The Art of Lying: Dandyism as Provocation and a Communication Medium in Wilde’s Comedies of Society

Abstract

This text strives to find answers to the matter of the truth behind Wilde’s glorification of lying as an instigating principle of art and the life that imitates it. Wilde’s aestheticized communication through lying proves to be closely related to the Irish tradition, as well as to the philosophy of dandyism which the playwright mounts on the stage. The figure of the dandy, along with the influence he exerts over the audience, is Wilde’s means of coded communication with the Victorian public. The basis of that communication is provocation, which Wilde uses to subvert the socially acceptable stances on the issues of class, gender, and culture, which is why the text examines the origin of provocation as an art method and its merging with dandyism as a decades-old phenomenon which Wilde brings back to the spotlight.