The Picture of Dorian Gray Preface

Oscar Wilde states in his Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray that art should not resemble nature, but vice versa.  When he states that “The nineteenth century dislike of Realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass”, he means that the human race is frustrated by its own imperfection (vii).  Art should not always be created with the intention of frustrating its viewers, and therefore it should not resemble the imperfections of real life.  Wilde adds at the end that people must never see art-like beauty in their utilitarian creations because art is created with the purpose of being beautiful, and anything created outside the realm of art is not art (viii).  Wilde’s aesthetic philosophy is unconventional because it challenges the traditional belief that beauty must have a higher moral purpose than simply “beauty for beauty’s sake.”

Wilde’s intends for his tone toward his audience to be blunt and shocking.  Throughout his preface, he uses no language ‘softeners’ such as “it is a not unjustifiable assumption that” or “in my opinion.”  As a result, everything he says is very direct and sounds strong and purposeful.  Wilde sounds much more confident and sure of himself because of his direct and concise language.  Moreover, Wilde states epigrams that the reader may have never considered before or with which the reader may have previously disagreed.  The reader may therefore reluctantly question the rationality of his or her own opinions, which may in fact be more superficial and less insightful than the points Wilde makes.