Thank you very much. I left out the following sentences. In particular, in sentences 3 and 4 I'd like to know if the tense choice is correct.
1) As a consequence, the Aesthetic writers believed that art did not have any didactic purpose; it need (?) only be beautiful. They developed the cult of beauty which they considered the basic factor in art. Life should copy art, they asserted.
2) Aestheticism pervades Oscar Wilde’s novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray”.
Wilde totally adopted the “aesthetic ideal” living in the double role of rebel and dandy.
3) In particular, the Wildean dandy can be defined as an aristocrat whose elegance symbolises the superiority of his spirit. He uses his wit to shock, and is an individualist who demands absolute freedom.
4) He pursues pleasure as the greatest goal in life and believes that pleasure derives from the indulgence in the beautiful. Beautiful clothes, beautiful talks, delicious food and handsome boys were Wilde’s main interests.
5) According to Wilde, “Art is useless because its aim is simply to create a mood. It is not meant to instruct”.
1. comma after "beauty" in second sentence; phrasing here: it needed only to be beautiful
2. comma after "novel"; novel's title in italics, not quotation marks; comma after "aesthetic ideal"; delete "in"
3. delete comma after "shock"
4. OK
5. period BEFORE the ending quotation marks because this is a complete sentence.
Let's go through each sentence individually to analyze the tense choices:
1) As a consequence, the Aesthetic writers believed that art did not have any didactic purpose; it need (?) only be beautiful. They developed the cult of beauty which they considered the basic factor in art. Life should copy art, they asserted.
The tense choice in this sentence is correct. The verb "need" should be in the present tense because it refers to a general truth or belief held by the Aesthetic writers. The phrase "it only needs to be beautiful" expresses a timeless statement about their belief in the nature of art.
2) Aestheticism pervades Oscar Wilde's novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray".
Wilde totally adopted the "aesthetic ideal" living in the double role of rebel and dandy.
The tense choices in these sentences are also correct. The use of the present tense in both sentences is appropriate because the pervasive influence of Aestheticism in Wilde's novel and Wilde's adoption of the aesthetic ideal are still relevant and applicable in the present.
3) In particular, the Wildean dandy can be defined as an aristocrat whose elegance symbolizes the superiority of his spirit. He uses his wit to shock, and is an individualist who demands absolute freedom.
The tense choices in this sentence are correct. The present tense is used to describe the characteristics and actions of the Wildean dandy in a general sense. These traits and behaviors are not limited to a specific time but are applicable throughout the perception of the Wildean dandy.
4) He pursues pleasure as the greatest goal in life and believes that pleasure derives from the indulgence in the beautiful. Beautiful clothes, beautiful talks, delicious food, and handsome boys were Wilde's main interests.
The tense choices in this sentence are also appropriate. The use of past tense ("were") is correct because it refers to Wilde's interests in the past. These interests reflect his personal preferences and choices in a specific period of time.
5) According to Wilde, "Art is useless because its aim is simply to create a mood. It is not meant to instruct".
The tense choice in this sentence is accurate. The present tense is used because Wilde's statement about art's purpose is a general truth that still holds true at the present time. The use of present tense here emphasizes the timeless nature of Wilde's belief.