Christa Giles

The idea of modernity in Wilde’s and Huysmans’ work is
closely connected with the acceptance and recognition of
evil. In the wake of Baudelaire, Wilde maintained that
dandyism ˝is an attempt to assert the absolute modernity of
beauty.˝ 189 The dandy can admit the originality of sin: he is
not bound by moral considerations – he is above them. In
Huysmans’ novel on satanism, Là-bas, the satanic Gilles de
Rais is referred to as a ˝refined and artistic criminal.˝ 190
Wilde adopts a similar stance in ˝Pen, Pencil and Poison˝ in
his delineation of the dandy Thomas Griffiths Wainright.
The man does not confine his talents to being ˝a poet and a
painter, an art critic, an antiquarian . . . an amateur of
beautiful things˝; he is also ˝a subtle and secret poisoner
almost without rival in this or any age.˝ 191 The satanic
dandy’s sole concern is that of beauty and, like Dorian
Gray, he is often the possessor of that very quality. In
˝Fusée,˝ Baudelaire mentions the dandy and concludes that:
˝Le plus parfait type de beauté virile est Satan–à la manière
de Milton.˝ 192
71
By the fin de siècle this romantic conception of Satan
had altered to some degree. He had become ˝un gentleman
muet et propre, longanime et tenace; il est imparfait, usé,
vieux.˝ 193 However, his distinguishing characteristic was
still that of pride. Baudelaire, in the part of Les Fleurs du Mal