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Title7 The Soul of Man

8uthor7 Oscar Wilde

2elease *ate7 8ugust, !445 9EBook !:!5;9This file &as first %osted on 8ugust !:, !445;9Most recently u%dated7 May <!, <::=;

Edition7 !:

>anguage7 English

$haracter set encoding7 ?S@8S$

... ST82T O/ T3E P2OAE$T G?TEBE2G EBOOC, T3E SO?> O/ M8 ...

Transcribed by *a'id Price, e)ail cc1:5"Dco'entryacuk

T3E SO?> O/ M8

The chief ad'antage that &ould result fro) the establish)ent ofSocialis) is, undoubtedly, the fact that Socialis) &ould relie'e usfro) that sordid necessity of li'ing for others &hich, in the%resent condition of things, %resses so hardly u%on al)oste'erybody n fact, scarcely anyone at all esca%es

o& and then, in the course of the century, a great )an of science,



like *ar&in a great %oet, like Ceats a fine critical s%irit, likeM 2enan a su%re)e artist, like /laubert, has been able to isolatehi)self, to kee% hi)self out of reach of the cla)orous clai)s ofothers, to stand Funder the shelter of the &all,F as Plato %uts it,and so to realise the %erfection of &hat &as in hi), to his o&ninco)%arable gain, and to the inco)%arable and lasting gain of the

&hole &orld These, ho&e'er, are e1ce%tions The )ajority of%eo%le s%oil their li'es by an unhealthy and e1aggerated altruis)@@are forced, indeed, so to s%oil the) They find the)sel'essurrounded by hideous %o'erty, by hideous ugliness, by hideousstar'ation t is ine'itable that they should be strongly )o'ed byall this The e)otions of )an are stirred )ore uickly than )anFsintelligence and, as %ointed out so)e ti)e ago in an article onthe function of criticis), it is )uch )ore easy to ha'e sy)%athy&ith suffering than it is to ha'e sy)%athy &ith thought8ccordingly, &ith ad)irable, though )isdirected intentions, they'ery seriously and 'ery senti)entally set the)sel'es to the task ofre)edying the e'ils that they see But their re)edies do not curethe disease7 they )erely %rolong it ndeed, their re)edies are

%art of the disease

They try to sol'e the %roble) of %o'erty, for instance, by kee%ingthe %oor ali'e or, in the case of a 'ery ad'anced school, bya)using the %oor

But this is not a solution7 it is an aggra'ation of thedifficulty The %ro%er ai) is to try and reconstruct society onsuch a basis that %o'erty &ill be i)%ossible 8nd the altruistic'irtues ha'e really %re'ented the carrying out of this ai) Austas the &orst sla'e@o&ners &ere those &ho &ere kind to their sla'es,and so %re'ented the horror of the syste) being realised by those&ho suffered fro) it, and understood by those &ho conte)%lated it,so, in the %resent state of things in England, the %eo%le &ho do)ost har) are the %eo%le &ho try to do )ost good and at last &eha'e had the s%ectacle of )en &ho ha'e really studied the %roble)and kno& the life@@educated )en &ho li'e in the East End@@co)ingfor&ard and i)%loring the co))unity to restrain its altruistici)%ulses of charity, bene'olence, and the like They do so on theground that such charity degrades and de)oralises They are%erfectly right $harity creates a )ultitude of sins

There is also this to be said t is i))oral to use %ri'ate%ro%erty in order to alle'iate the horrible e'ils that result fro)the institution of %ri'ate %ro%erty t is both i))oral andunfair

?nder Socialis) all this &ill, of course, be altered There &illbe no %eo%le li'ing in fetid dens and fetid rags, and bringing u%unhealthy, hunger@%inched children in the )idst of i)%ossible andabsolutely re%ulsi'e surroundings The security of society &illnot de%end, as it does no&, on the state of the &eather f afrost co)es &e shall not ha'e a hundred thousand )en out of &ork,tra)%ing about the streets in a state of disgusting )isery, or&hining to their neighbours for al)s, or cro&ding round the doorsof loathso)e shelters to try and secure a hunch of bread and anightFs unclean lodging Each )e)ber of the society &ill share inthe general %ros%erity and ha%%iness of the society, and if a frostco)es no one &ill %ractically be anything the &orse

?%on the other hand, Socialis) itself &ill be of 'alue si)%lybecause it &ill lead to ndi'idualis)



Socialis), $o))unis), or &hate'er one chooses to call it, bycon'erting %ri'ate %ro%erty into %ublic &ealth, and substitutingco@o%eration for co)%etition, &ill restore society to its %ro%ercondition of a thoroughly healthy organis), and insure the )aterial&ell@being of each )e)ber of the co))unity t &ill, in fact, gi'e

>ife its %ro%er basis and its %ro%er en'iron)ent But for the fullde'elo%)ent of >ife to its highest )ode of %erfection, so)ething)ore is needed What is needed is ndi'idualis) f the Socialis)is 8uthoritarian if there are Go'ern)ents ar)ed &ith econo)ic%o&er as they are no& &ith %olitical %o&er if, in a &ord, &e areto ha'e ndustrial Tyrannies, then the last state of )an &ill be&orse than the first 8t %resent, in conseuence of the e1istenceof %ri'ate %ro%erty, a great )any %eo%le are enabled to de'elo% acertain 'ery li)ited a)ount of ndi'idualis) They are eitherunder no necessity to &ork for their li'ing, or are enabled tochoose the s%here of acti'ity that is really congenial to the), andgi'es the) %leasure These are the %oets, the %hiloso%hers, the)en of science, the )en of culture@@in a &ord, the real )en, the

)en &ho ha'e realised the)sel'es, and in &ho) all 3u)anity gains a%artial realisation ?%on the other hand, there are a great )any%eo%le &ho, ha'ing no %ri'ate %ro%erty of their o&n, and beingal&ays on the brink of sheer star'ation, are co)%elled to do the&ork of beasts of burden, to do &ork that is uite uncongenial tothe), and to &hich they are forced by the %ere)%tory, unreasonable,degrading Tyranny of &ant These are the %oor, and a)ongst the)there is no grace of )anner, or char) of s%eech, or ci'ilisation,or culture, or refine)ent in %leasures, or joy of life /ro) theircollecti'e force 3u)anity gains )uch in )aterial %ros%erity Butit is only the )aterial result that it gains, and the )an &ho is%oor is in hi)self absolutely of no i)%ortance 3e is )erely theinfinitesi)al ato) of a force that, so far fro) regarding hi),crushes hi)7 indeed, %refers hi) crushed, as in that case he isfar )ore obedient

Of course, it )ight be said that the ndi'idualis) generated underconditions of %ri'ate %ro%erty is not al&ays, or e'en as a rule, ofa fine or &onderful ty%e, and that the %oor, if they ha'e notculture and char), ha'e still )any 'irtues Both these state)ents&ould be uite true The %ossession of %ri'ate %ro%erty is 'eryoften e1tre)ely de)oralising, and that is, of course, one of thereasons &hy Socialis) &ants to get rid of the institution nfact, %ro%erty is really a nuisance So)e years ago %eo%le &entabout the country saying that %ro%erty has duties They said it sooften and so tediously that, at last, the $hurch has begun to sayit One hears it no& fro) e'ery %ul%it t is %erfectly truePro%erty not )erely has duties, but has so )any duties that its%ossession to any large e1tent is a bore t in'ol'es endlessclai)s u%on one, endless attention to business, endless bother f%ro%erty had si)%ly %leasures, &e could stand it but its duties)ake it unbearable n the interest of the rich &e )ust get rid ofit The 'irtues of the %oor )ay be readily ad)itted, and are )uchto be regretted We are often told that the %oor are grateful forcharity So)e of the) are, no doubt, but the best a)ongst the %oorare ne'er grateful They are ungrateful, discontented,disobedient, and rebellious They are uite right to be so$harity they feel to be a ridiculously inadeuate )ode of %artialrestitution, or a senti)ental dole, usually acco)%anied by so)ei)%ertinent atte)%t on the %art of the senti)entalist to tyrannise

o'er their %ri'ate li'es Why should they be grateful for thecru)bs that fall fro) the rich )anFs tableH They should be seated



at the board, and are beginning to kno& it 8s for beingdiscontented, a )an &ho &ould not be discontented &ith suchsurroundings and such a lo& )ode of life &ould be a %erfect brute*isobedience, in the eyes of anyone &ho has read history, is )anFsoriginal 'irtue t is through disobedience that %rogress has been)ade, through disobedience and through rebellion So)eti)es the

%oor are %raised for being thrifty But to reco))end thrift to the%oor is both grotesue and insulting t is like ad'ising a )an&ho is star'ing to eat less /or a to&n or country labourer to%ractise thrift &ould be absolutely i))oral Man should not beready to sho& that he can li'e like a badly@fed ani)al 3e shoulddecline to li'e like that, and should either steal or go on therates, &hich is considered by )any to be a for) of stealing 8sfor begging, it is safer to beg than to take, but it is finer totake than to beg o7 a %oor )an &ho is ungrateful, unthrifty,discontented, and rebellious, is %robably a real %ersonality, andhas )uch in hi) 3e is at any rate a healthy %rotest 8s for the'irtuous %oor, one can %ity the), of course, but one cannot%ossibly ad)ire the) They ha'e )ade %ri'ate ter)s &ith the ene)y,

and sold their birthright for 'ery bad %ottage They )ust also bee1traordinarily stu%id can uite understand a )an acce%tingla&s that %rotect %ri'ate %ro%erty, and ad)it of its accu)ulation,as long as he hi)self is able under those conditions to realiseso)e for) of beautiful and intellectual life But it is al)ostincredible to )e ho& a )an &hose life is )arred and )ade hideous bysuch la&s can %ossibly acuiesce in their continuance

