Oscar Wilde's Orientalism and Late Nineteenth-Century Culture European Consumer

ZHOU XIAOYI

A Japanese young man A blue-and-white young man.

w. s. G I L B E R T and A . s. S U L L I V A N , Patience

X H O U G H W E S T E R N E R S ' D I S C O V E R Y ofjapan can be traced back to Marco Polo's time, the climax of m o d e r n interest i n Japan or "the era of J a p o n i s m e ' " began i n the mid-nineteenth century, a period that witnessed "Japan-mania" in E n g l a n d a n d France. In 1853-54, the A m e r i c a n C o m m o d o r e Matthew Perry visited Japan to enforce a commercial arrangement, little realizing that "he was o p e n i n g an epoch of art as well as of trade" (Gaunt 42). Francis Hawks gave an official account of Perry's extraordinary experiences i n the oriental country in a massive volume, which aroused great imagination a n d curiosity i n the West. In 1856, Flix Bracquemond, painter and etcher, discovered Japanese colour prints from the exotic designs o n the wrapping papers around some imported oriental china. Most impressionists were influenced by the block-print art. Several years later, the "Second Great International E x h i b i t i o n " of 1862 systematically and magnificently displayed "Japanese objects" to upper- and middleclass Londoners. These events, associated with lucrative trade with Japan, marked the beginning of the flourishing of Japanese art and commodities i n late-Victorian E n g l a n d a n d France. Subsequently, the use of Japan as a subject i n painting, poetry, theatre, and even in literary criticism, became increasingly popular. Towards the turn of the century, Japan became an artistic symbol, and Japanese art became "a cult" (Gaunt 51) or "the gospel" ( H o u g h 203) for fin de sicle artists. In the process
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ARIEL:

A Review of International

English

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October

1997

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of popularizing J a p a n , Oscar Wilde is a crucial figure. H e attempted to redeem J a p a n from the marketplace a n d endow it with aesthetic a n d theoretical significance. But for the postmodern/postcolonial reader, Japan is a meeting-place of Wilde's artistic dream a n d the "vulgar" w o r l d a juxtaposition o f the modernist n o t i o n of art and popular culture.

I J a p a n as an "Artistic U t o p i a "
Wilde's love of things Japanese is noticeable i n his O x f o r d period, when he is said to have a n n o u n c e d that he wished to live up to his blue a n d white Japanese china (Ellmann, Biography 44). H e developed this n o t i o n of Japan as an ideal culture o n his A m e r i c a n tour; i n his lectures, he imbues Japanese art with theoretical meanings, frequently relating Japan to his aesthetic enterprise to the search for "pure beauty," to the "flawless devotion to form," a n d to art's "external qualities of its own" (Wilde, Essays 114, 125). H e argues that Eastern art "is a beautifully coloured surface, n o t h i n g more" (134). In his presentation of Orientalism a n d exoticism, he places m u c h emphasis o n the "physical beauty," the distortion of the "facts of c o m m o n life," a n d the enhanced sensibility and artistic effects. In "The English Renaissance," he maintains that this indeed is the reason of the influence which Eastern art is having on us in Europe, and of the fascination of all Japanese work. While the Western world has been laying on art the intolerable burden of its own intellectual doubts and the spiritual tragedy of its own sorrows, the East has always kept true to art's primary and pictorial conditions. (Wilde 1 3 4 ) Essential to this argument is Wilde's heightening of formal awareness o f the necessity to differentiate subject-matter or content f r o m artistic techniques. H e regards form as the primary element i n art a n d exemplifies the n o t i o n with Japanese works. In the first version of "The Decay of Lying" (1889), he pays homage again to the "sense of form" i n oriental decorative art, which translates experience into conventions. H e argues, as Epifanio San J u a n , Jr. notes, that pure aesthetic formalism a n d a sensory w o r l d are present i n "Oriental art, with its gorgeous materialism, its frank rejection of imitation, its wonderful secrets

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of craft and colour, its splendid texture, its rare metals andjewels, its marvellous and priceless traditions" (80). A l t h o u g h this argument refers mainly to Byzantine art, it also represents Wilde's view of Japan, which is especially noticeable i n his other lectures, such as "The Decorative Arts." "The Decorative Arts" addresses colour, design, and the formal elements of Japanese "beautiful works of art." Wilde points to "the exquisite gradation of colour" of Eastern carpets, the "lovely design" of Japanese fans and lacquer cabinets, and that "most gorgeous Eastern tapestry" (Essays 179-81). H e asserts that art can never have any other claim but its own perfection, and he goes o n to praise Japanese artists who set ordinary things i n a new, artistic order: With a simple spray of leaves and a bird in flight aJapanese artist will give you the impression that he has completely covered with lovely design the reed fan or lacquer cabinet at which he is working, merely because he knows the exact spot in which to place them. ( 1 8 1 ) C o m p a r e d to what obtains i n "The English Renaissance," the emphasis seems to shift from the discussion of formal principles to practical art. Yet W i l d e does not limit himself to the technical problems of artistic design. His argument always returns to general aesthetic ideals. Fundamental to his technical concerns is the "oriental spirit" that is present i n Japanese works of art. "Do not imitate the works of a nation, Greek or Japanese . . . but their artistic spirit of design and their artistic attitude to-day, their own world" (186). Western artists "should absorb" this "spirit" or "attitude" in their art, developing a real artistic taste to confront the ever-increasing ugliness of the environment. By awakening people to the charms of form and colour, the artist can open their eyes to the formal beauty of life. O t h e r aesthetes also gathered under the banner of Orientalism a n d launched a campaign to reinforce the cultural trend that was to aestheticize, with the help ofjapanese art, late nineteenthcentury sensibility a n d discourse. In France, Japanese colour prints were already treasured by Bracquemond, Baudelaire, the C o n c o u r t brothers, a n d most Impressionist painters. T h e Japanese influence can be seen particularly i n the Impressionists' works, f r o m the utmost simplicity of line to the most sen-

