On Pater’s Late Style

Abstract

Focusing on Pater’s essay “Style,” examines his characteristic position as a “latecomer,” a stance that establishes a particular relation of a critical present to its many pasts, and affects Pater’s view of style as personal and historical expression. Believes Pater’s approach to style may be appreciated more fully if seen as a mobile and internally differentiated set of positions. Offers a new reading of the famous critical crux at the end of “Style,” one in which Pater’s distinction between “good art” and “great art” is seen not as a retrenchment from an earlier position but as a familiar shift of focus from the personal to the historical register of style.