Aestheticism, Decadence and Symbolism:Fin De Siecle Movements in Revolt

Aestheticism, decadence and symbolism are all movements in art and literature that sprang up almost simultaneously in England in the late nineteenth century. These fin de siecle movements are the offshoots of the French movement generally termed symbolism or decadence in the continent and they are considered to be the English branch of the French movement. These movements rose in reaction against the prevailing realists and naturalists of the time, as well as against the neo-classical and romanticism. The proponents of aestheticism and decadence held the doctrine of l'art pour l'art and emphasized the autonomy of works of art over life and criticism. The movement was led by Charles Baudelaire, J.K. Huysmans, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Stephane Mallarme and others in France. In England, its chief exponents were A.C. Swinburne, Walter Pater, Arthur Symonds, Oscar Wilde and a host of young artists. Somewhat hedonists in nature, they look forward to beauty and pleasure, and place form over content. Even though the movement met with public outcries and severe criticism, it held its position for duration and is still a topic of debate in the field of culture and literary studies. It was after the prosecution of Oscar Wilde in 1895 that many of the exponents severed their ties with the movement and turned to symbolism, which in turn got itself absorbed in modernism.