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suai forms of colour. In E n g l a n d , J o h n Ruskin, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, James Abbott Whistler, E. W . G o d w i n , and W i l l i a m Morris also admired Japanese objets d'art, which stress line, shape, colour, and the beauty of design. The Japanese fashion was i n full swing among these writers and artists, and Japanese artistic principles were applied to furniture design and interior decoration. In poetry, E d w i n A r n o l d , renamed "Sir E d w i n M i k a r n o l d o " by Punch, showed his idealizedjapanese women, and usedjapanese poetic forms i n his p o e m called "Some Japanese U t a " (see M i n e r 31-34). In a speech delivered at the Japanese Society Banquet i n May 1894, he saluted his artistic ideal which he called "the E m p i r e of the Rising Sun": "We admire the secret of that delicate artistic gift . . . which makes you the Greeks of Asia. . . . It is impossible that a splendid future should not lie before the E m p i r e of the Rising S u n " (12). This conception ofJapan and the uses ofjapanese art, I would argue, are part of Wilde's and other aesthetes' own modernist concern. J a p a n is an aestheticist or modernist "discovery"; Japanese art confirms Wilde's aesthetic longings and therefore is frequently used to illuminate his own formalist principles. In these delicate "Japanese things," he finds his artistic ideal formalism, artistic autonomy, sheer "surface" with intensified colour, design, and sensibility. T h e Japanese "artistic spirit" can therefore be paralleled to the modernist "will to style" (to use Fredric Jameson's phrase), to modern artists' search for an aesthetic order which transfigures a rough and chaotic subjectmatter. A n d Japan, with its mystery and exoticism, offers an artistic U t o p i a , a pure, untainted territory which W i l d e and other aesthetes always longed for. In his interviews with A m e r i c a n journalists and i n the letters written on his A m e r i c a n tour, Wilde said many times that he planned to visit Japan. This c o u l d be an aesthetic adventure, an artistic mission to the "wonderful country" where he wanted to spend his youth. "I must go to Japan," he wrote to N o r m a n Forbes-Robertson o n 25 May 1882, "and live there with sweet little Japanese girls" (Wilde, Letters 120). A l t h o u g h his Far Eastern voyage fell through for financial reasons, his remarks o n Japan had already aroused attention among critics and journalT

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ists. A n article from the New York Daily Tribune, i 1 J u n e 1882, announced Wilde's intention to travel i n Japan: " H i s intentions for the future are . . . to visit Japan, a n d remain for two months at least i n that wonderful country, contemplating its artistic treasures . . ." ( M i k h a i l 88). In The Aesthetic Movement in England, Walter H a m i l t o n , who devoted a whole chapter to Wilde, regarded Wilde's journey as part of his aesthetic practice: "Mr. Wilde intends to set out for a trip to Japan, with a view to study art as it exists i n that singular country, art indeed to which much that is really Aesthetic has been frequently c o m p a r e d w e shall know o n his return with how m u c h justice a n d accuracy" (124). Apart f r o m these contemporary records, the most illuminating remark is perhaps Wilde's own powerful imaginative description of that oriental country, which represents an aestheticist understanding of Japan: I feel an irresistible desire to wander, and to go to Japan, where I will pass my youth, sitting under an almond tree in white blossom, drinking amber tea out of a blue cup, and looking at a landscape without
perspective. (Essays 120)

Japan becomes a Japanese picture i n which everything displays aesthetic meanings: " a l m o n d tree," "white blossom," "amber tea," "blue cup," decorative "landscape without perspective," and together with the "little Japanese girls" he mentioned i n the previous letter, all o f these images are c o m b i n e d into perfect harmony p r o d u c i n g the decorative effect which parallels Japanese colour prints. Wilde imagines a country i n which everything is transformed into images: life becomes a fairy tale, objects are rendered unreal but sensual, a n d women are conceived as dolllike people. This artistic country represents something that he could not find i n actual life, but which c o u l d exemplify his artistic ideal. In other words, Wilde applies his "art for art's sake" principle to Japan. In his later writings, Wilde changes this exaggerated view ofJapan. In "The Decay of Lying," he confesses that thejapanese people presented i n art do not exist, a n d "the actual people who live i n J a p a n are not u n l i k e the general run of English people" (Complete Works 988). We can see therefore that his former image of Japan, i n his own words, is "a pure invention." In effect, it is an "invention" within his own aesthetic

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framework, a n d it represents an enthusiastic effort of fin de sicle aesthetes to create an artistic Utopia. In this respect, J o h n Ashmead's comment on late nineteenth-century ideas ofjapan is illuminating: "As the art ofjapan became known, there was a new growth of the idea ofjapan as a U t o p i a , now as an artistic U t o p i a . T o Fenollosa, L a Farge, H e a r n , a n d others, Japanese art was a refreshing change from the commercialized art of the West." Wilde's modernist enterprise of aestheticizing reality involves further the impressionistic presentation of what Wilde calls the "Japanese effect." In the o p e n i n g paragraphs of The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), we see a vivid description of the painter's garden and studio. The studio is rendered, to a large extent, as an impressionist "picture" whose beauty is "so flame-like." Japanese motifs are decorated i n the "framed" space, best represented by "birds i n flight," "honey sweet blossoms" a n d "tussore silk curtains." T h e "picture" is dominated by an oriental mode of perception, that is, the " i m m o b i l e " conveys a "sense of swiftness and m o t i o n . " Images are all arranged into a pictorial harmony, making one "think of those pallid jade-faced painters of T o k i o . " T h e r o o m and garden produce what W i l d e terms "a k i n d of momentary Japanese effect" (Complete Works 18). The "Japanese effect" suggests an impressionistic way of seeing: the object is not a thing i n itself, but a transfigured image o n a pictorial "surface"; space is no longer a geometrical m e d i u m but a container of colour a n d light i n which artists render realities into sensations. For Wilde, natural objects are transformed into images o n a verbal "canvas"; landscape is rendered unreal a n d colourful. In these aesthetic "spaces"the Japanese r o o m a n d the impressionist g a r d e n b u s y urban life cannot be sensed, the noise of modern transport a n d turbulent crowds cannot be heard, and "vulgar and glaring" posters a n d advertisements cannot be seen. Reality is distanced or blurred. In the r o o m , "The d i m roar of L o n d o n was like the b o u r d o n note of a distant organ" (18). Wilde's impressionist spaces are a purified, tranquil, and transcendental territory, a container of lyrical words a n d joyous images, a d o m a i n of vibration of light a n d shadows, a n d a realm of pleasurable sensations. It is exotic a n d rhythmical, a type of artistic realization par excellence. T h e artist "accepts the facts of
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life, and yet transforms them into shapes of beauty, and makes them vehicles of pity or of awe, and shows their colour-element, and their wonder, and their true ethical import also, and builds out of them a world more real than reality itself, and of loftier and more noble i m p o r t w h o shall set limits to him? " (Wilde, Works 1049)- Wilde's presentation of Japan is i n effect based on a modernist binary opposition between imaginary art and ordinary life, or between the new sensual experience of pure form and the banality of the everyday. His dream of artistic Japan is therefore not only a refreshing change from Western commercialized art, but also a protest against the commercialized reality i n which, as he told his A m e r i c a n audience, "the vulgar and glaring advertisements . . . desecrate not merely your cities but every rock and river that I have seen yet i n A m e r i c a . . ." (Essays 178-79). For Wilde, only art can offer a better alternative and "beautiful surroundings." Thus Wilde's mythical notion of Japan, characterized by overevaluation and pure imagination, represents the modernist attempt to escape from the nightmare of commercialism and its socially unprecedented situation. Yet has the Japanese artistic ideal really created, as aesthetes thought, an untainted world of art? It is ironic that although the impressionistic principle enabled Wilde and others to develop a "pictorial" sensibility and to transcode everyday life into beautiful, sensual images, consumerism still enters on a purely aesthetic level into their artistic experience and literary practice. F r o m the very "absence" of consumerism i n the Japanese dream, one can trace the "presence" of consumerist experience set a r o u n d Japanese art. In the poetic and impressionistic representation of the "Japanese effect," pleasurable and consumable images are fostered and foregrounded. Jameson's The Political Unconscious develops a "symptomatic" reading of Joseph Conrad's sea fictions, p o i n t i n g to "the symbolic social value of his verbal practice." His account of C o n r a d paves the way for us to approach literary impressionism i n the light of late nineteenth-century consumerism. H e argues that Conrad's works shift between "two distinct cultural spaces, that of ' h i g h ' culture and that of mass culture" (201). T h e i m -

