Abstrakt
In this presentation my intention is to briefly contextualize the notion of eroticism as it relates to transgression from a philosophical, conceptual, point of view. Toward this purpose, George Bataille's The Accursed Share, his notions on general economy and eroticism, will constitute the theoretical framework.
I will then apply the concepts in the analysis of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, particularly in its famous chapter eleven, which I find is exemplary for its portrayal of desire in excess, free of moral restraints - eroticism as transgression is the key toward a better understanding of Wilde's depiction of sensuous materialism and gross abuse, both pathways leading into considerable forms of pleasure (imagination and evil are the means employed for the obtaining of an ever greater sense of beauty and joy). The caressing of this protruding vein will strengthen our comprehension of the aesthetic effects (with ethical implications) that I wish to discuss, especially as they refer to a consideration of humanity as beings of boundless appetite, who in the search for the ideal means of self-expression will go to great and terrible lengths.
This voracious hunger in turn serves as a manifestation of entropy, a force which ultimately finds any sense of human order and morality too impermanent to withstand its effects. At the heart of it lies eroticism as a force of disruption.
In the elaboration of these thoughts, I hope to provide the general direction of my thesis, along with the relevancy of the connections which I propose to unearth. These reflections bring to light the difficult reality of humankind, its sometimes grotesque, sometimes touching character and the implications that follow; implications that ought to be discussed for a more comprehensive view on the things which define us.