3o&e'er, the e1%lanation is not really difficult to find t issi)%ly this Misery and %o'erty are so absolutely degrading, ande1ercise such a %aralysing effect o'er the nature of )en, that noclass is e'er really conscious of its o&n suffering They ha'e tobe told of it by other %eo%le, and they often entirely disbelie'ethe) What is said by great e)%loyers of labour against agitatorsis unuestionably true 8gitators are a set of interfering,)eddling %eo%le, &ho co)e do&n to so)e %erfectly contented class ofthe co))unity, and so& the seeds of discontent a)ongst the) Thatis the reason &hy agitators are so absolutely necessary Withoutthe), in our inco)%lete state, there &ould be no ad'ance to&ardsci'ilisation Sla'ery &as %ut do&n in 8)erica, not in conseuenceof any action on the %art of the sla'es, or e'en any e1%ress desireon their %art that they should be free t &as %ut do&n entirelythrough the grossly illegal conduct of certain agitators in Bostonand else&here, &ho &ere not sla'es the)sel'es, nor o&ners ofsla'es, nor had anything to do &ith the uestion really t &as,undoubtedly, the 8bolitionists &ho set the torch alight, &ho beganthe &hole thing 8nd it is curious to note that fro) the sla'esthe)sel'es they recei'ed, not )erely 'ery little assistance, buthardly any sy)%athy e'en and &hen at the close of the &ar thesla'es found the)sel'es free, found the)sel'es indeed so absolutelyfree that they &ere free to star'e, )any of the) bitterly regrettedthe ne& state of things To the thinker, the )ost tragic fact inthe &hole of the /rench 2e'olution is not that Marie 8ntoinette &askilled for being a ueen, but that the star'ed %easant of the0endee 'oluntarily &ent out to die for the hideous cause offeudalis)

t is clear, then, that no 8uthoritarian Socialis) &ill do /or&hile under the %resent syste) a 'ery large nu)ber of %eo%le canlead li'es of a certain a)ount of freedo) and e1%ression and

ha%%iness, under an industrial@barrack syste), or a syste) ofecono)ic tyranny, nobody &ould be able to ha'e any such freedo) at



all t is to be regretted that a %ortion of our co))unity shouldbe %ractically in sla'ery, but to %ro%ose to sol'e the %roble) byensla'ing the entire co))unity is childish E'ery )an )ust be leftuite free to choose his o&n &ork o for) of co)%ulsion )ust bee1ercised o'er hi) f there is, his &ork &ill not be good forhi), &ill not be good in itself, and &ill not be good for others

8nd by &ork si)%ly )ean acti'ity of any kind

hardly think that any Socialist, no&adays, &ould seriously%ro%ose that an ins%ector should call e'ery )orning at each houseto see that each citiIen rose u% and did )anual labour for eighthours 3u)anity has got beyond that stage, and reser'es such afor) of life for the %eo%le &ho), in a 'ery arbitrary )anner, itchooses to call cri)inals But confess that )any of thesocialistic 'ie&s that ha'e co)e across see) to )e to be tainted&ith ideas of authority, if not of actual co)%ulsion Of course,authority and co)%ulsion are out of the uestion 8ll association)ust be uite 'oluntary t is only in 'oluntary associations that)an is fine

But it )ay be asked ho& ndi'idualis), &hich is no& )ore or lessde%endent on the e1istence of %ri'ate %ro%erty for its de'elo%)ent,&ill benefit by the abolition of such %ri'ate %ro%erty The ans&eris 'ery si)%le t is true that, under e1isting conditions, a fe&)en &ho ha'e had %ri'ate )eans of their o&n, such as Byron,Shelley, Bro&ning, 0ictor 3ugo, Baudelaire, and others, ha'e beenable to realise their %ersonality )ore or less co)%letely ot oneof these )en e'er did a single dayFs &ork for hire They &ererelie'ed fro) %o'erty They had an i))ense ad'antage Theuestion is &hether it &ould be for the good of ndi'idualis) thatsuch an ad'antage should be taken a&ay >et us su%%ose that it istaken a&ay What ha%%ens then to ndi'idualis)H 3o& &ill itbenefitH

t &ill benefit in this &ay ?nder the ne& conditionsndi'idualis) &ill be far freer, far finer, and far )oreintensified than it is no& a) not talking of the greati)aginati'ely@realised ndi'idualis) of such %oets as ha'e)entioned, but of the great actual ndi'idualis) latent and%otential in )ankind generally /or the recognition of %ri'ate%ro%erty has really har)ed ndi'idualis), and obscured it, byconfusing a )an &ith &hat he %ossesses t has led ndi'idualis)entirely astray t has )ade gain not gro&th its ai) So that )anthought that the i)%ortant thing &as to ha'e, and did not kno& thatthe i)%ortant thing is to be The true %erfection of )an lies, notin &hat )an has, but in &hat )an is

Pri'ate %ro%erty has crushed true ndi'idualis), and set u% anndi'idualis) that is false t has debarred one %art of theco))unity fro) being indi'idual by star'ing the) t has debarredthe other %art of the co))unity fro) being indi'idual by %uttingthe) on the &rong road, and encu)bering the) ndeed, soco)%letely has )anFs %ersonality been absorbed by his %ossessionsthat the English la& has al&ays treated offences against a )anFs%ro%erty &ith far )ore se'erity than offences against his %erson,and %ro%erty is still the test of co)%lete citiIenshi% Theindustry necessary for the )aking )oney is also 'ery de)oralisingn a co))unity like ours, &here %ro%erty confers i))ensedistinction, social %osition, honour, res%ect, titles, and other

%leasant things of the kind, )an, being naturally a)bitious, )akesit his ai) to accu)ulate this %ro%erty, and goes on &earily and



tediously accu)ulating it long after he has got far )ore than he&ants, or can use, or enjoy, or %erha%s e'en kno& of Man &illkill hi)self by o'er&ork in order to secure %ro%erty, and really,considering the enor)ous ad'antages that %ro%erty brings, one ishardly sur%rised OneFs regret is that society should beconstructed on such a basis that )an has been forced into a groo'e

in &hich he cannot freely de'elo% &hat is &onderful, andfascinating, and delightful in hi)@@in &hich, in fact, he )issesthe true %leasure and joy of li'ing 3e is also, under e1istingconditions, 'ery insecure 8n enor)ously &ealthy )erchant )ay be@@often is@@at e'ery )o)ent of his life at the )ercy of things thatare not under his control f the &ind blo&s an e1tra %oint or so,or the &eather suddenly changes, or so)e tri'ial thing ha%%ens, hisshi% )ay go do&n, his s%eculations )ay go &rong, and he findshi)self a %oor )an, &ith his social %osition uite gone o&,nothing should be able to har) a )an e1ce%t hi)self othingshould be able to rob a )an at all What a )an really has, is &hatis in hi) What is outside of hi) should be a )atter of noi)%ortance

With the abolition of %ri'ate %ro%erty, then, &e shall ha'e true,beautiful, healthy ndi'idualis) obody &ill &aste his life inaccu)ulating things, and the sy)bols for things One &ill li'eTo li'e is the rarest thing in the &orld Most %eo%le e1ist, thatis all

t is a uestion &hether &e ha'e e'er seen the full e1%ression of a%ersonality, e1ce%t on the i)aginati'e %lane of art n action, &ene'er ha'e $aesar, says Mo))sen, &as the co)%lete and %erfect)an But ho& tragically insecure &as $aesar6 Where'er there is a)an &ho e1ercises authority, there is a )an &ho resists authority$aesar &as 'ery %erfect, but his %erfection tra'elled by toodangerous a road Marcus 8urelius &as the %erfect )an, says 2enan-es the great e)%eror &as a %erfect )an But ho& intolerable &erethe endless clai)s u%on hi)6 3e staggered under the burden of thee)%ire 3e &as conscious ho& inadeuate one )an &as to bear the&eight of that Titan and too 'ast orb What )ean by a %erfect)an is one &ho de'elo%s under %erfect conditions one &ho is not&ounded, or &orried or )ai)ed, or in danger Most %ersonalitiesha'e been obliged to be rebels 3alf their strength has been&asted in friction ByronFs %ersonality, for instance, &asterribly &asted in its battle &ith the stu%idity, and hy%ocrisy,and Philistinis) of the English Such battles do not al&aysintensify strength7 they often e1aggerate &eakness Byron &asne'er able to gi'e us &hat he )ight ha'e gi'en us Shelley esca%edbetter >ike Byron, he got out of England as soon as %ossibleBut he &as not so &ell kno&n f the English had had any idea of&hat a great %oet he really &as, they &ould ha'e fallen on hi) &ithtooth and nail, and )ade his life as unbearable to hi) as they%ossibly could But he &as not a re)arkable figure in society, andconseuently he esca%ed, to a certain degree Still, e'en inShelley the note of rebellion is so)eti)es too strong The note ofthe %erfect %ersonality is not rebellion, but %eace

t &ill be a )ar'ellous thing@@the true %ersonality of )an@@&hen &esee it t &ill gro& naturally and si)%ly, flo&erlike, or as atree gro&s t &ill not be at discord t &ill ne'er argue ordis%ute t &ill not %ro'e things t &ill kno& e'erything 8ndyet it &ill not busy itself about kno&ledge t &ill ha'e &isdo)

ts 'alue &ill not be )easured by )aterial things t &ill ha'enothing 8nd yet it &ill ha'e e'erything, and &hate'er one takes



fro) it, it &ill still ha'e, so rich &ill it be t &ill not beal&ays )eddling &ith others, or asking the) to be like itself t&ill lo'e the) because they &ill be different 8nd yet &hile it&ill not )eddle &ith others, it &ill hel% all, as a beautiful thinghel%s us, by being &hat it is The %ersonality of )an &ill be 'ery&onderful t &ill be as &onderful as the %ersonality of a child

n its de'elo%)ent it &ill be assisted by $hristianity, if )endesire that but if )en do not desire that, it &ill de'elo% nonethe less surely /or it &ill not &orry itself about the %ast, norcare &hether things ha%%ened or did not ha%%en or &ill it ad)itany la&s but its o&n la&s nor any authority but its o&n authority-et it &ill lo'e those &ho sought to intensify it, and s%eak oftenof the) 8nd of these $hrist &as one

FCno& thyselfF &as &ritten o'er the %ortal of the antiue &orldO'er the %ortal of the ne& &orld, FBe thyselfF shall be &ritten8nd the )essage of $hrist to )an &as si)%ly FBe thyselfF That isthe secret of $hrist

