Product Description

Walter Pater is increasingly being referred to by modern critics as an important precursor of modernist aesthetic theory. His study, The Renaissance, was also very influential in its own day, particularly on the work of Oscar Wilde who described it as 'my golden book...the very flower of decadence'.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #172193 in Books
• Published on: 1998-07-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Customer Reviews

Challenging beauty
With this slim collection of essays, Walter Pater defined the scope of British Aestheticism. It was described by Oscar Wilde as 'my golden book, the very flower of decadence', and it profoundly influenced his aesthetics as well as those of Arthur Symons, Yeats, etc. Having said this, it's well to remember that Pater is no Wilde: his spidery sentences often confound the senses first time round and one may give up amidst the, perhaps, unfamiliar textures of Ancient philosophy and Renaissance art. This is not for the faint-hearted. It is difficult in style and aesthetic philosophy, but stick with him! It is a pity that people only really seem to come to Pater out of compulsion, forced by undergraduate courses, because Pater is not only speaking of dry academic matters: he is attempting to assert a secular ethic cebtred on the beautiful. His expression of this is ultimately poignant, compelling and thought-provoking. If you are still ambivalent read the Conclusion first: 'to burn always with this hard, gem-like flame and to maintain that ecstasy is success in life.'