E X T E N S I O N DANDYSM At the beginning of Chapter 3 Lord Fermor says to his nephew, Lord Henry: I thought you dandies never got up till two, and were not visible till five. The word dandy has a French origin, referring to a silly foolish person . The dandy is a refined bourgeois1 artist who dresses elegantly and very often, in an eccentric way; a dandy refuses the vulgarity of the modern world. This term was used by the decadent aesthetes. In particular, the French writer Huysmans used it to describe Des Esseints, the hero of his novel A rebours. His character became the model for Wilde s dandysm. In fact Oscar Wilde became famous for his shocking behaviour and extravagant way of dressing. In particular he used to wear flowers English dandy (A. Zon, 1887). in his buttonhole2, such as sunflowers3 or carnations4. The upper classes always invited him to their fashionable parties because of his wit, that is the ability to say things which are both clever and amusing at the same time . Anyway the prototype of the English dandy is Lord Beau Brummel (1778-1840), who was famous for his elegance, but also for his sharp tongue5. The Prince of Wales, who later became King George IV, was his friend. Brummel represented the symbol of the bourgeois who wanted to be accepted by the aristocratic upper classes. For this reason the dandy is different from the French bohèmien who allied himself with6 the urban proletariat. Another difference is in their attitude: the dandy is refined and eccentric, while the bohèmien is careless and debauched7. A bohèmien lived at night in the salons and cafés and on the boulevards of the city, while a dandy lived in the fashionable clubs of the city during the day or in the evening at parties. The qualities of a dandy besides elegance, his main interest were a certain air of superiority, inactivity and a degree of irresponsibility. 1. bourgeois: of middle-class people. 2. buttonhole: small hole in a jacket through which you push a button. 3. sunflower: very tall plant that has large yellow flowers. 4. carnation: type of flower used as a decoration on formal occasions. 5. sharp tongue: a comment that shows that someone is unfriendly or annoyed. 6. ally oneself with: join someone and support them. 7. debauched: behaving immorally. 58