When Aesus talks about the %oor he si)%ly )eans %ersonalities, justas &hen he talks about the rich he si)%ly )eans %eo%le &ho ha'e notde'elo%ed their %ersonalities Aesus )o'ed in a co))unity thatallo&ed the accu)ulation of %ri'ate %ro%erty just as ours does, andthe gos%el that he %reached &as not that in such a co))unity it isan ad'antage for a )an to li'e on scanty, un&holeso)e food, to &earragged, un&holeso)e clothes, to slee% in horrid, un&holeso)ed&ellings, and a disad'antage for a )an to li'e under healthy,%leasant, and decent conditions Such a 'ie& &ould ha'e been &rongthere and then, and &ould, of course, be still )ore &rong no& andin England for as )an )o'es north&ard the )aterial necessities oflife beco)e of )ore 'ital i)%ortance, and our society is infinitely)ore co)%le1, and dis%lays far greater e1tre)es of lu1ury and%au%eris) than any society of the antiue &orld What Aesus )eant,&as this 3e said to )an, F-ou ha'e a &onderful %ersonality*e'elo% it Be yourself *onFt i)agine that your %erfection liesin accu)ulating or %ossessing e1ternal things -our affection isinside of you f only you could realise that, you &ould not &antto be rich Ordinary riches can be stolen fro) a )an 2eal richescannot n the treasury@house of your soul, there are infinitely%recious things, that )ay not be taken fro) you 8nd so, try to sosha%e your life that e1ternal things &ill not har) you 8nd tryalso to get rid of %ersonal %ro%erty t in'ol'es sordid%reoccu%ation, endless industry, continual &rong Personal%ro%erty hinders ndi'idualis) at e'ery ste%F t is to be notedthat Aesus ne'er says that i)%o'erished %eo%le are necessarilygood, or &ealthy %eo%le necessarily bad That &ould not ha'e beentrue Wealthy %eo%le are, as a class, better than i)%o'erished%eo%le, )ore )oral, )ore intellectual, )ore &ell@beha'ed There isonly one class in the co))unity that thinks )ore about )oney thanthe rich, and that is the %oor The %oor can think of nothingelse That is the )isery of being %oor What Aesus does say isthat )an reaches his %erfection, not through &hat he has, not e'enthrough &hat he does, but entirely through &hat he is 8nd so the&ealthy young )an &ho co)es to Aesus is re%resented as a thoroughlygood citiIen, &ho has broken none of the la&s of his state, none ofthe co))and)ents of his religion 3e is uite res%ectable, in theordinary sense of that e1traordinary &ord Aesus says to hi), F-oushould gi'e u% %ri'ate %ro%erty t hinders you fro) realising

your %erfection t is a drag u%on you t is a burden -our%ersonality does not need it t is &ithin you, and not outside of



you, that you &ill find &hat you really are, and &hat you really&antF To his o&n friends he says the sa)e thing 3e tells the)to be the)sel'es, and not to be al&ays &orrying about other thingsWhat do other things )atterH Man is co)%lete in hi)self Whenthey go into the &orld, the &orld &ill disagree &ith the) That isine'itable The &orld hates ndi'idualis) But that is not to

trouble the) They are to be cal) and self@centred f a )antakes their cloak, they are to gi'e hi) their coat, just to sho&that )aterial things are of no i)%ortance f %eo%le abuse the),they are not to ans&er back What does it signifyH The things%eo%le say of a )an do not alter a )an 3e is &hat he is Publico%inion is of no 'alue &hatsoe'er E'en if %eo%le e)%loy actual'iolence, they are not to be 'iolent in turn That &ould be tofall to the sa)e lo& le'el 8fter all, e'en in %rison, a )an canbe uite free 3is soul can be free 3is %ersonality can beuntroubled 3e can be at %eace 8nd, abo'e all things, they arenot to interfere &ith other %eo%le or judge the) in any &ayPersonality is a 'ery )ysterious thing 8 )an cannot al&ays beesti)ated by &hat he does 3e )ay kee% the la&, and yet be

&orthless 3e )ay break the la&, and yet be fine 3e )ay be bad,&ithout e'er doing anything bad 3e )ay co))it a sin againstsociety, and yet realise through that sin his true %erfection

There &as a &o)an &ho &as taken in adultery We are not told thehistory of her lo'e, but that lo'e )ust ha'e been 'ery great forAesus said that her sins &ere forgi'en her, not because shere%ented, but because her lo'e &as so intense and &onderful >ateron, a short ti)e before his death, as he sat at a feast, the &o)anca)e in and %oured costly %erfu)es on his hair 3is friends triedto interfere &ith her, and said that it &as an e1tra'agance, andthat the )oney that the %erfu)e cost should ha'e been e1%ended oncharitable relief of %eo%le in &ant, or so)ething of that kindAesus did not acce%t that 'ie& 3e %ointed out that the )aterialneeds of Man &ere great and 'ery %er)anent, but that the s%iritualneeds of Man &ere greater still, and that in one di'ine )o)ent, andby selecting its o&n )ode of e1%ression, a %ersonality )ight )akeitself %erfect The &orld &orshi%s the &o)an, e'en no&, as asaint

-es there are suggesti'e things in ndi'idualis) Socialis)annihilates fa)ily life, for instance With the abolition of%ri'ate %ro%erty, )arriage in its %resent for) )ust disa%%earThis is %art of the %rogra))e ndi'idualis) acce%ts this and)akes it fine t con'erts the abolition of legal restraint into afor) of freedo) that &ill hel% the full de'elo%)ent of %ersonality,and )ake the lo'e of )an and &o)an )ore &onderful, )ore beautiful,and )ore ennobling Aesus kne& this 3e rejected the clai)s offa)ily life, although they e1isted in his day and co))unity in a'ery )arked for) FWho is )y )otherH Who are )y brothersHF hesaid, &hen he &as told that they &ished to s%eak to hi) When oneof his follo&ers asked lea'e to go and bury his father, F>et thedead bury the dead,F &as his terrible ans&er 3e &ould allo& noclai) &hatsoe'er to be )ade on %ersonality

8nd so he &ho &ould lead a $hristlike life is he &ho is %erfectlyand absolutely hi)self 3e )ay be a great %oet, or a great )an ofscience or a young student at a ?ni'ersity, or one &ho &atchesshee% u%on a )oor or a )aker of dra)as, like Shakes%eare, or athinker about God, like S%inoIa or a child &ho %lays in a garden,

or a fisher)an &ho thro&s his net into the sea t does not )atter&hat he is, as long as he realises the %erfection of the soul that



is &ithin hi) 8ll i)itation in )orals and in life is &rongThrough the streets of Aerusale) at the %resent day cra&ls one &hois )ad and carries a &ooden cross on his shoulders 3e is a sy)bolof the li'es that are )arred by i)itation /ather *a)ien &as$hristlike &hen he &ent out to li'e &ith the le%ers, because insuch ser'ice he realised fully &hat &as best in hi) But he &as

not )ore $hristlike than Wagner &hen he realised his soul in )usicor than Shelley, &hen he realised his soul in song There is noone ty%e for )an There are as )any %erfections as there arei)%erfect )en 8nd &hile to the clai)s of charity a )an )ay yieldand yet be free, to the clai)s of confor)ity no )an )ay yield andre)ain free at all

ndi'idualis), then, is &hat through Socialis) &e are to attain to8s a natural result the State )ust gi'e u% all idea of go'ern)entt )ust gi'e it u% because, as a &ise )an once said )any centuriesbefore $hrist, there is such a thing as lea'ing )ankind alonethere is no such thing as go'erning )ankind 8ll )odes ofgo'ern)ent are failures *es%otis) is unjust to e'erybody,

including the des%ot, &ho &as %robably )ade for better thingsOligarchies are unjust to the )any, and ochlocracies are unjust tothe fe& 3igh ho%es &ere once for)ed of de)ocracy but de)ocracy)eans si)%ly the bludgeoning of the %eo%le by the %eo%le for the%eo%le t has been found out )ust say that it &as high ti)e,for all authority is uite degrading t degrades those &hoe1ercise it, and degrades those o'er &ho) it is e1ercised When itis 'iolently, grossly, and cruelly used, it %roduces a good effect,by creating, or at any rate bringing out, the s%irit of re'olt andndi'idualis) that is to kill it When it is used &ith a certaina)ount of kindness, and acco)%anied by %riIes and re&ards, it isdreadfully de)oralising Peo%le, in that case, are less consciousof the horrible %ressure that is being %ut on the), and so gothrough their li'es in a sort of coarse co)fort, like %ettedani)als, &ithout e'er realising that they are %robably thinkingother %eo%leFs thoughts, li'ing by other %eo%leFs standards,&earing %ractically &hat one )ay call other %eo%leFs second@handclothes, and ne'er being the)sel'es for a single )o)ent F3e &ho&ould be free,F says a fine thinker, F)ust not confor)F 8ndauthority, by bribing %eo%le to confor), %roduces a 'ery gross kindof o'er@fed barbaris) a)ongst us

With authority, %unish)ent &ill %ass a&ay This &ill be a greatgain@@a gain, in fact, of incalculable 'alue 8s one readshistory, not in the e1%urgated editions &ritten for school@boys and%ass)en, but in the original authorities of each ti)e, one isabsolutely sickened, not by the cri)es that the &icked ha'eco))itted, but by the %unish)ents that the good ha'e inflicted anda co))unity is infinitely )ore brutalised by the habituale)%loy)ent of %unish)ent, than it is by the occurrence of cri)et ob'iously follo&s that the )ore %unish)ent is inflicted the )orecri)e is %roduced, and )ost )odern legislation has clearlyrecognised this, and has )ade it its task to di)inish %unish)ent asfar as it thinks it can Where'er it has really di)inished it, theresults ha'e al&ays been e1tre)ely good The less %unish)ent, theless cri)e When there is no %unish)ent at all, cri)e &ill eithercease to e1ist, or, if it occurs, &ill be treated by %hysicians asa 'ery distressing for) of de)entia, to be cured by care andkindness /or &hat are called cri)inals no&adays are not cri)inalsat all Star'ation, and not sin, is the %arent of )odern cri)e

That indeed is the reason &hy our cri)inals are, as a class, soabsolutely uninteresting fro) any %sychological %oint of 'ie&



They are not )ar'ellous Macbeths and terrible 0autrins They are)erely &hat ordinary, res%ectable, co))on%lace %eo%le &ould be ifthey had not got enough to eat When %ri'ate %ro%erty is abolishedthere &ill be no necessity for cri)e, no de)and for it it &illcease to e1ist Of course, all cri)es are not cri)es against%ro%erty, though such are the cri)es that the English la&, 'aluing