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pressionistic transformation of realities makes it possible for Conrad's works to be consumed "on a purely aesthetic level." In this sense, Conrad's fiction finally becomes a "consumable verbal commodity" which offers a pleasurable moment for the reader (214). Jameson's "commodification approach" sheds a light o n our investigation of Wilde's impressionism and leads us to rethink his modernist claims in the context of the ideas and experiences of the time. Wilde's writings can also be treated as clues to the ways i n which feeling and perception are restructured to accommodate the ubiquity of the commodity form. Wilde's impressionistic account of the "Japanese effect" or Japanese objets d'art always has a close association with his notion of pleasure, which he sometimes calls "the new H e l l e n i s m " or "new Hedonism." "Pleasure" is a central concept i n Wilde's thinking. It frequently refers to the purpose of life, to self-realization, artistic creation, designs and decoration, the beauty of the h u m a n body, heterosexual and homosexual experiences, and, first and foremost, impressions and sensations. In "The Soul of M a n under Socialism," which ends with a eulogy of the new H e l l e n i s m , Wilde claims that "Pleasure is Nature's test, her sign of approval" ( Works 1104). H e argues that pain and pleasure are two modes of selfrealization: Christ developed the former mode, and true "Individualism" is based o n the latter. In The Picture of Dorian Gray, H e n r y Wotton regards pleasure as the " a i m " of living; it is the only thing one should live for. H e maintains that the pleasure of life exists in the pursuit of bodily beauty and "new sensations." H e n r y persuades Dorian to take his instructions as practical guides for life: "Be always searching for new sensations. Be afraid of nothing. . . . A new H e d o n i s m that is what our century wants" (Wilde, Works 32). Wilde's new H e d o n i s m , which proposes that pleasure is the only good i n life, owes something to the philosophical debate i n the 1870s and 1880s at O x f o r d , led by F. H . Bradley and T. H . G r e e n . This debate, in which H e d o n i s m played an important part, initiates Wilde's Hellenistic ideal. L o r d Henry's concept of "self-development" and his experiment with Dorian is substantially close to Bradley's idea of "self-realisation," which he sees as the ethical end of life. Yet Wilde's notion of
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pleasure combines hedonistic ethics with an aesthetic principle, that is, it stresses the formal, sensual aspects of the pleasurable object. In this respect, Wilde appears closer to Walter Pater, whose sensual aesthetic laid the theoretical g r o u n d for the concept of pleasure in The Renaissance." Following Pater, Wilde also believes that the basic purpose of art is to produce sensual pleasure. Speaking of "the joy of poetry" in Keats, he argues that "the thorn-crown of the poet will blossom into roses for our pleasure" (Essays 135). As regards decorative art, he maintains, as Kevin O ' B r i e n points out, that Whistler can "teach you the beauty a n d j o y o f colour" (406). As for oriental objets d'art used for decoration of a "charming r o o m , " he suggests that one should use blue and white china, such as an "old N a n k i n vase," coupled with a "warm yellow floor a n d wall," to give people "a sense ofjoyousness" ( O ' B r i e n 406). T h e joyousness and pleasurable colour is also the chief advantage of Whistler's Japanese rooms. Jonathan D o l l i m o r e observes in "Different Desires: Subjectivity and Transgression i n Wilde and G i d e " (1987) that Wilde's aesthetic as a whole is accompanied by "something reminiscent of Barthes's jouissance [in The Pleasure of the Text]," or what Borges has perceptively called Wilde's "negligent glee . . . the fundamental spirit of his work [being] joy" (62). Barthes argues that the "textual pleasure" involves the production of a j o i n between the reader a n d language, as if naked flesh meets a garment (9-10). T h e text is therefore transformed into an erotic surface, like a body without organs, on which the reader is wandering. In fact, the impressionistic "Japanese effect," in Wilde's own words, aims to "seek to materialise" a space (which Wilde has already turned into a sensory "text") " i n a form that gives joy to the soul through the senses" ( O ' B r i e n 199). Wilde's visual experience ofjapanese things a n d space thus reveals the convergence of impression and pleasure. T h e aesthetic enhancement of the visual experience therefore suggests something beyond modernists' purely formal concerns. Wilde attempts indeed to retain his aesthetic dream by restoring pleasure to impressionist art, and he believes that his passionate choice of the "Japanese effect" wrenches the living raw materials of life into an artistic spatial "text." Yet can this literary practice

