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annihilate the boundaries between observer and observed.
The satanic dandy, conversely, has absolute control over
himself, and is a dispassionate ironic observer. He affirms
evil as a source of beauty and his rebellion is more subtle
and quietly subversive, being primarily expressed through
the manipulation and domination of others. Diabolic
imagery and subjects efficaciously allowed Wilde and
Huysmans to express this internal complexity within a
recognisable framework of imagery and allusion. In effect,
the satanic functions in their work as an affirmation of
inverted spiritual values in an age of positivism and a
desire to transcend the quotidian as well as a recognition of
the multiplicity of the self.