Christa Giles

The self-absorption of the individual rapt in
dreams. 366
135
The propensity to turn to a world of dreams resulted
not only in extreme subjectivism but also in solipsism.
Transcendental idealism rejected the possibility of any
knowledge of the external world, for true reality is
impossible to apprehend as it is always filtered through the
mind of the perceiver. Wilde summarized this clearly in De
Profundis when he wrote:
Time and space, succession and extension, are
merely accidental conditions of Thought. The
Imagination can transcend them, and move in
a free sphere of ideal existences. Things, also,
are in their essence what we choose to make
them. A thing is, according to the mode in
which one looks at it. 367
Or as he more cogently put it in Intentions, ˝things are
because we see them.˝ 368 This view implies that it is within
the grasp of each individual to create his own internal
reality and even, through the force of the imagination and
will, to create an alternate reality. Des Esseintes attempts
this on a less exalted plane – primarily through the
deception of the senses. For example, he fills his bath with
salt and pretends he is bathing in the sea, and goes on