Aestheticism was a popular dogma in the late 1800s centered on the belief that art should exist for beauty alone. This doctrine is defined as an “exaggerated devotion to art, music, or poetry, with indifference to practical matters” and “the acceptance of beauty and artistic taste as the primary standard, while ethical and other standards are secondary” (“Aestheticism”, def. 1 and 2). In Oscar Wilde's only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, aestheticism is a fashionable belief accepted by the society of the time. Oscar Wilde uses the moral deterioration and eventual destruction of Dorian Gray in The Picture of Dorian Gray to emphasize the negative effects of society's concern with aesthetics and offer a moral to the reader. In this novel, Oscar Wilde negatively displays Dorian's moral corrosion in order to convince his audience of the harmful effects of aestheticism. As Dorian descends deeper into the depths of his depravity, the audience loses faith in him. His innocent, childlike and charitable qualities, seen in his philanthropy and petulance when he is first introduced, are lost and he acts cruelly and selfishly. For example, when his lover, Sibyl Vane, performs on stage and fails to live up to Dorian's expectations, Wilde shapes Dorian's reaction to be callous and bitter towards her so that the reader sympathizes with Sibyl. The juxtaposition between Dorian's incredible devotion and his sudden hatred for Sibyl Sibyl Vane creates shock and makes the reader understand Dorian's injustice towards his lover. When he first meets Sibyl, Dorian is in love with her beauty and talent. “'Sibyl Vane is sacred!'” he exclaims, describing the actress to his friend Lord Henry (Wilde 51). Dorian loves it because it encompasses every aspect of…the center of the paper…the ugliness somewhere within ourselves” (139). Dorian Gray employed evil in his effort to become the aesthetic ideal, and in doing so created an ugliness in his soul that killed him. Works Cited "Aestheticism". Dictionary.com unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. March 15, 2008. .Beckson, Karl E. Oscar Wilde. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, 1970. Google Book Search. March 2, 2008 .McGlinn, Colin. Ethics, Evil and Fiction. New York: Oxford University Press Inc., 1997.Pearson, Hesketh. Oscar Wilde: His Life and Spirit. 3rd ed. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1946. Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Ed. Norman page. Ontario: Broadview Press, 1998.---. The Picture of Dorian Gray. The Picture of Dorian Gray and other writings. Ed. Richard Ellmann. New York: Bantam Dell, 1982.