Christa Giles

An obvious extension of this interest in the
supernatural was Wilde’s and Huysmans’ fascination with
mystery; that is to say, the unknown, unexplained, or
forbidden. ˝Mystery,˝ Huysmans maintained, ˝is
everywhere and reason cannot see its way.˝ 237 Mystery,
moreover, is explicitly identified (particularly by Wilde)
with art. He even rejects paintings that are ˝too
intelligible˝ 238 on the grounds that they lack mystery. ˝We
are hemmed in by mystery,˝ Huysmans claims in Là-bas, ˝in
our homes, in the street – everywhere.˝ 239 The decadent
artist uses these mysteries or the mysterious as modes of
escape or as seminal to works of art. ˝Nowadays we have
so few mysteries left to us,˝ Gilbert exclaims in ˝The Critic
as Artist,˝ ˝that we cannot afford to part with one of
them.˝ 240
Homosexuality is a source of fascination for both
Wilde and Huysmans. For not only was it considered to be
an artificiality, it was also a crime, and consequently had
the charm of being forbidden. A means of rebelling against
society’s dictates, it is also allied (and indeed often
identified) with satanism, allowing access to the mysterious
and the unknown. Dabbling with the forbidden inevitably
suggests the need for dissimulation. The mask adopted by
the dandy is therefore often closely connected with his
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