“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
— Oscar WildeLady Windermere's Fan (1892), Act III
Commentary
A compact statement of aestheticism: the shared human condition is one of degradation, but the capacity to aspire toward beauty sets some people apart. It shows Wilde's belief that art and imagination redeem ordinary life.
Commentary
A compact statement of aestheticism: the shared human condition is one of degradation, but the capacity to aspire toward beauty sets some people apart. It shows Wilde's belief that art and imagination redeem ordinary life.