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really distance h i m f r o m the "vulgar" cultural environment? Is this transcendental process not a disguised way of "degrading" oneself into a consuming passion i n terms of intensified pleasure? Is D o r i a n Gray's pursuit of bodily pleasure Wilde's own search for homosexual pleasure or the pleasure of commodity consumption i n actual l i f e n o t a logical development of this impressionist pleasure? Or, to put it more generally, is this pleasurable visual experience, produced entirely by the sensual "surface" ofjapanese objets d'art (later, by Japanese commodities i n a literal sense), not associated with lived consumerist visual pleasure of the spectacle which is so c o m m o n an experience i n the newly established department stores? In "Pleasure: A Political Issue" (1983), Jameson gives a theoretical explanation of "the determinate relationship between commodification a n d what we may have been tempted to think of as pleasure" (Syntax 63). For Jameson, "the pleasurable experience of the Beautiful" is a consumerist issue. H e claims that "the aesthetics of ecstasy" or "Barthesian jouissance" is "a properly 60s experience" when consumer society was at a high point a n d postmodernism came to be a d o m i n a n t force i n art and literature. H e therefore maintains that it would be "desirable for another moment to explore the historical relations between this new e x p e r i e n c e w h a t I will call the 'pleasure of the s i m u l a c r u m ' a n d its aesthetic objects h e n c e f o r t h called 'postmodernism' a s well as its socially and historically original situation 'consumer society,' . . . the 'society of the spectacle'" (71). This r e l a t i o n s h i p t h e increasing convergence of art a n d consumerist p l e a s u r e c o u l d be approached through the perspective of the newly emergent late nineteenth-century consumption-oriented society and the aesthetes' lifestyle. Wilde's impressionistic strategy of the "Japanese effect," beyond his conscious awareness, overlaps, reinforces, or parallels the very experiences of the commodity spectacle i n terms of his personal activities as consumer a n d the consumerist conception of jouissance. It is true that commercial details are no longer visible i n his impressionistic presentation ofjapan and that social factors have been driven u n d e r g r o u n d . Yet the consumerist way of life affects one's perceiving and experiencing of the world,

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including the world of art. Therefore, the b o n d between the artistic and the commercial is strengthened i n many ways, and consumerism as an u n d e r l y i n g historical trend still operates as a determinate force. It is at work within the very aesthetic impressions a n d sensations, releasing its voice i n artistic experience and changing the nature of "pleasure." The late-Victorian passion for consumption, though Wilde and other aesthetes transcoded it into an elitist experience of purely aesthetic forms, is marked by what Jameson calls "a genuine Unconscious." T h e pleasure of the "Japanese effect," which becomes the "pleasure of the simulacrum," provides a clue for us to gaze through the aesthetic mist into the displaced cultural reality.

II Japanese Objets D 'Art i n Popular Consumerist Cultural M i l i e u

O n 7 J u n e 1884, Punch published a piece of satirical verse about tea and Japan, accompanied by a picture. This piece of work is i n many ways like a m o d e r n advertisement: it is pictorial, persuasive and exaggerating, relating the commodity to a seemingly irrelevant t h i n g J a p a n . A quiet Japanese woman is dressed i n a beautiful loose traditional costume covered by oriental designs. The setting is typicallv oriental, decorated by a huge r o u n d window with blossoms. In front of her lie cups, a tea-box, a pot, and a tiny stove. T h e picture shares the features of Japanese prints, presenting the beauty of lines and shapes, of casual symmetry a n d harmony, and of an exotic subject-matter. Yet its theme is consumerist, dealing with d r i n k i n g and eating, and presenting a eulogy of the commodity: "By me for aye the praise be spoken / O f Tea, Tea, only Tea!" This combination ofJapan a n d the commodity or the connection between Japanese art a n d social consumption and entertainment is not an isolated p h e n o m e n o n . It represents a popular understanding ofJapan. Japanese subjects were not only used in "high" literature and art but also associated with popular culture, entertainment, and even the consumerist way of life. O n 26 May 1888, Punch presented Japanese subjects again i n a series of cartoon pictures called " O u r Japanneries," i n which a "cele-

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brated Japanese Artist," L i k a j o k o , was involved i n everyday entertainment a n d consumption. In effect, Punch used the "Japanese Artist" as an allegorical disguise for the consumerist English o f the time. H e visited the "seaside" (8 Sept. 1888), went "fishing" i n Scotland, had a "picnic," eating and d r i n k i n g as at a banquet (25 A u g . 1888, 2g Sept. 1888). H e was also interested in h u n t i n g ("Shooting grouse on the moors," 18 August 1888) a n d sport ("Cricket match," 16 June 1888). T h e "artist" was described as a pleasure-seeking person a n d the pictures refer to typical English social life. There is nothing but entertainment and consumption, masked by the forms of Japanese settings, characters, costumes, and oriental architecture. T h e pictures themselves are amusing a n d entertaining, showing a pleasing distortion of the image of the Japanese to the reader a n d reinforcing the link between the artistic and the consumerist. In other social sectors, such as popular shows a n d theatre, Japanese subjects were also widely used. A c c o r d i n g to Earl Miner, Japanese "stage-types," associated with exotic refinement and "fumbling jollity," appeared i n the 1870s and soon became popular. " 'The j o l l y J a p ' is a frequent type i n variety shows, musicals, and as a fillip to otherwise tame productions" (53). These "stagetypes" c o u l d hardly be regarded as players i n serious dramatic art. T h e Japanese subjects were arranged mainly for the purpose of fun and entertainment. T h e Japanese "stage-types" were still prevalent d u r i n g the 1880s, but severely criticized as a "mania for Japanese pieces" by "serious" dramatic critics. O n e critic from The Theatre (1 October 1885) attacked "The Japs," a Japanese stage-type produced at the Novelty Theatre i n 1885, claiming that "I should think that 'The Japs' was even too silly for the ordinary patrons of these essentially tedious entertainments, and also regard the m o d e r n music-hall, with its collar g r i n n i n g horseplay, as the ne plus ultra o f fun" (230). T h e critic launched an "aestheticist" assault on the "vulgar" uses ofjapanese subjects in popular theatre, which he called the "Japanese craze," declaring that this h a n d l i n g o f j a p a n " was void of high seriousness. H e was certainly not pleased to see that "Japan" i n the m o d e r n theatre was mainly involved in the form of fun and entertainment that

