“Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault.”
The aphorism that stood out to me the most in Wilde’s novel was, “Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault.” This aphorism stood out to me mainly because I strongly disagree with it. I believe that everyone has a different perception on what is defined as “ugly”, therefore, I think that there is no such thing as an ugly meaning. If someone paints an image of a butterfly, for example, some people may see butterflies as beautiful creatures, whilst others may think the opposite. I do not think it would be a ‘fault’ to have a different viewpoint than other people, not everyone thinks the same, and that is completely normal. It all depends on the person. In addition to this, everyone’s idea of beauty differs as well. A piece of literature that really reminds me of this aphorism is Franz Kafka’s, The Metamorphosis, which is a story about a young man who finds himself transformed into a giant insect one morning, changing his life from that point on in an extremely negative way. The way people view this story is quite different, some see it as a story about mental illness—like I see it as, because of the way the main character’s relationship with his family goes downhill because of his sudden transformation, and others see it as a story about an actual insect just being silly, instead of it being a metaphor for the more bleak theme of mental illness. I personally do not see an issue with people viewing it in a more lighthearted manner, that does not mean this is a fault, it just means that not all of us see things in the same way. Although the difference with my example and the aphorism chosen is that The Metamorphosis is not typically seen as a ‘beautiful’ piece of literature, it is seen as a more unserious and silly piece by some individuals, I can still connect this piece of literature with Wilde’s aphorism, and I can use this story to support why I personally disagree with the aphorism of “those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault.”