Lord Arthur Goring - Oscar Wilde's Dandy

Seminar paper from the year 2001 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,5, University of Constance (Literaturwissenschaft), language: English, abstract: The dandy has been one of the most fascinating and impressive phenomena of the 19th century. Even today, he seems to be an influence to some modern men. But what was the dandy, and how is he presented in literature, the place of his creation? Lord Arthur Goring, the dandy in Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband, is a narcissistic layabout with a colourful and complex personality, full of contradictions: He is at the same time cynical and mild, cold and compassionate, modern and aristocratic.