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reflected popular taste. As regard Japanese objets d'art with their ornamental design, the critic argued that "we admire their b o l d and beautiful scheme of colour" (230). This remark suggests that his criticism ofjapanese stage-types is actually based o n an aesthetic notion o f j a p a n similar to Wilde's. B o t h regard Japanese culture as a perfect example of the "artistic spirit" that has equipped aesthetes to reform the Victorian sensibility. They were particularly u n w i l l i n g to see the exotic Japanese subjects contaminated i n everyday entertainment, which obviously betrayed the essential nature of their artistic ideal. Thus the defence of the purity of artistic "Japan" a n d the protest against the popular use ofjapanese subjects are notable everywhere i n their writings. Yet, as their criticism shows, "Japan" had become deeply and widely involved i n popular culture and the commercial theatre of the time. The influence of the "jolly Jap" stage-types and the "degradation" of artistic "Japan" i n the popular cultural m i l i e u can also be seen i n the presentation ofjapanese subjects i n "high" literature and aesthetic theatre, namely, i n W. S. Gilbert's and A . S. Sullivan's comic operettas Patience (1881) and The Mikado (1885). Patience is a lively satirical drama, which intensely magnified the notoriety of aestheticism a n d of Wilde. The "Fleshly Poet" Reginald B u n t h o r n e (obviously Wilde) asserts how popular Japanese things were a m o n g aesthetes: "all one sees / That's Japanese" (Gilbert 173). H e is a lover ofjapanese commodities, and acknowledges himself to be " A Japanese young m a n / A blue-and-white young m a n " (Gilbert 204). Bunthorne-Wilde therefore offers himself o n the stage as both an aesthete and consumer, appearing frequently at auctions to acquire blue and white Japanese pottery. H e r e Gilbert and Sullivan refer to Wilde's eccentric behaviour at O x f o r d : a young aesthete, living a materialistic life, announces his artistic notions by displaying cultural commodities from oriental countries. T h e drama satirized his material motives, thus exposing the ironical nature of aestheticism. A c c o r d i n g to Miner, to conceive "vivid" characters for The Mikado, Gilbert searched the stock of theatrical Japanese types that had been popular o n the stage for decades. The Mikado is a

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representative of the cruel oriental, a n d i n Ko-Ko we see the "jolly Jap." M i n e r argues that "the only knowledge o f Japan really necessary to understand the operetta c o u l d have been gained from any of the pseudo-Japanese plays of the time" (56). This parody ofjapanese stage-types gives the operetta the features of popular shows and made it so entertaining that it soon became one of the best loved plays of the time. Yet its popularity was achieved at a high price: the aesthetic image of Japan as an artistic ideal evaporated without a trace. Gilbert and Sullivan's two aesthetic operettas, which played so important a part i n the aesthetic movement i n E n g l a n d , are i n effect a k i n d of parallel to the entertaining Japanese stage-types which belong to popular culture. It is not surprising to note that the audience regarded The Mikado as one of the "jolly Jap" plays. W h e n The Mikado was staged i n the Savoy Theatre i n 1885 and 1886, Punch responded with review articles a n d cartoon pictures, i n which the dramatis personae of the play were called "Funny Japs" (28 M a r c h 1885 and 27 February 1886) a n d the entertainment value of the operetta was emphasized. T h e "Funny Japs" therefore can be seen as the artistic use of the image of the "jolly Japs," which, as we have seen above, was developed by popular plays a n d variety shows. "Japan" o n the stage became a meeting place of "high" literature or art a n d "light" entertainment. T h e convergence of the aesthetic n o t i o n of Japan and the popular use ofjapanese images is ultimately the result of the connection between Japanese art a n d the mass consumption of "Japanese things" i n the late nineteenth-century market. T h e consumerist way of life actually affected people's conception of Japan a n d taste for the exotic. M o r e specifically, the popular understanding of Japan owes something to the appearance of Japanese things i n the marketplace where they were classified and systematically displayed. M i n e r points out that " 'The j o l l y Jap' may have grown i n part out of English contact with the Japanese who came to L o n d o n for the International E x h i b i t i o n of 1862, or with those who came to establish shops a n d even small factories to cater to the craze forjapanese bric--brac i n the last decades of the century" (53). In fact, the Japanese pieces originated from the interests of panorama shows i n L o n d o n after

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the E x h i b i t i o n of 1862. A "grand panorama for m a k i n g us better acquainted with the important empire of Japan," which was designed by Captain Wilson a n d opened i n May 1862, is perhaps the earliest. This "great work," composed of a series of pictures which cover "gooo ft. of canvas," shows "with scrupulous fidelity, the costumes, temples, streets, bridges, scenery, a n d rivers of the Japanese empire." T h e advertiser of the panorama spoke highly of it, proclaiming that "Japan, once a sealed book, is now unclasped, and we may freely inspect its treasures" ( The Illustrated 545) Yet the remark is only correct if it is applied to the International E x h i b i t i o n of 1862 itself, a great event that no doubt transformed Japanese objects into spectacles and aroused curiosity and national interest in Japan and Japanese art. O n May 1, 11 years after the successful Great E x h i b i t i o n of 1851, the second International E x h i b i t i o n was opened by members of the Royal family i n South Kensington, L o n d o n . T h e spectacular effects of this large sum of commodities, displayed magnificently in French, Italian, Austrian, Danish, G e r m a n , Egyptian, Indian, and Chinese courts, struck the eyes of upper- and middle-class Londoners who came to enjoy the sensual feast (Burges 1862a). The o p e n i n g ceremony and the parade were splendid, and the frequent turn-out ofjapanese ambassadors who wore impressive traditional dress excited journalists a n d reporters. As a big advance over the E x h i b i t i o n of 1851, there was a "Japanese court," presenting oriental manufactured articles and goods i n front of curious visitors. This was perhaps the most systematic and influential representative body of imported Japanese things. The gorgeous commodities displayed at the Japanese court were largely from Sir Rutherford Alcock's collection, who was the first British Consul to Japan. In a review article, "The Japanese Court i n the International E x h i b i t i o n " (1862), W i l l i a m Burges, architect and collector ofjapanese objets d'art, gives the most detailed description of the many specimens ofjapanese goods, which were classified into three categories: "Metal-work," "Ivories" and "Wood-work." O t h e r articles which are equally important were recorded i n Alcock's book, i n c l u d i n g blue a n d white porcelain, fabrics, silks a n d robes i n beautiful design, colour and texture (3-5). A l l of these commodities were professionally ar6

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ranged at the E x h i b i t i o n , a n d thus brought to the Victorian public with elegance, perfection, and beauty of shape, colour and design. In fact, the system of spectacular representation ofjapanese commodities perfected i n the display laid the basis for the movement of aestheticizing and idealizing Japan. F o r it is surely the case that the systematic display of the oriental objects by which their forms and colour are foregrounded is identical to the aesthetic way of seeing. T h e exhibition inaugurated spectacular production a n d consumption which were paired i n the single process of commodity representation. It saturated the marketplace with a world of self-referential signs i n which n o t h i n g else mattered except their surfaces. It was a w o r l d p r o d u c i n g sheer visual pleasure of colour, shape, and design. In another article on "The Great E x h i b i t i o n " (1862), Burges compared Japanese and Chinese commodities i n their different uses of colour. "The Chinese likes glaring colours," he described, and "manages to make them harmonious." O n the contrary, "theJapanese colouring is never gaudy and, when compared with the Chinese, it is m u c h lower i n tone" (10-11). Burges's concern with colour was intertwined with the "pleasure" of seeing. Perhaps "seeing" itself is the core of Burges's description: "an hour, or even a day or two, spent i n the Japanese department will by no means be lost time" ( 2 54). Twenty years later, aesthetes c o u l d see them day a n d night as they wished: these artistic commodities were set a n d displayed i n the "aesthetic homes" of W i l d e , Whistler, a n d many others. The "era ofJaponisme" began, and the Japanese "book" was first opened i n the marketplace. After the E x h i b i t i o n of 1862, Japanese commodities were indispensable i n subsequent exhibitions throughout Europe. In 1867, the Exposition universelle h e l d i n Paris showed a fine collection of Japanese-style pottery, faience, a n d porcelain, of which the forms, designs a n d colours were "copied and reproduced" from Japanese ceramic wares (Alcock 285). A c c o r d i n g to ajournalist's report, Wilde once said that he attended "the Paris Exposition" when he "was a lad" a n d "heard a Chinese fiddle" ( M i k h a i l 63). In 1873, V i e n n a witnessed a similar display ofjapanese goods at the International Exposition; they were sold a n d dis-

