오스카 와일드의 『행복한 왕자와 이야기들』에 나타난 사회적 미학

Abstract

This paper intends to research Oscar Wilde’s socio-aesthetics in The Happy Prince and Other Tales(1888), his first book of fairy tales. His most works in The Happy Prince and Other Tales expose the problems arising from the conventions in Victorian bourgeois society. These stories describe how hypocritical social practices and measures maintained control of the system. They also serve as records of pain and suffering, with plots that seldom have happy endings despite being modeled as fairy tales. The main characters, through their deaths, revealed the poor conditions of a modern capitalist society that ultimately landed them in tragic situations in the end. Under these conditions, the best way an individual could rise was to be crucified, much like Christ. Since the norms of society have not significantly changed, the personal sacrifices of a protagonist are not enough to end poverty, injustice, and exploitation. However, these tales present a bright vision into a dark reality, representing Wilde’s socio-aesthetic life-changing art.