Oscar Wilde, one of the authors most associated with dandyism in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, was famous for his aestheticism and his own dandy attire. In this essay, I will study the dandyism represented in his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, examining actions and tastes of three characters. Wilde says in his letter 'Basil Hallward is what I think I am : Lord Henry what the world thinks to me : Dorian what I would like to be-in other ages, perhaps.' Lord Henry awakened Dorian to 'new Hedonism' and Dorian became a dandy in his action and taste. But Lord Henry wanted to create another dandy. Wilde makes Lord Henry and Dorian talk about 'fashion' and 'taste'. They express not only the appearance of the dandy but also the spirit of dandyism in those days. Three characters represent three phases of dandyism which Wilde wanted to represent.