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persed, and later collected by museums (Alcock 4). In 1878, Japan was again represented i n Paris at the Exposition universelle, with a large collection ofjapanese prints and applied art including Japanese lacquer. As regards the consequence and influence of these exhibitions, Alcock says: " N o r was I mistaken in my estimate of the value and importance of such a public display ofjapanese industries, fabrics, and artistic works. Within a ver)' few years, o n my return from Japan a second time, I found Japanese fabrics, silks, a n d embroideries, Japanese lacquer, china, faience, bronzes, and enamels exhibited for sale i n the shops of every capital i n E u r o p e " (3). Paris a n d L o n d o n were the cities that accelerated the spread of the fashion of Japan. Inspired by the swift trade i n Japanese things at the exhibitions, dealers began to import oriental wares. At first the articles obtainable were mostly small a n d easy to transport, such as ivory netsuks, fans, textiles, sword-guards, a n d ceramics. They were often wrapped in the flowered or designed prints which were to excite painters and exercise tremendous influence o n the fine arts. Soon afterwards, Japanese things made their appearance i n the newly-established shops of Paris and L o n d o n , where they were displayed and sold under the name of decorative artifacts. In the early years before Japanese literature was introduced to the West, these art-commodities, with their exotic beauty and graceful strangeness, were the only source from which to conceive an aestheticistjapan. T h e oriental shops popularized Japanese commodities. O n e early shop for the sale of oriental objects was established by M o n s i e u r a n d Madame Desoye i n 1862, i n the Rue de Rivoli i n Paris. It was visited by Baudelaire, the C o n c o u r t brothers, Manet, Whistler, James Tissot, Jules Jacquemart, M . L . Solon, P h i l i p p Burty, and H e n r i Fantin-Latour. T h e Japanese commodities revealed an everlasting world of art, i n which these literary figures experienced something that was absent i n actual life. They admired the purity of artistic spirit, the delicacy of the workmanship; and they could buy the oriental objects to realize their doctrine of art for art's sake. The most famous oriental shop which exercised immense influence u p o n late-Victorian taste and fashion was A r t h u r
7

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Lasenby Liberty's i n L o n d o n . Liberty's was selling oriental goods of all kinds: furniture, wallpapers, jewellery, silver, pewter, silk, fabrics, fans, and Japanese prints. In 1881, Gilbert and Sullivan enhanced the fame of the shop by using its fabrics for costumes i n Patience. In 1884, E. W. G o d w i n was i n charge of the costume department of the shop. D u r i n g the 1880s, the shop was frequented by many painters a n d men of letters, including Ruskin, Bune-Jones, Rossetti, Whistler, Alma-Tadema, and Charles Keene. It is not an exaggeration to say that the A r t and Crafts and aesthetic movements were partly due to the widespread fashion of the extraordinary variety ofjapanese c o m m o d ities, which proved to be the most entire and perfect joy to the aesthetes. T h e exotic colour of the blue, the exquisite lines and shapes, the flawless beauties of form are treasured i n the marketplace by those artists. By 1880, Lasenby Liberty himself was an active participant i n Arts and Crafts society. T h e Japanese commodities in his shop carried their fascination into the twentieth century. The magical appearance ofjapanese things displayed, classified, and formally foregrounded i n the various oriental shops accelerated the spread of the Japan mania. Frequented by artists and men of letters, they further extended consumers' admiration ofjapanese objets d'art. T h e fascinating display of oriental artcommodities caused a fashion of consuming Japanese goods i n the name of art. W i l d e followed this fashion, first at O x f o r d , then in L o n d o n , using oriental objects to decorate his rooms. David H u n t e r Blair recalled that he once helped W i l d e buy two large vases of Japanese blue a n d white c h i n a to set i n his r o o m i n Magdalen College at O x f o r d . Blair believed that it was "a fruit of Wilde's gospel of aestheticism" ( M i k h a i l 4 ) , but for us, it is equally a mode of consumption. In L o n d o n , W i l d e carefully made his house o n T i te Street an oriental "space." His son Vyvyan H o l l a n d describes that "a certain amount of Japonaiserie had crept i n " (43). T h e house was designed by E. W. G o d w i n , decorated by black a n d white bamboo chairs, bulrushes i n tall Japanese vases, and with two large, many-hued "Japanese" feathers on the ceiling. T h e fanciful and fantastic aesthetic aura entirely derived from these Japanese commodities. In "The House Beau8

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tiful," Wilde r e c o m m e n d e d the same style to his A m e r i c a n audience. A c c o r d i n g to Kevin O ' B r i e n ' s reconstruction of the "most effective" lecture (401), Wilde suggested that one should use oriental objects i n house decoration. "When the breakfast table is laid i n this apartment, with its bright cloth and its dainty blue and white china, with a cluster o f red and yellow chrysanthemums i n an old N a n k i n vase i n the centre, it is a charming r o o m " ( O ' B r i e n 406). I have mentioned this "charming r o o m " i n the context of impressionism; now, filled with these Japanese commodities it shows its consumerist meaning. Wilde also listed other Japanese things to strengthen this aesthetic but also consumerist "charm," including "prettyJapanese racks i n light wood or bamboo," "the beautiful Japanese mattings," "very handsome a n d economical rugs from C h i n a , Persia, and Japan," "large, noble Japanese dishes could be suspended o n the wall," a n d so o n . These oriental objects, though presenting the highest artistic quality of house decoration a n d intensifying one's visual impressions and aestheticist sensations, also refer back to " c o m m o n life." They fashioned what can be called the private exhibition of commodities, and the artistic arrangement can be seen as parallel to the technology of commodity representation i n the marketplace. O t h e r aesthetes also were keen to consume Japanese goods, and exhibited them i n their "aesthetic homes." Whistler's house, an oriental "space" o n Tite Street, was also ornamented with Japanese-style coffee tables, sideboards, and blue pottery. Entire rooms were decorated with wallpapers designed a r o u n d motifs such as Peacock, Sparrow, a n d Bamboo. Further, Whistler and other aesthetes seemed more active in dealing with Japanese goods. W i l l i a m Gaunt recorded that Whistler, Rossetti, William Morris, a n d Charles Augustus Howell collected large numbers of Japanese screens, fans, prints, and blue a n d white china. Japanese objects demonstrated not only their beauty o f shape and design for aestheticist domestic use but also proved to be valuable for making money. Howell sold a collection of oriental pieces to a pawnbroker. T h e i r value was more than his own estimate. H e then produced a second collection, but unfortunately this time his collection was mostly m o d e r n and worthless (49-50). In the 1870s, Rossetti and Whistler also sold their

