The horse's mouth and the moon and sixpence inthe light of the concept of aestheticism and the blakean philosophy

Abstract EN

Joyce Cary's The Horse's Mouth and William Somerset Maugharn's The Moon and Sixpence, arc two masterpieces in English Literature.

Upon first reading these novels, the reader's attention is immediately struck by the remarkable similarities between the protagonists who are both eccentric characters, rebels against social conventions, and 'geniuses' who are passionately devoted to painting, These striking similarities are evidently, in certain respects, inspired by aestheticism, "a late 19th century literary movement that rested on the credo of 'Art for Art's sakc" and the philosophy of William Blake, the English romantic poet and painter.

The aim of this paper is to examine the parallelism between the two heroes, Gulley Jimson in The Horse's Mouth and Charles Strickland in The Moon and Sixpence, in the light of the concept of Aestheticism and the Blakean philosophy.

The Moon and Sixpence is based on the life of the great French post-impressionist painter Paul Gaugin.

It is the story of a painter who, like Gaugin, revolts against social conventions in order to practice his art in the South Seas Islands.

Although Strickland is not as consciously portrayed in the light of Blake's ideas as Gulley Jimson is, he shares with the latter the poet's conviction that man should give full expression to his creative imagination since its basic role is to reveal the reality masked by visible objects, The Horse's Mouth is similarly inspired by the revolt of the individual against the accepted conventions of society.

However, in this novel, the philosophy of William Blake is more pervasive and emphasised, Throughout the novel, Joyce Cary not only quotes from Blake's poetry to illustrate the inspiration for his nero's attitudes towards art, conventional values and life, but also portrays him as the embodiment of the poet's beliefs,