&hat a )an has )ore than &hat a )an is, %unishes &ith the harshestand )ost horrible se'erity, if &e e1ce%t the cri)e of )urder, andregard death as &orse than %enal ser'itude, a %oint on &hich ourcri)inals, belie'e, disagree But though a cri)e )ay not beagainst %ro%erty, it )ay s%ring fro) the )isery and rage andde%ression %roduced by our &rong syste) of %ro%erty@holding, andso, &hen that syste) is abolished, &ill disa%%ear When each)e)ber of the co))unity has sufficient for his &ants, and is notinterfered &ith by his neighbour, it &ill not be an object of anyinterest to hi) to interfere &ith anyone else Aealousy, &hich isan e1traordinary source of cri)e in )odern life, is an e)otionclosely bound u% &ith our conce%tions of %ro%erty, and underSocialis) and ndi'idualis) &ill die out t is re)arkable that in

co))unistic tribes jealousy is entirely unkno&n

o& as the State is not to go'ern, it )ay be asked &hat the Stateis to do The State is to be a 'oluntary association that &illorganise labour, and be the )anufacturer and distributor ofnecessary co))odities The State is to )ake &hat is useful Theindi'idual is to )ake &hat is beautiful 8nd as ha'e )entionedthe &ord labour, cannot hel% saying that a great deal of nonsenseis being &ritten and talked no&adays about the dignity of )anuallabour There is nothing necessarily dignified about )anual labourat all, and )ost of it is absolutely degrading t is )entally and)orally injurious to )an to do anything in &hich he does not find%leasure, and )any for)s of labour are uite %leasurelessacti'ities, and should be regarded as such To s&ee% a slushycrossing for eight hours, on a day &hen the east &ind is blo&ing isa disgusting occu%ation To s&ee% it &ith )ental, )oral, or%hysical dignity see)s to )e to be i)%ossible To s&ee% it &ithjoy &ould be a%%alling Man is )ade for so)ething better thandisturbing dirt 8ll &ork of that kind should be done by a)achine

8nd ha'e no doubt that it &ill be so ?% to the %resent, )an hasbeen, to a certain e1tent, the sla'e of )achinery, and there isso)ething tragic in the fact that as soon as )an had in'ented a)achine to do his &ork he began to star'e This, ho&e'er, is, ofcourse, the result of our %ro%erty syste) and our syste) ofco)%etition One )an o&ns a )achine &hich does the &ork of fi'ehundred )en /i'e hundred )en are, in conseuence, thro&n out ofe)%loy)ent, and, ha'ing no &ork to do, beco)e hungry and take tothie'ing The one )an secures the %roduce of the )achine and kee%sit, and has fi'e hundred ti)es as )uch as he should ha'e, and%robably, &hich is of )uch )ore i)%ortance, a great deal )ore thanhe really &ants Were that )achine the %ro%erty of all, e'ery one&ould benefit by it t &ould be an i))ense ad'antage to theco))unity 8ll unintellectual labour, all )onotonous, dull labour,all labour that deals &ith dreadful things, and in'ol'es un%leasantconditions, )ust be done by )achinery Machinery )ust &ork for usin coal )ines, and do all sanitary ser'ices, and be the stoker ofstea)ers, and clean the streets, and run )essages on &et days, anddo anything that is tedious or distressing 8t %resent )achinery

co)%etes against )an ?nder %ro%er conditions )achinery &ill ser'e)an There is no doubt at all that this is the future of



)achinery, and just as trees gro& &hile the country gentle)an isaslee%, so &hile 3u)anity &ill be a)using itself, or enjoyingculti'ated leisure@@&hich, and not labour, is the ai) of )an@@or)aking beautiful things, or reading beautiful things, or si)%lyconte)%lating the &orld &ith ad)iration and delight, )achinery &illbe doing all the necessary and un%leasant &ork The fact is, that

ci'ilisation reuires sla'es The Greeks &ere uite right there?nless there are sla'es to do the ugly, horrible, uninteresting&ork, culture and conte)%lation beco)e al)ost i)%ossible 3u)ansla'ery is &rong, insecure, and de)oralising On )echanicalsla'ery, on the sla'ery of the )achine, the future of the &orldde%ends 8nd &hen scientific )en are no longer called u%on to godo&n to a de%ressing East End and distribute bad cocoa and &orseblankets to star'ing %eo%le, they &ill ha'e delightful leisure in&hich to de'ise &onderful and )ar'ellous things for their o&n joyand the joy of e'eryone else There &ill be great storages offorce for e'ery city, and for e'ery house if reuired, and thisforce )an &ill con'ert into heat, light, or )otion, according tohis needs s this ?to%ianH 8 )a% of the &orld that does not

include ?to%ia is not &orth e'en glancing at, for it lea'es out theone country at &hich 3u)anity is al&ays landing 8nd &hen 3u)anitylands there, it looks out, and, seeing a better country, sets sailProgress is the realisation of ?to%ias

o&, ha'e said that the co))unity by )eans of organisation of)achinery &ill su%%ly the useful things, and that the beautifulthings &ill be )ade by the indi'idual This is not )erelynecessary, but it is the only %ossible &ay by &hich &e can geteither the one or the other 8n indi'idual &ho has to )ake thingsfor the use of others, and &ith reference to their &ants and their&ishes, does not &ork &ith interest, and conseuently cannot %utinto his &ork &hat is best in hi) ?%on the other hand, &hene'er aco))unity or a %o&erful section of a co))unity, or a go'ern)ent ofany kind, atte)%ts to dictate to the artist &hat he is to do, 8rteither entirely 'anishes, or beco)es stereoty%ed, or degeneratesinto a lo& and ignoble for) of craft 8 &ork of art is the uniueresult of a uniue te)%era)ent ts beauty co)es fro) the factthat the author is &hat he is t has nothing to do &ith the factthat other %eo%le &ant &hat they &ant ndeed, the )o)ent that anartist takes notice of &hat other %eo%le &ant, and tries to su%%lythe de)and, he ceases to be an artist, and beco)es a dull or ana)using crafts)an, an honest or a dishonest trades)an 3e has nofurther clai) to be considered as an artist 8rt is the )ostintense )ode of ndi'idualis) that the &orld has kno&n a)inclined to say that it is the only real )ode of ndi'idualis) thatthe &orld has kno&n $ri)e, &hich, under certain conditions, )aysee) to ha'e created ndi'idualis), )ust take cognisance of other%eo%le and interfere &ith the) t belongs to the s%here ofaction But alone, &ithout any reference to his neighbours,&ithout any interference, the artist can fashion a beautiful thingand if he does not do it solely for his o&n %leasure, he is not anartist at all

8nd it is to be noted that it is the fact that 8rt is this intensefor) of ndi'idualis) that )akes the %ublic try to e1ercise o'er itin an authority that is as i))oral as it is ridiculous, and ascorru%ting as it is conte)%tible t is not uite their faultThe %ublic has al&ays, and in e'ery age, been badly brought u%They are continually asking 8rt to be %o%ular, to %lease their &ant

of taste, to flatter their absurd 'anity, to tell the) &hat theyha'e been told before, to sho& the) &hat they ought to be tired of



seeing, to a)use the) &hen they feel hea'y after eating too )uch,and to distract their thoughts &hen they are &earied of their o&nstu%idity o& 8rt should ne'er try to be %o%ular The %ublicshould try to )ake itself artistic There is a 'ery &idedifference f a )an of science &ere told that the results of hise1%eri)ents, and the conclusions that he arri'ed at, should be of

such a character that they &ould not u%set the recei'ed %o%ularnotions on the subject, or disturb %o%ular %rejudice, or hurt thesensibilities of %eo%le &ho kne& nothing about science if a%hiloso%her &ere told that he had a %erfect right to s%eculate inthe highest s%heres of thought, %ro'ided that he arri'ed at thesa)e conclusions as &ere held by those &ho had ne'er thought in anys%here at all@@&ell, no&adays the )an of science and the%hiloso%her &ould be considerably a)used -et it is really a 'eryfe& years since both %hiloso%hy and science &ere subjected tobrutal %o%ular control, to authority@@in fact the authority ofeither the general ignorance of the co))unity, or the terror andgreed for %o&er of an ecclesiastical or go'ern)ental class Ofcourse, &e ha'e to a 'ery great e1tent got rid of any atte)%t on

the %art of the co))unity, or the $hurch, or the Go'ern)ent, tointerfere &ith the indi'idualis) of s%eculati'e thought, but theatte)%t to interfere &ith the indi'idualis) of i)aginati'e artstill lingers n fact, it does )ore than linger it isaggressi'e, offensi'e, and brutalising

n England, the arts that ha'e esca%ed best are the arts in &hichthe %ublic take no interest Poetry is an instance of &hat )eanWe ha'e been able to ha'e fine %oetry in England because the %ublicdo not read it, and conseuently do not influence it The %ubliclike to insult %oets because they are indi'idual, but once theyha'e insulted the), they lea'e the) alone n the case of theno'el and the dra)a, arts in &hich the %ublic do take an interest,the result of the e1ercise of %o%ular authority has been absolutelyridiculous o country %roduces such badly@&ritten fiction, suchtedious, co))on &ork in the no'el for), such silly, 'ulgar %lays asEngland t )ust necessarily be so The %o%ular standard is ofsuch a character that no artist can get to it t is at once tooeasy and too difficult to be a %o%ular no'elist t is too easy,because the reuire)ents of the %ublic as far as %lot, style,%sychology, treat)ent of life, and treat)ent of literature areconcerned are &ithin the reach of the 'ery )eanest ca%acity and the)ost unculti'ated )ind t is too difficult, because to )eet suchreuire)ents the artist &ould ha'e to do 'iolence to histe)%era)ent, &ould ha'e to &rite not for the artistic joy of&riting, but for the a)use)ent of half@educated %eo%le, and so&ould ha'e to su%%ress his indi'idualis), forget his culture,annihilate his style, and surrender e'erything that is 'aluable inhi) n the case of the dra)a, things are a little better7 thetheatre@going %ublic like the ob'ious, it is true, but they do notlike the tedious and burlesue and farcical co)edy, the t&o )ost%o%ular for)s, are distinct for)s of art *elightful &ork )ay be%roduced under burlesue and farcical conditions, and in &ork ofthis kind the artist in England is allo&ed 'ery great freedo) tis &hen one co)es to the higher for)s of the dra)a that the resultof %o%ular control is seen The one thing that the %ublic dislikeis no'elty 8ny atte)%t to e1tend the subject@)atter of art ise1tre)ely distasteful to the %ublic and yet the 'itality and%rogress of art de%end in a large )easure on the continuale1tension of subject@)atter The %ublic dislike no'elty because