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Japanese treasures. The dispersal of the oriental objects a n d their circulation as commodities i n the market helped to i n crease the popularity of "Japan." Gaunt points out that " F r o m being the private sport of a few collectors, the art of C h i n a a n d Japan became a cult: a n d twenty years after it had first made its appearance i n Paris it became absorbed into that strange rapture called English aestheticism" (51). Yet this aesthetic cult stems from the early consumerist culture in E n g l a n d and Europe. It is clear that the aestheticist mode of p r o m o t i n g everyday life into an art is related to a consumerist craze for Japanese objects, and the exotic taste i n house decoration is achieved by the consumption ofjapanese commodities. Wilde himself admitted, as O ' B r i e n notes, that the school of decorative art was related to commercialism: "this school should be in direct relation with manufacture and commerce" (402). T h e exotic a n d tasteful house decoration is i n effect the aesthetic mode of domestic consumption. T h e artistic use of Japanese things, therefore, suggests the juxtaposition of aestheticism a n d consumerism. The marketplace played a vital role i n the process of popularizing Japan. In fact, the aesthetic notion of Japan is gradually established by a c o m m o n effort of commercial dealers, consumers, a n d artists. Wilde discovers his artistic ideal i n the fascinating forms a n d designs ofjapanese things which signify an artistic U t o p i a . H e thinks, as O ' B r i e n observes, this aesthetic territory transcends everyday life and therefore can be used to "temper and counteract the sordid materialism of the age" (417). Yet, ironically, his "love of the beautiful" has deep roots in the consumerism of the time. T h e "Arch-aesthete," who introduced the "English Renaissance of Art" to A m e r i c a , adumbrated at the same time the English consumerist way of life. This paradox is well presented by Punch (30 J u l y 1881) i n a cartoon picture, of which the caption reads as follows, Twopence I gave for my sunshade, A penny I gave for my fan, Threepence I paid my strawforeign made, I'm a Japan-Aesthetic young man! This "aesthetic" young man, with a Japanese umbrella a n d a Japanese fan i n his hands, parallels Wilde a n d other aesthetes

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who consumed Japanese objects i n the name of art. It indicates their double identities as both aesthete and consumer. It also shows the double-sided nature ofjapanese objets d'art, especially in the image of the fan. F o r W i l d e , as well as for other aesthetes, the Japanese fan is art, "out of any ordinary collection ofjapanese fans . . . any young artist will get the most perfect models." The Japanese fan gives one "the right sense of ornament, the effect of the whole surface being decorated" {Letters 11 6) . It is an aestheticist symbol which identifies one's artistic taste. Yet when Wilde uses Japanese fans to decorate his home, he actually plays the role of a real consumer, just as Punch suggested. F o r us as well the artistic symbol derives from the consumerist society which Wilde a n d other aesthetes inhabited and by which they were influenced. T h e distinction between the aesthetic w o r l d and the commercial reality is therefore obscured. This paradox conforms to my view of Wilde's impressionistic "space," i n which the fusion of the artistic a n d the consumerist is evident but on a higher, aesthetic level.

NOTES

' A l s o p h r a s e d as " a n e r a of J a p a n i s m e ' " ( A l c o c k 8 0 ) . P h i l i p p B u r t y ( 1 8 3 0 - 9 0 ) , t h e F r e n c h a r t c r i t i c a n d c o l l e c t o r o f j a p a n e s e objets d'art, is t h e o r i g i n a t o r o f t h e t e r m " J a p o n i s m e . " w h i c h was first c o i n e d i n h i s b o o k Le Rappel ( 1 8 6 9 ) . T h e t e r m a p p e a r s a g a i n i n h i s series o f a r t i c l e o n J a p a n e s e a r t i f a c t s i n 1 8 7 2 - 7 3 , i n w h i c h J a p o n i s m e a p p l i e s to b o t h J a p a n e s e art a n d c o m m o d i t i e s . A l c o c k e m p l o y e d t h e t e r m i n h i s b o o k i n 1 8 7 8 . It was t h e n w i d e l y u s e d by F r e n c h a n d E n g l i s h w r i t e r s a n d artists, s u c h as J u l e s d e C o n c o u r t a n d A r t h u r S y m o n s . S e e D u f w a 4 2 , 4 7 ; a n d Symons 101. 2 I n fact, it was a t h r e e - v o l u m e b o o k , e d i t e d by F. H a w k s : Narrative of the Expenditure of an American Squadron to the China Seas andJapan, Washington: 1856. F o r m o r e d e t a i l s o f t h e W e s t e r n e r s ' r e d i s c o v e r y o f j a p a n i n t h e m i d - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , see G a u n t 42-51; M i n e r 16-24; d Sandberg 295-302.
a n 3

See A s h m e a d ' s d i s s e r t a t i o n a b s t r a c t ; also M i n e r 4 2 - 4 3 . See S m i t h a n d H e l f a n d ; a n d K o h l 157-60.

