Abstract: This thesis is about the fairy tales of Oscar Wilde, who is a typical representative of the Aesthetic Movement and one of the most important writers in English literary history. Various are the forms of his works which range from fairy tales, fictions to dramas and have earned him fame and popularity. Contrary to the increasing scholarly interest in Oscar Wilde’s other works，his fairy tales are overlooked to some extent. The nine fairy tales of Wilde are a reflection of his philosophy of aestheticism. Through the analysis of such tales as “The Happy Prince”, “The Selfish Giant”, and “The Young King”, the thesis aims to reveal the contradictions between aestheticism and realism in his works. Wilde believes that art should escape from reality and holds aestheticism as his literary philosophy. Oscar Wilde first embodies his belief in writing fairy tales, in which the protagonists’ personae are found impossible to be alienated from the society. He never really divorces his aesthetic images from reality. So this thesis concludes that Wilde’s proposition of “art for art’s sake” is betrayed by his contempt for the middle and upper classes as well as his sympathy for the downtrodden in his writing, though he has advocated aestheticism for his lifetime.
Key words: Oscar Wilde; aestheticism; realism; fairy tales
摘要：本文主要讨论唯美主义运动的典型代表人物奥斯卡•王尔德的童话故事。王尔德是英国文学史上最要的作家之一。其作品形式丰富，但其中最著名的还是童话，小说和戏剧。通过对《快乐王子》、《自私的巨人》和《年轻的国王》等作品的内容的深入剖析，本文旨在展现其作品中唯美主义与现实主义比触之间的矛盾。王尔德认为艺术要脱离现实，艺术高于现实。这一思想最先表现在其童话故事中。然而王尔德童话中的人物却不能完全脱离现实社会。童话中虽然充满唯美的意象，但这些意象却从未脱离现实。文章指出，尽管王尔德毕生推崇唯美思想，但他在作品中表达的对上层阶级的鄙弃和对下层受压迫人民的同情，事实上已违背了他“为艺术而艺术”的主张。
关键词：奥斯卡•王尔德；唯美主义；现实主义；童话