they are afraid of it t re%resents to the) a )ode ofndi'idualis), an assertion on the %art of the artist that he



selects his o&n subject, and treats it as he chooses The %ublicare uite right in their attitude 8rt is ndi'idualis), andndi'idualis) is a disturbing and disintegrating force Thereinlies its i))ense 'alue /or &hat it seeks to disturb is )onotonyof ty%e, sla'ery of custo), tyranny of habit, and the reduction of)an to the le'el of a )achine n 8rt, the %ublic acce%t &hat has

been, because they cannot alter it, not because they a%%reciate itThey s&allo& their classics &hole, and ne'er taste the) Theyendure the) as the ine'itable, and as they cannot )ar the), they)outh about the) Strangely enough, or not strangely, according tooneFs o&n 'ie&s, this acce%tance of the classics does a great dealof har) The uncritical ad)iration of the Bible and Shakes%eare inEngland is an instance of &hat )ean With regard to the Bible,considerations of ecclesiastical authority enter into the )atter,so that need not d&ell u%on the %oint But in the case ofShakes%eare it is uite ob'ious that the %ublic really see neitherthe beauties nor the defects of his %lays f they sa& thebeauties, they &ould not object to the de'elo%)ent of the dra)aand if they sa& the defects, they &ould not object to the

de'elo%)ent of the dra)a either The fact is, the %ublic )ake useof the classics of a country as a )eans of checking the %rogress of8rt They degrade the classics into authorities They use the) asbludgeons for %re'enting the free e1%ression of Beauty in ne&for)s They are al&ays asking a &riter &hy he does not &rite likeso)ebody else, or a %ainter &hy he does not %aint like so)ebodyelse, uite obli'ious of the fact that if either of the) didanything of the kind he &ould cease to be an artist 8 fresh )odeof Beauty is absolutely distasteful to the), and &hene'er ita%%ears they get so angry, and be&ildered that they al&ays use t&ostu%id e1%ressions@@one is that the &ork of art is grosslyunintelligible the other, that the &ork of art is grossly i))oralWhat they )ean by these &ords see)s to )e to be this When theysay a &ork is grossly unintelligible, they )ean that the artist hassaid or )ade a beautiful thing that is ne& &hen they describe a&ork as grossly i))oral, they )ean that the artist has said or )adea beautiful thing that is true The for)er e1%ression hasreference to style the latter to subject@)atter But they%robably use the &ords 'ery 'aguely, as an ordinary )ob &ill useready@)ade %a'ing@stones There is not a single real %oet or%rose@&riter of this century, for instance, on &ho) the British%ublic ha'e not sole)nly conferred di%lo)as of i))orality, andthese di%lo)as %ractically take the %lace, &ith us, of &hat in/rance, is the for)al recognition of an 8cade)y of >etters, andfortunately )ake the establish)ent of such an institution uiteunnecessary in England Of course, the %ublic are 'ery reckless intheir use of the &ord That they should ha'e called Words&orth ani))oral %oet, &as only to be e1%ected Words&orth &as a %oet Butthat they should ha'e called $harles Cingsley an i))oral no'elistis e1traordinary CingsleyFs %rose &as not of a 'ery fine ualityStill, there is the &ord, and they use it as best they can 8nartist is, of course, not disturbed by it The true artist is a)an &ho belie'es absolutely in hi)self, because he is absolutelyhi)self But can fancy that if an artist %roduced a &ork of artin England that i))ediately on its a%%earance &as recognised by the%ublic, through their )ediu), &hich is the %ublic %ress, as a &orkthat &as uite intelligible and highly )oral, he &ould begin toseriously uestion &hether in its creation he had really beenhi)self at all, and conseuently &hether the &ork &as not uiteun&orthy of hi), and either of a thoroughly second@rate order, or

of no artistic 'alue &hatsoe'er



Perha%s, ho&e'er, ha'e &ronged the %ublic in li)iting the) tosuch &ords as Fi))oral,F Funintelligible,F Fe1otic,F andFunhealthyF There is one other &ord that they use That &ord isF)orbidF They do not use it often The )eaning of the &ord is sosi)%le that they are afraid of using it Still, they use itso)eti)es, and, no& and then, one co)es across it in %o%ular

ne&s%a%ers t is, of course, a ridiculous &ord to a%%ly to a &orkof art /or &hat is )orbidity but a )ood of e)otion or a )ode ofthought that one cannot e1%ressH The %ublic are all )orbid,because the %ublic can ne'er find e1%ression for anything Theartist is ne'er )orbid 3e e1%resses e'erything 3e standsoutside his subject, and through its )ediu) %roduces inco)%arableand artistic effects To call an artist )orbid because he deals&ith )orbidity as his subject@)atter is as silly as if one calledShakes%eare )ad because he &rote FCing >earF

On the &hole, an artist in England gains so)ething by beingattacked 3is indi'iduality is intensified 3e beco)es )oreco)%letely hi)self Of course, the attacks are 'ery gross, 'ery

i)%ertinent, and 'ery conte)%tible But then no artist e1%ectsgrace fro) the 'ulgar )ind, or style fro) the suburban intellect0ulgarity and stu%idity are t&o 'ery 'i'id facts in )odern lifeOne regrets the), naturally But there they are They aresubjects for study, like e'erything else 8nd it is only fair tostate, &ith regard to )odern journalists, that they al&aysa%ologise to one in %ri'ate for &hat they ha'e &ritten against onein %ublic

Within the last fe& years t&o other adjecti'es, it )ay be)entioned, ha'e been added to the 'ery li)ited 'ocabulary of art@abuse that is at the dis%osal of the %ublic One is the &ordFunhealthy,F the other is the &ord Fe1oticF The latter )erelye1%resses the rage of the )o)entary )ushroo) against the i))ortal,entrancing, and e1uisitely lo'ely orchid t is a tribute, but atribute of no i)%ortance The &ord Funhealthy,F ho&e'er, ad)its ofanalysis t is a rather interesting &ord n fact, it is sointeresting that the %eo%le &ho use it do not kno& &hat it )eans

What does it )eanH What is a healthy, or an unhealthy &ork of artH8ll ter)s that one a%%lies to a &ork of art, %ro'ided that onea%%lies the) rationally, ha'e reference to either its style or itssubject, or to both together /ro) the %oint of 'ie& of style, ahealthy &ork of art is one &hose style recognises the beauty of the)aterial it e)%loys, be that )aterial one of &ords or of bronIe, ofcolour or of i'ory, and uses that beauty as a factor in %roducingthe aesthetic effect /ro) the %oint of 'ie& of subject, a healthy&ork of art is one the choice of &hose subject is conditioned bythe te)%era)ent of the artist, and co)es directly out of it nfine, a healthy &ork of art is one that has both %erfection and%ersonality Of course, for) and substance cannot be se%arated ina &ork of art they are al&ays one But for %ur%oses of analysis,and setting the &holeness of aesthetic i)%ression aside for a)o)ent, &e can intellectually so se%arate the) 8n unhealthy &orkof art, on the other hand, is a &ork &hose style is ob'ious, old@fashioned, and co))on, and &hose subject is deliberately chosen,not because the artist has any %leasure in it, but because hethinks that the %ublic &ill %ay hi) for it n fact, the %o%ularno'el that the %ublic calls healthy is al&ays a thoroughlyunhealthy %roduction and &hat the %ublic call an unhealthy no'el

is al&ays a beautiful and healthy &ork of art



need hardly say that a) not, for a single )o)ent, co)%lainingthat the %ublic and the %ublic %ress )isuse these &ords do notsee ho&, &ith their lack of co)%rehension of &hat 8rt is, theycould %ossibly use the) in the %ro%er sense a) )erely %ointingout the )isuse and as for the origin of the )isuse and the )eaningthat lies behind it all, the e1%lanation is 'ery si)%le t co)es

fro) the barbarous conce%tion of authority t co)es fro) thenatural inability of a co))unity corru%ted by authority tounderstand or a%%reciate ndi'idualis) n a &ord, it co)es fro)that )onstrous and ignorant thing that is called Public O%inion,&hich, bad and &ell@)eaning as it is &hen it tries to controlaction, is infa)ous and of e'il )eaning &hen it tries to controlThought or 8rt

ndeed, there is )uch )ore to be said in fa'our of the %hysicalforce of the %ublic than there is in fa'our of the %ublicFso%inion The for)er )ay be fine The latter )ust be foolish tis often said that force is no argu)ent That, ho&e'er, entirelyde%ends on &hat one &ants to %ro'e Many of the )ost i)%ortant