I n t h e " P r e f a c e " o f W i l d e ' s " g o l d e n b o o k " ( E l l m a n n , Oscar Wilde 9 ) , P a t e r a r g u e s that " T h e a e s t h e t i c c r i t i c , t h e n , r e g a r d s a l l t h e o b j e c t s w i t h w h i c h h e has to d o , a l l w o r k s o f art, a n d t h e f a i r e r f o r m s o f n a t u r e a n d h u m a n l i f e , as p o w e r s o r f o r c e s p r o d u c i n g p l e a s u r a b l e s e n s a t i o n s , e a c h o f a m o r e o r less p e c u l i a r o r u n i q u e k i n d " ( P a t e r i x ) . I n P a t e r ' s view, p l e a s u r e s t e m s l a r g e l y f r o m a r t i s t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n a n d a l l sorts o f b e a u t i f u l e x t e r n a l f o r m s o f l i f e a n d n a t u r e . P l e a s u r e c a n t h e r e f o r e b e r e g a r d e d as i n s c r i b e d i n t h e i m p r e s s i o n i s t i c style. T h e e a r l i e s t d i s p l a y o f J a p a n e s e a r t a n d w a r e s c a n b e t r a c e d to a p r o v i n c i a l e x h i b i t i o n o f 1854, h e l d i n L o n d o n , i n the gallery o f the O l d W a t e r C o l o u r Society,

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P a l l M a l l East. It was p e r h a p s i n s p i r e d b y C o m m o d o r e P e r r y ' s t r i p t o j a p a n . B u t this e x h i b i t i o n , as E l i z a b e t h A s l i n o b s e r v e s , " m a d e v e r y l i t t l e m a r k a n d t o c o n t e m p o r a r y p r e s s c o m m e n t t h e r e was n o s u g g e s t i o n t h a t t h e e x h i b i t i o n was a n e v e n t o f a n y s i g n i f i c a n c e " ( 7 8 1 ). T h e e x h i b i t i o n o f 1 8 6 2 t h e n serves f o r m o s t h i s t o r i a n s as t h e starting-point.
7

F o r m o r e d e t a i l s o n D e s o y e s ' s s h o p , see P e n n e l l 8 4 ; G a u n t 4 3 ; D u f w a 4 0 ; W . L . S c h w a r t z 7 9 8 - 8 0 6 ; a n d W e i s b e r g 16. L i b e r t y was i n i t i a l l y i n s p i r e d b y t h e E x h i b i t i o n o f 1 8 6 2 , a n d d r e a m e d o f e s t a b l i s h i n g a n o r i e n t a l w a r e h o u s e to sell J a p a n e s e things. I n 1 8 7 5 , he o p e n e d a s h o p i n R e g e n t Street. E i g h t y e a r s later, h e e x p a n d e d it a n d a c q u i r e d t w o s h o p s f u r t h e r s o u t h a l o n g t h e street.

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A s h m e a d , J o h n . " T h e Idea o f J a p a n 1853-1895." Diss. H a r v a r d U , 1951. A s l i n , E l i z a b e t h . " E . W . G o d w i n a n d t h e J a p a n e s e Taste." Apollo B a r t h e s , R o l a n d . The Pleasure 1976. 76 (1962): 779-84.

of the Text. T r a n s . R . M i l l e r . N e w Y o r k : H i l l a n d W a n g ,

Bromfield, D. J. " T h e A r t o f j a p a n i n Later Nineteenth Century E u r o p e : Problems of A r t C r i t i c i s m a n d T h e o r y . " Diss. U o f L e e d s , 1977. B u r g e s , W i l l i a m . " T h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l E x h i b i t i o n . " The Gentleman's 3-12. Magazine July 1 8 6 2 : Maga-

. " T h e J a p a n e s e C o u r t i n t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l E x h i b i t i o n . " The Gentleman's zine S e p t . 1 8 6 2 : 2 4 1 - 5 4 .

D o l l i m o r e , Jonathan. "Different Desires: Subjectivity a n d Transgression i n W i l d e a n d G i d e . " Textual Practice 1.1 ( 1 9 8 7 ) : 4 8 - 6 7 . D u f w a , J a c q u e s . Winds from the East: A Study in Art of Manet, 1856-86. A t l a n t i c H i g h l a n d s : H u m a n i t i e s , 1 9 8 1 . E l l m a n n , R i c h a r d , e d . Oscar Wilde: A Collection Degas, Monet and Whistler,

of Critical Essays. N e w J e r s e y : P r e n t i c e ,

1969. Oscar Wilde: A Biography. L o n d o n : H a m i s h , 1987. L o n d o n : P e n g u i n , 1957. G a u n t , W i l l i a m . The Aesthetic Adventure.

G i l b e r t , W . S. The Savoy Operas. L o n d o n : M a c m i l l a n , 1 9 2 6 . H a m i l t o n , Walter. The Aesthetic Movement in England. N e w York: G a r l a n d , 1986.

H o l l a n d , V y v y a n . Son of Oscar Wilde. O x f o r d : O x f o r d U P , 1 9 8 8 . H o u g h , G r a h a m . 7 Last Romantics. The Illustrated London L o n d o n : G e r a l d Duckworth, 1983.

News. 31 M a y 1 8 6 2 : 5 4 5 . Unconscious. Ithaca: C o r n e l l U P , 1981.

J a m e s o n , F r e d r i c . The Political . Syntax of History.

M i n n e a p o l i s : U o f M i n n e s o t a P, 1 9 8 8 . Rebel. T r a n s . D a v i d H e n r y W i l s o n . L o n d o n : M a c m i l l a n , 1979.

K o h l , N o r b e r t . Oscar Wilde: The Works of a Conformist Cambridge: Cambridge U P , 1989. M i k h a i l , E . H . Oscar Wilde: Interviews

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Miner, Earl. The Japanese Tradition in British and American Literature. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1976. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1958. O'Brien, Kevin H. F. "'The House Beautiful': A Reconstruction of Oscar Wilde's American Lecture." VICtorian Studies 174: 395-418. Pater, Walter. The Renaissance: A Study in An and Poetry. London: Macmillan, 1910. Pennell, E. R, and]. Pennell. The Life ofJames McNeill Whistler. London: Heinemann, 19 11 . Sandberg, John. "The Discovery of Japanese Prints in the Nineteenth Century." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 71 (1968): 295-302. San Juan, Epifanio, Jr. The An of Oscar "'"llde. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1967. Smith, Philip E., and Michael S. Helfand. Oscar "'"lldes Oxford Notebooks: A Porlrait of Mind in the Making. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1989. Symons, Arthur. Dramatis Personae. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1923. Von Eckardt, Wolf, Sander L. Gilman, and]. Edward Chamberlin. Oscar "'"llde's London: A Scrapbook of Vzces and Vinues, I88o-I900. New York: Anchor, 1987. Wilde, Oscar. Essays and Lectures. Ed. Robert Ross. London: Methuen, 1908. - - - . The Letters ofOscar "'"llde. Ed. Rupert Hart-Davis. London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1962 . - - . The Complete Works ofOscar "'"llde. Ed. Vyvyan Holland. London: Collins, 1986.