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Aestheticism

Movement
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A late 19th-century artistic movement emphasizing beauty over social or political themes

Detailed Definition
Aestheticism was a late 19th-century art-for-art’s-sake movement, led by figures like Oscar Wilde and Algernon Swinburne, asserting that beauty and sensory pleasure—not morality or utility—are poetry’s highest aims; it championed refined diction, sensuous imagery, and formal perfection.
Example
Example in poetry:
Walter Pater’s “Mona Lisa” influenced Aestheticist poetry’s “art for art’s sake”; Oscar Wilde’s “The Garden of Eros” celebrates sensuous beauty over morality; Aestheticism in Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s sonnets prioritizes visual richness; Aestheticist verse rejects didacticism in favor of ornamental form
Additional Notes
Late 19th-century movement emphasizing "art for art's sake" and beauty over moral purpose. Key figures: Wilde, Pater, Swinburne. Contrast with Victorian didacticism. Influenced Symbolism and Decadence.
Other Meanings of “Aestheticism”
Also Known As
Beauty movement Art for art's sake Aesthetic philosophy Aesthetic Movement
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