The portrait of the aesthete as a young woman: Ouida’s Princess Napraxine as an image of cosmopolitan aestheticism.

This paper examines Princess Napraxine (1884), a novel by sensation novelist and eccentric cosmopolite Ouida (Marie Louise De La Ramee), positioning its protagonist as the representation of the aesthete par excellence. Challenging the conventional association of the interpreter of aestheticism with the English male connoisseur, this analysis instead argues that the novel’s protagonist broadens the scope of aestheticism, offering a more inclusive understanding of the movement by focusing on marginalised figures like women and cosmopolites. By centring on the Russian, bilingual, and cosmopolitan Princess Napraxine as the quintessential aesthete, I present the novel as a key example of the "aesthetic novel," delineating features of aesthetic characters that would influence later writers of decadence such as Oscar Wilde. Building on the work of Joseph Bristow (2015) and Talia Schaffer (2000), who recognise Ouida as a foundational figure in the history of the aesthetic novel, this paper explores how Princess Napraxine embodies the principles of aestheticism within the novel form and illuminates how this intersection opens up new forms of characterisation in the literary tradition of the English fin de siècle