%roble)s of the last fe& centuries, such as the continuance of%ersonal go'ern)ent in England, or of feudalis) in /rance, ha'ebeen sol'ed entirely by )eans of %hysical force The 'ery 'iolenceof a re'olution )ay )ake the %ublic grand and s%lendid for a)o)ent t &as a fatal day &hen the %ublic disco'ered that the %enis )ightier than the %a'ing@stone, and can be )ade as offensi'e asthe brickbat They at once sought for the journalist, found hi),de'elo%ed hi), and )ade hi) their industrious and &ell@%aidser'ant t is greatly to be regretted, for both their sakesBehind the barricade there )ay be )uch that is noble and heroicBut &hat is there behind the leading@article but %rejudice,stu%idity, cant, and t&addleH 8nd &hen these four are joinedtogether they )ake a terrible force, and constitute the ne&authority

n old days )en had the rack o& they ha'e the %ress That is ani)%ro'e)ent certainly But still it is 'ery bad, and &rong, andde)oralising So)ebody@@&as it BurkeH@@called journalis) thefourth estate That &as true at the ti)e, no doubt But at the%resent )o)ent it really is the only estate t has eaten u% theother three The >ords Te)%oral say nothing, the >ords S%iritualha'e nothing to say, and the 3ouse of $o))ons has nothing to sayand says it We are do)inated by Aournalis) n 8)erica thePresident reigns for four years, and Aournalis) go'erns for e'erand e'er /ortunately in 8)erica Aournalis) has carried itsauthority to the grossest and )ost brutal e1tre)e 8s a naturalconseuence it has begun to create a s%irit of re'olt Peo%le area)used by it, or disgusted by it, according to their te)%era)entsBut it is no longer the real force it &as t is not seriouslytreated n England, Aournalis), not, e1ce%t in a fe& &ell@kno&ninstances, ha'ing been carried to such e1cesses of brutality, isstill a great factor, a really re)arkable %o&er The tyranny thatit %ro%oses to e1ercise o'er %eo%leFs %ri'ate li'es see)s to )e tobe uite e1traordinary The fact is, that the %ublic ha'e aninsatiable curiosity to kno& e'erything, e1ce%t &hat is &orthkno&ing Aournalis), conscious of this, and ha'ing trades)an@likehabits, su%%lies their de)ands n centuries before ours the%ublic nailed the ears of journalists to the %u)% That &as uitehideous n this century journalists ha'e nailed their o&n ears tothe keyhole That is )uch &orse 8nd &hat aggra'ates the )ischief

is that the journalists &ho are )ost to bla)e are not the a)usingjournalists &ho &rite for &hat are called Society %a%ers The har)



is done by the serious, thoughtful, earnest journalists, &hosole)nly, as they are doing at %resent, &ill drag before the eyesof the %ublic so)e incident in the %ri'ate life of a greatstates)an, of a )an &ho is a leader of %olitical thought as he is acreator of %olitical force, and in'ite the %ublic to discuss theincident, to e1ercise authority in the )atter, to gi'e their 'ie&s,

and not )erely to gi'e their 'ie&s, but to carry the) into action,to dictate to the )an u%on all other %oints, to dictate to his%arty, to dictate to his country in fact, to )ake the)sel'esridiculous, offensi'e, and har)ful The %ri'ate li'es of )en and&o)en should not be told to the %ublic The %ublic ha'e nothing todo &ith the) at all n /rance they )anage these things betterThere they do not allo& the details of the trials that take %lacein the di'orce courts to be %ublished for the a)use)ent orcriticis) of the %ublic 8ll that the %ublic are allo&ed to kno&is that the di'orce has taken %lace and &as granted on %etition ofone or other or both of the )arried %arties concerned n /rance,in fact, they li)it the journalist, and allo& the artist al)ost%erfect freedo) 3ere &e allo& absolute freedo) to the journalist,

and entirely li)it the artist English %ublic o%inion, that is tosay, tries to constrain and i)%ede and &ar% the )an &ho )akesthings that are beautiful in effect, and co)%els the journalist toretail things that are ugly, or disgusting, or re'olting in fact,so that &e ha'e the )ost serious journalists in the &orld, and the)ost indecent ne&s%a%ers t is no e1aggeration to talk ofco)%ulsion There are %ossibly so)e journalists &ho take a real%leasure in %ublishing horrible things, or &ho, being %oor, look toscandals as for)ing a sort of %er)anent basis for an inco)e Butthere are other journalists, feel certain, )en of education andculti'ation, &ho really dislike %ublishing these things, &ho kno&that it is &rong to do so, and only do it because the unhealthyconditions under &hich their occu%ation is carried on oblige the)to su%%ly the %ublic &ith &hat the %ublic &ants, and to co)%ete&ith other journalists in )aking that su%%ly as full and satisfyingto the gross %o%ular a%%etite as %ossible t is a 'ery degrading%osition for any body of educated )en to be %laced in, and ha'eno doubt that )ost of the) feel it acutely

3o&e'er, let us lea'e &hat is really a 'ery sordid side of thesubject, and return to the uestion of %o%ular control in the)atter of 8rt, by &hich )ean Public O%inion dictating to theartist the for) &hich he is to use, the )ode in &hich he is to useit, and the )aterials &ith &hich he is to &ork ha'e %ointed outthat the arts &hich ha'e esca%ed best in England are the arts in&hich the %ublic ha'e not been interested They are, ho&e'er,interested in the dra)a, and as a certain ad'ance has been )ade inthe dra)a &ithin the last ten or fifteen years, it is i)%ortant to%oint out that this ad'ance is entirely due to a fe& indi'idualartists refusing to acce%t the %o%ular &ant of taste as theirstandard, and refusing to regard 8rt as a )ere )atter of de)and andsu%%ly With his )ar'ellous and 'i'id %ersonality, &ith a stylethat has really a true colour@ele)ent in it, &ith his e1traordinary%o&er, not o'er )ere )i)icry but o'er i)aginati'e and intellectualcreation, Mr r'ing, had his sole object been to gi'e the %ublic&hat they &anted, could ha'e %roduced the co))onest %lays in theco))onest )anner, and )ade as )uch success and )oney as a )an could%ossibly desire But his object &as not that 3is object &as torealise his o&n %erfection as an artist, under certain conditions,and in certain for)s of 8rt 8t first he a%%ealed to the fe&7 no&

he has educated the )any 3e has created in the %ublic both tasteand te)%era)ent The %ublic a%%reciate his artistic success



i))ensely often &onder, ho&e'er, &hether the %ublic understandthat that success is entirely due to the fact that he did notacce%t their standard, but realised his o&n With their standardthe >yceu) &ould ha'e been a sort of second@rate booth, as so)e ofthe %o%ular theatres in >ondon are at %resent Whether theyunderstand it or not the fact ho&e'er re)ains, that taste and

te)%era)ent ha'e, to a certain e1tent been created in the %ublic,and that the %ublic is ca%able of de'elo%ing these ualities The%roble) then is, &hy do not the %ublic beco)e )ore ci'ilisedH Theyha'e the ca%acity What sto%s the)H

The thing that sto%s the), it )ust be said again, is their desireto e1ercise authority o'er the artist and o'er &orks of art Tocertain theatres, such as the >yceu) and the 3ay)arket, the %ublicsee) to co)e in a %ro%er )ood n both of these theatres thereha'e been indi'idual artists, &ho ha'e succeeded in creating intheir audiences@@and e'ery theatre in >ondon has its o&n audience@@the te)%era)ent to &hich 8rt a%%eals 8nd &hat is thatte)%era)entH t is the te)%era)ent of rece%ti'ity That is all

f a )an a%%roaches a &ork of art &ith any desire to e1erciseauthority o'er it and the artist, he a%%roaches it in such a s%iritthat he cannot recei'e any artistic i)%ression fro) it at all The&ork of art is to do)inate the s%ectator7 the s%ectator is not todo)inate the &ork of art The s%ectator is to be rece%ti'e 3e isto be the 'iolin on &hich the )aster is to %lay 8nd the )oreco)%letely he can su%%ress his o&n silly 'ie&s, his o&n foolish%rejudices, his o&n absurd ideas of &hat 8rt should be, or shouldnot be, the )ore likely he is to understand and a%%reciate the &orkof art in uestion This is, of course, uite ob'ious in the caseof the 'ulgar theatre@going %ublic of English )en and &o)en Butit is eually true of &hat are called educated %eo%le /or aneducated %ersonFs ideas of 8rt are dra&n naturally fro) &hat 8rthas been, &hereas the ne& &ork of art is beautiful by being &hat8rt has ne'er been and to )easure it by the standard of the %astis to )easure it by a standard on the rejection of &hich its real%erfection de%ends 8 te)%era)ent ca%able of recei'ing, through ani)aginati'e )ediu), and under i)aginati'e conditions, ne& andbeautiful i)%ressions, is the only te)%era)ent that can a%%reciatea &ork of art 8nd true as this is in the case of the a%%reciationof scul%ture and %ainting, it is still )ore true of thea%%reciation of such arts as the dra)a /or a %icture and a statueare not at &ar &ith Ti)e They take no count of its successionn one )o)ent their unity )ay be a%%rehended n the case ofliterature it is different Ti)e )ust be tra'ersed before theunity of effect is realised 8nd so, in the dra)a, there )ay occurin the first act of the %lay so)ething &hose real artistic 'alue)ay not be e'ident to the s%ectator till the third or fourth act isreached s the silly fello& to get angry and call out, anddisturb the %lay, and annoy the artistsH o The honest )an is tosit uietly, and kno& the delightful e)otions of &onder, curiosity,and sus%ense 3e is not to go to the %lay to lose a 'ulgar te)%er3e is to go to the %lay to realise an artistic te)%era)ent 3e isto go to the %lay to gain an artistic te)%era)ent 3e is not thearbiter of the &ork of art 3e is one &ho is ad)itted toconte)%late the &ork of art, and, if the &ork be fine, to forget inits conte)%lation and the egotis) that )ars hi)@@the egotis) of hisignorance, or the egotis) of his infor)ation This %oint about thedra)a is hardly, think, sufficiently recognised can uite

understand that &ere FMacbethF %roduced for the first ti)e before a)odern >ondon audience, )any of the %eo%le %resent &ould strongly



and 'igorously object to the introduction of the &itches in thefirst act, &ith their grotesue %hrases and their ridiculous &ordsBut &hen the %lay is o'er one realises that the laughter of the&itches in FMacbethF is as terrible as the laughter of )adness inF>ear,F )ore terrible than the laughter of ago in the tragedy ofthe Moor o s%ectator of art needs a )ore %erfect )ood of

rece%ti'ity than the s%ectator of a %lay The )o)ent he seeks toe1ercise authority he beco)es the a'o&ed ene)y of 8rt and ofhi)self 8rt does not )ind t is he &ho suffers

