"The Decay Of Lying - An Observation" is an essay by Oscar Wilde included in his collection of essays titled Intentions, published in 1891. This is a significantly revised version of the article that first appeared in the January 1889 issue of The Nineteenth Century.
Wilde presents the essay in a Socratic dialogue, with the characters of Vivian and Cyril having a conversation throughout. Vivian tells Cyril of an article he has been writing called "The Decay Of Lying: A Protest". In the article Vivian defends Aestheticism and "Art for Art's sake". As summarized by Vivian, it contains four doctrines:
- Art never expresses anything but itself
- All bad art comes from returning to Life and Nature, and elevating them into ideals
- Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life
- Lying, the telling of beautiful untrue things, is the proper aim of Art
The essay ends with the two characters going outside, as Cyril asked Vivian to do at the beginning of the essay. Vivian finally complies, saying that twilight nature's "chief use" may be to "illustrate quotations from the poets."
Famous quotes containing the words decay and/or lying:
“One of the most striking signs of the decay of art is the intermixing of different genres.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)
“I have remarked very clearly that I am often of one opinion when I am lying down and of another when I am standing up.”
—G.C. (Georg Christoph)