The nineteenth century dislike of realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass.
 Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). copy citation

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Author Oscar Wilde
Source The Picture of Dorian Gray
Topic realism rage
Date 1890
Language English
Reference
Note
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/174/174-h/174-h.htm

Context

“Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty.
There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.
The nineteenth century dislike of realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass. The nineteenth century dislike of romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass. The moral life of man forms part of the subject-matter of the artist, but the morality of art consists in the perfect use of an imperfect medium.” source