With the no'el it is the sa)e thing Po%ular authority and therecognition of %o%ular authority are fatal ThackerayFs FEs)ondFis a beautiful &ork of art because he &rote it to %lease hi)selfn his other no'els, in FPendennis,F in FPhili%,F in F0anity /airFe'en, at ti)es, he is too conscious of the %ublic, and s%oils his&ork by a%%ealing directly to the sy)%athies of the %ublic, or bydirectly )ocking at the) 8 true artist takes no notice &hate'erof the %ublic The %ublic are to hi) non@e1istent 3e has no%o%%ied or honeyed cakes through &hich to gi'e the )onster slee% or

sustenance 3e lea'es that to the %o%ular no'elist Oneinco)%arable no'elist &e ha'e no& in England, Mr George MeredithThere are better artists in /rance, but /rance has no one &hose'ie& of life is so large, so 'aried, so i)aginati'ely true Thereare tellers of stories in 2ussia &ho ha'e a )ore 'i'id sense of&hat %ain in fiction )ay be But to hi) belongs %hiloso%hy infiction 3is %eo%le not )erely li'e, but they li'e in thoughtOne can see the) fro) )yriad %oints of 'ie& They are suggesti'eThere is soul in the) and around the) They are inter%retati'e andsy)bolic 8nd he &ho )ade the), those &onderful uickly@)o'ingfigures, )ade the) for his o&n %leasure, and has ne'er asked the%ublic &hat they &anted, has ne'er cared to kno& &hat they &anted,has ne'er allo&ed the %ublic to dictate to hi) or influence hi) inany &ay but has gone on intensifying his o&n %ersonality, and%roducing his o&n indi'idual &ork 8t first none ca)e to hi)That did not )atter Then the fe& ca)e to hi) That did notchange hi) The )any ha'e co)e no& 3e is still the sa)e 3e isan inco)%arable no'elist With the decorati'e arts it is notdifferent The %ublic clung &ith really %athetic tenacity to &hat belie'e &ere the direct traditions of the Great E1hibition ofinternational 'ulgarity, traditions that &ere so a%%alling that thehouses in &hich %eo%le li'ed &ere only fit for blind %eo%le to li'ein Beautiful things began to be )ade, beautiful colours ca)e fro)the dyerFs hand, beautiful %atterns fro) the artistFs brain, andthe use of beautiful things and their 'alue and i)%ortance &ere setforth The %ublic &ere really 'ery indignant They lost theirte)%er They said silly things o one )inded o one &as a &hitthe &orse o one acce%ted the authority of %ublic o%inion 8ndno& it is al)ost i)%ossible to enter any )odern house &ithoutseeing so)e recognition of good taste, so)e recognition of the'alue of lo'ely surroundings, so)e sign of a%%reciation of beautyn fact, %eo%leFs houses are, as a rule, uite char)ing no&adaysPeo%le ha'e been to a 'ery great e1tent ci'ilised t is only fairto state, ho&e'er, that the e1traordinary success of the re'olutionin house@decoration and furniture and the like has not really beendue to the )ajority of the %ublic de'elo%ing a 'ery fine taste insuch )atters t has been chiefly due to the fact that thecrafts)en of things so a%%reciated the %leasure of )aking &hat &asbeautiful, and &oke to such a 'i'id consciousness of thehideousness and 'ulgarity of &hat the %ublic had %re'iously &anted,

that they si)%ly star'ed the %ublic out t &ould be uitei)%ossible at the %resent )o)ent to furnish a roo) as roo)s &ere



furnished a fe& years ago, &ithout going for e'erything to anauction of second@hand furniture fro) so)e third@rate lodging@house The things are no longer )ade 3o&e'er they )ay object toit, %eo%le )ust no&adays ha'e so)ething char)ing in theirsurroundings /ortunately for the), their assu)%tion of authorityin these art@)atters ca)e to entire grief

t is e'ident, then, that all authority in such things is badPeo%le so)eti)es inuire &hat for) of go'ern)ent is )ost suitablefor an artist to li'e under To this uestion there is only oneans&er The for) of go'ern)ent that is )ost suitable to the artistis no go'ern)ent at all 8uthority o'er hi) and his art isridiculous t has been stated that under des%otis)s artists ha'e%roduced lo'ely &ork This is not uite so 8rtists ha'e 'isiteddes%ots, not as subjects to be tyrannised o'er, but as &andering&onder@)akers, as fascinating 'agrant %ersonalities, to beentertained and char)ed and suffered to be at %eace, and allo&ed tocreate There is this to be said in fa'our of the des%ot, that he,being an indi'idual, )ay ha'e culture, &hile the )ob, being a

)onster, has none One &ho is an E)%eror and Cing )ay stoo% do&nto %ick u% a brush for a %ainter, but &hen the de)ocracy stoo%sdo&n it is )erely to thro& )ud 8nd yet the de)ocracy ha'e not sofar to stoo% as the e)%eror n fact, &hen they &ant to thro& )udthey ha'e not to stoo% at all But there is no necessity tose%arate the )onarch fro) the )ob all authority is eually bad

There are three kinds of des%ots There is the des%ot &hotyrannises o'er the body There is the des%ot &ho tyrannises o'erthe soul There is the des%ot &ho tyrannises o'er the soul andbody alike The first is called the Prince The second is calledthe Po%e The third is called the Peo%le The Prince )ay beculti'ated Many Princes ha'e been -et in the Prince there isdanger One thinks of *ante at the bitter feast in 0erona, ofTasso in /erraraFs )ad)anFs cell t is better for the artist notto li'e &ith Princes The Po%e )ay be culti'ated Many Po%es ha'ebeen the bad Po%es ha'e been The bad Po%es lo'ed Beauty, al)ostas %assionately, nay, &ith as )uch %assion as the good Po%es hatedThought To the &ickedness of the Pa%acy hu)anity o&es )uch Thegoodness of the Pa%acy o&es a terrible debt to hu)anity -et,though the 0atican has ke%t the rhetoric of its thunders, and lostthe rod of its lightning, it is better for the artist not to li'e&ith Po%es t &as a Po%e &ho said of $ellini to a concla'e of$ardinals that co))on la&s and co))on authority &ere not )ade for)en such as he but it &as a Po%e &ho thrust $ellini into %rison,and ke%t hi) there till he sickened &ith rage, and created unreal'isions for hi)self, and sa& the gilded sun enter his roo), andgre& so ena)oured of it that he sought to esca%e, and cre%t outfro) to&er to to&er, and falling through diIIy air at da&n, )ai)edhi)self, and &as by a 'ine@dresser co'ered &ith 'ine lea'es, andcarried in a cart to one &ho, lo'ing beautiful things, had care ofhi) There is danger in Po%es 8nd as for the Peo%le, &hat ofthe) and their authorityH Perha%s of the) and their authority onehas s%oken enough Their authority is a thing blind, deaf,hideous, grotesue, tragic, a)using, serious, and obscene t isi)%ossible for the artist to li'e &ith the Peo%le 8ll des%otsbribe The %eo%le bribe and brutalise Who told the) to e1erciseauthorityH They &ere )ade to li'e, to listen, and to lo'eSo)eone has done the) a great &rong They ha'e )arred the)sel'esby i)itation of their inferiors They ha'e taken the sce%tre of

the Prince 3o& should they use itH They ha'e taken the tri%letiara of the Po%e 3o& should they carry its burdenH They are as



a clo&n &hose heart is broken They are as a %riest &hose soul isnot yet born >et all &ho lo'e Beauty %ity the) Though theythe)sel'es lo'e not Beauty, yet let the) %ity the)sel'es Whotaught the) the trick of tyrannyH

There are )any other things that one )ight %oint out One )ight

%oint out ho& the 2enaissance &as great, because it sought to sol'eno social %roble), and busied itself not about such things, butsuffered the indi'idual to de'elo% freely, beautifully, andnaturally, and so had great and indi'idual artists, and great andindi'idual )en One )ight %oint out ho& >ouis J0, by creatingthe )odern state, destroyed the indi'idualis) of the artist, and)ade things )onstrous in their )onotony of re%etition, andconte)%tible in their confor)ity to rule, and destroyed throughoutall /rance all those fine freedo)s of e1%ression that had )adetradition ne& in beauty, and ne& )odes one &ith antiue for) Butthe %ast is of no i)%ortance The %resent is of no i)%ortance tis &ith the future that &e ha'e to deal /or the %ast is &hat )anshould not ha'e been The %resent is &hat )an ought not to be

The future is &hat artists are

t &ill, of course, be said that such a sche)e as is set forth hereis uite un%ractical, and goes against hu)an nature This is%erfectly true t is un%ractical, and it goes against hu)annature This is &hy it is &orth carrying out, and that is &hy one%ro%oses it /or &hat is a %ractical sche)eH 8 %ractical sche)eis either a sche)e that is already in e1istence, or a sche)e thatcould be carried out under e1isting conditions But it is e1actlythe e1isting conditions that one objects to and any sche)e thatcould acce%t these conditions is &rong and foolish The conditions&ill be done a&ay &ith, and hu)an nature &ill change The onlything that one really kno&s about hu)an nature is that it changes$hange is the one uality &e can %redicate of it The syste)s thatfail are those that rely on the %er)anency of hu)an nature, and noton its gro&th and de'elo%)ent The error of >ouis J0 &as that hethought hu)an nature &ould al&ays be the sa)e The result of hiserror &as the /rench 2e'olution t &as an ad)irable result 8llthe results of the )istakes of go'ern)ents are uite ad)irable

t is to be noted also that ndi'idualis) does not co)e to )an &ithany sickly cant about duty, &hich )erely )eans doing &hat other%eo%le &ant because they &ant it or any hideous cant about self@sacrifice, &hich is )erely a sur'i'al of sa'age )utilation nfact, it does not co)e to )an &ith any clai)s u%on hi) at all tco)es naturally and ine'itably out of )an t is the %oint to&hich all de'elo%)ent tends t is the differentiation to &hichall organis)s gro& t is the %erfection that is inherent in e'ery)ode of life, and to&ards &hich e'ery )ode of life uickens 8ndso ndi'idualis) e1ercises no co)%ulsion o'er )an On thecontrary, it says to )an that he should suffer no co)%ulsion to bee1ercised o'er hi) t does not try to force %eo%le to be goodt kno&s that %eo%le are good &hen they are let alone Man &illde'elo% ndi'idualis) out of hi)self Man is no& so de'elo%ingndi'idualis) To ask &hether ndi'idualis) is %ractical is likeasking &hether E'olution is %ractical E'olution is the la& oflife, and there is no e'olution e1ce%t to&ards ndi'idualis)Where this tendency is not e1%ressed, it is a case of artificially@arrested gro&th, or of disease, or of death

ndi'idualis) &ill also be unselfish and unaffected t has been%ointed out that one of the results of the e1traordinary tyranny of



