanity and morality, and its realistic meaning to contemporary culture.