authority is that &ords are absolutely distorted fro) their %ro%erand si)%le )eaning, and are used to e1%ress the ob'erse of theirright signification What is true about 8rt is true about >ife 8)an is called affected, no&adays, if he dresses as he likes todress But in doing that he is acting in a %erfectly natural)anner 8ffectation, in such )atters, consists in dressing

according to the 'ie&s of oneFs neighbour, &hose 'ie&s, as they arethe 'ie&s of the )ajority, &ill %robably be e1tre)ely stu%id Or a)an is called selfish if he li'es in the )anner that see)s to hi))ost suitable for the full realisation of his o&n %ersonality if,in fact, the %ri)ary ai) of his life is self@de'elo%)ent But thisis the &ay in &hich e'eryone should li'e Selfishness is notli'ing as one &ishes to li'e, it is asking others to li'e as one&ishes to li'e 8nd unselfishness is letting other %eo%leFs li'esalone, not interfering &ith the) Selfishness al&ays ai)s atcreating around it an absolute unifor)ity of ty%e ?nselfishnessrecognises infinite 'ariety of ty%e as a delightful thing, acce%tsit, acuiesces in it, enjoys it t is not selfish to think foroneself 8 )an &ho does not think for hi)self does not think at

all t is grossly selfish to reuire of ones neighbour that heshould think in the sa)e &ay, and hold the sa)e o%inions Whyshould heH f he can think, he &ill %robably think differentlyf he cannot think, it is )onstrous to reuire thought of any kindfro) hi) 8 red rose is not selfish because it &ants to be a redrose t &ould be horribly selfish if it &anted all the otherflo&ers in the garden to be both red and roses ?nderndi'idualis) %eo%le &ill be uite natural and absolutelyunselfish, and &ill kno& the )eanings of the &ords, and realisethe) in their free, beautiful li'es or &ill )en be egotistic asthey are no& /or the egotist is he &ho )akes clai)s u%on others,and the ndi'idualist &ill not desire to do that t &ill not gi'ehi) %leasure When )an has realised ndi'idualis), he &ill alsorealise sy)%athy and e1ercise it freely and s%ontaneously ?% tothe %resent )an has hardly culti'ated sy)%athy at all 3e has)erely sy)%athy &ith %ain, and sy)%athy &ith %ain is not thehighest for) of sy)%athy 8ll sy)%athy is fine, but sy)%athy &ithsuffering is the least fine )ode t is tainted &ith egotis) tis a%t to beco)e )orbid There is in it a certain ele)ent ofterror for our o&n safety We beco)e afraid that &e oursel'es)ight be as the le%er or as the blind, and that no )an &ould ha'ecare of us t is curiously li)iting, too One should sy)%athise&ith the entirety of life, not &ith lifeFs sores and )aladies)erely, but &ith lifeFs joy and beauty and energy and health andfreedo) The &ider sy)%athy is, of course, the )ore difficult treuires )ore unselfishness 8nybody can sy)%athise &ith thesufferings of a friend, but it reuires a 'ery fine nature@@itreuires, in fact, the nature of a true ndi'idualist@@tosy)%athise &ith a friendFs success

n the )odern stress of co)%etition and struggle for %lace, suchsy)%athy is naturally rare, and is also 'ery )uch stifled by thei))oral ideal of unifor)ity of ty%e and confor)ity to rule &hich isso %re'alent e'ery&here, and is %erha%s )ost obno1ious in England

Sy)%athy &ith %ain there &ill, of course, al&ays be t is one ofthe first instincts of )an The ani)als &hich are indi'idual, thehigher ani)als, that is to say, share it &ith us But it )ust bere)e)bered that &hile sy)%athy &ith joy intensifies the su) of joyin the &orld, sy)%athy &ith %ain does not really di)inish the

a)ount of %ain t )ay )ake )an better able to endure e'il, butthe e'il re)ains Sy)%athy &ith consu)%tion does not cure



consu)%tion that is &hat Science does 8nd &hen Socialis) hassol'ed the %roble) of %o'erty, and Science sol'ed the %roble) ofdisease, the area of the senti)entalists &ill be lessened, and thesy)%athy of )an &ill be large, healthy, and s%ontaneous Man &illha'e joy in the conte)%lation of the joyous life of others

/or it is through joy that the ndi'idualis) of the future &illde'elo% itself $hrist )ade no atte)%t to reconstruct society, andconseuently the ndi'idualis) that he %reached to )an could berealised only through %ain or in solitude The ideals that &e o&eto $hrist are the ideals of the )an &ho abandons society entirely,or of the )an &ho resists society absolutely But )an is naturallysocial E'en the Thebaid beca)e %eo%led at last 8nd though thecenobite realises his %ersonality, it is often an i)%o'erished%ersonality that he so realises ?%on the other hand, the terribletruth that %ain is a )ode through &hich )an )ay realise hi)selfe1ercises a &onderful fascination o'er the &orld Shallo& s%eakersand shallo& thinkers in %ul%its and on %latfor)s often talk aboutthe &orldFs &orshi% of %leasure, and &hine against it But it is

rarely in the &orldFs history that its ideal has been one of joyand beauty The &orshi% of %ain has far )ore often do)inated the&orld Mediae'alis), &ith its saints and )artyrs, its lo'e ofself@torture, its &ild %assion for &ounding itself, its gashing&ith kni'es, and its &hi%%ing &ith rods@@Mediae'alis) is real$hristianity, and the )ediae'al $hrist is the real $hrist Whenthe 2enaissance da&ned u%on the &orld, and brought &ith it the ne&ideals of the beauty of life and the joy of li'ing, )en could notunderstand $hrist E'en 8rt sho&s us that The %ainters of the2enaissance dre& $hrist as a little boy %laying &ith another boy ina %alace or a garden, or lying back in his )otherFs ar)s, s)ilingat her, or at a flo&er, or at a bright bird or as a noble, statelyfigure )o'ing nobly through the &orld or as a &onderful figurerising in a sort of ecstasy fro) death to life E'en &hen theydre& hi) crucified they dre& hi) as a beautiful God on &ho) e'il)en had inflicted suffering But he did not %reoccu%y the) )uchWhat delighted the) &as to %aint the )en and &o)en &ho) theyad)ired, and to sho& the lo'eliness of this lo'ely earth They%ainted )any religious %ictures@@in fact, they %ainted far too)any, and the )onotony of ty%e and )oti'e is &eariso)e, and &as badfor art t &as the result of the authority of the %ublic in art@)atters, and is to be de%lored But their soul &as not in thesubject 2a%hael &as a great artist &hen he %ainted his %ortraitof the Po%e When he %ainted his Madonnas and infant $hrists, heis not a great artist at all $hrist had no )essage for the2enaissance, &hich &as &onderful because it brought an ideal at'ariance &ith his, and to find the %resentation of the real $hrist&e )ust go to )ediae'al art There he is one )ai)ed and )arredone &ho is not co)ely to look on, because Beauty is a joy one &hois not in fair rai)ent, because that )ay be a joy also7 he is abeggar &ho has a )ar'ellous soul he is a le%er &hose soul isdi'ine he needs neither %ro%erty nor health he is a God realisinghis %erfection through %ain

The e'olution of )an is slo& The injustice of )en is great t&as necessary that %ain should be %ut for&ard as a )ode of self@realisation E'en no&, in so)e %laces in the &orld, the )essage of$hrist is necessary o one &ho li'ed in )odern 2ussia could%ossibly realise his %erfection e1ce%t by %ain 8 fe& 2ussianartists ha'e realised the)sel'es in 8rt in a fiction that is

)ediae'al in character, because its do)inant note is therealisation of )en through suffering But for those &ho are not



artists, and to &ho) there is no )ode of life but the actual lifeof fact, %ain is the only door to %erfection 8 2ussian &ho li'esha%%ily under the %resent syste) of go'ern)ent in 2ussia )usteither belie'e that )an has no soul, or that, if he has, it is not&orth de'elo%ing 8 ihilist &ho rejects all authority, because hekno&s authority to be e'il, and &elco)es all %ain, because through

that he realises his %ersonality, is a real $hristian To hi) the$hristian ideal is a true thing

8nd yet, $hrist did not re'olt against authority 3e acce%ted thei)%erial authority of the 2o)an E)%ire and %aid tribute 3eendured the ecclesiastical authority of the Ae&ish $hurch, and&ould not re%el its 'iolence by any 'iolence of his o&n 3e had,as said before, no sche)e for the reconstruction of society Butthe )odern &orld has sche)es t %ro%oses to do a&ay &ith %o'ertyand the suffering that it entails t desires to get rid of %ain,and the suffering that %ain entails t trusts to Socialis) and toScience as its )ethods What it ai)s at is an ndi'idualis)e1%ressing itself through joy This ndi'idualis) &ill be larger,

fuller, lo'elier than any ndi'idualis) has e'er been Pain is notthe ulti)ate )ode of %erfection t is )erely %ro'isional and a%rotest t has reference to &rong, unhealthy, unjustsurroundings When the &rong, and the disease, and the injusticeare re)o'ed, it &ill ha'e no further %lace t &ill ha'e done its&ork t &as a great &ork, but it is al)ost o'er ts s%herelessens e'ery day

or &ill )an )iss it /or &hat )an has sought for is, indeed,neither %ain nor %leasure, but si)%ly >ife Man has sought to li'eintensely, fully, %erfectly When he can do so &ithout e1ercisingrestraint on others, or suffering it e'er, and his acti'ities areall %leasurable to hi), he &ill be saner, healthier, )oreci'ilised, )ore hi)self Pleasure is atureFs test, her sign ofa%%ro'al When )an is ha%%y, he is in har)ony &ith hi)self and hisen'iron)ent The ne& ndi'idualis), for &hose ser'ice Socialis),&hether it &ills it or not, is &orking, &ill be %erfect har)onyt &ill be &hat the Greeks sought for, but could not, e1ce%t inThought, realise co)%letely, because they had sla'es, and fed the)it &ill be &hat the 2enaissance sought for, but could not realiseco)%letely e1ce%t in 8rt, because they had sla'es, and star'edthe) t &ill be co)%lete, and through it each )an &ill attain tohis %erfection The ne& ndi'idualis) is the ne& 3ellenis)

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