Oscar Wilde is one of the most iconic figures from late Victorian
society. Enjoying a meteoric rise to the top of society, his wit,
humour and intelligence shine through his plays and writings. For his
sexuality he suffered the indignity and shame of imprisonment. For a
long time his name was synonymous with scandal and intrigue. However
with changing social attitudes he is remembered with great affection
for his biting social criticism, wit and linguistic skills.
“To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early or be respectable.”
- Oscar Wilde
As Stephen Fry wrote of Oscar Wilde.
“What of Wilde the man? He stood for Art. He stood
for nothing less all his life.. He is still enormously underestimated
as an artist and a thinker.. Wilde was a great writer and a great man.”
Short biography Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde was born on 16th October 1854 in Dublin, Ireland. His
parents were well known and attracted a degree of gossip for their
extravagant lifestyles. In 1964, his father Wille Wilde was knighted
for his services to medicine. However his pride in receiving this
honour was overshadowed by an allegation of rape by one of his patients.
Although never proved, it cast a shadow over William Wilde.
Oscar Wilde proved to be a student of great talent. He was
awarded a scholarship to Trinity College Dublin. Here he studied the
classics, in particular developing an interest in the Greek
philosophers and the Hellenistic view of life. From Trinity College he
won a scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford University. He enjoyed
his time in Oxford and was able to develop his poetic sensibilities and
love of literature. He also became more conscious of his bisexual
nature. For his increasing “feminine” dress he often received stick
from more “traditional” Oxford students. He was a brilliant scholar,
but also increasingly rebellious. In one academic year he got
rusticated for turning up to College three weeks after the start of
term. Thus, after a while he lost interest in pursuing an academic
career in Oxford and moved to London. It was in London that he was able
to skillfully enter into high society, soon becoming well known as a
playwright and noted wit. Oscar Wilde became famous throughout London
society. He was one of the early “celebrities” - in some respects he
was famous for being famous. His dress was a target for satire in the
cartoons, but Wilde didn’t seem to mind. In fact he learnt the art of
self-publicity and seemed to revel in it, at least up until his trial in
1898.
Oscar Wilde’s trial gripped the nation, the subject matter a
source of intense gossip and speculation. For his “crime” of homosexual
acts, Wilde was subject to two years hard labour in Wandsworth and then
Reading Gaol. It is no understatement to say this experience deeply
shocked and affected the previously ebullient Wilde. In some respects
he never really recovered; on his release, he left for Paris where he
lived in comparative anonymity. However he retained his wit and
continued to write, heavily influenced by his chastening experiences.
Of these post gaol writings, his poem “Ballad of Reading Gaol" is
perhaps the most well known, illustrating a new dimension to Wilde’s
writing.
“I never saw a man who looked
With such a wistful eye
Upon that little tent of blue
Which prisoners call the sky.”
..
“ I walked with other souls in pain.
Within another ring.
And was wondering if the man had done
A great or little thing.
When a voice behind me whispered low,
That fellows got to swing.”
From:
Ballad of Reading Gaol
Although Wilde couldn’t return to his previous level of writing
he developed new capacities, whilst retaining his sharp intellect. As
Jonathon Fryer commented on Oscar Wilde’s final part of life he was.
“beaten but not bowed, still a clown behind a mask of tragedy.”
The Life of Wilde was turbulent and volatile - never short of
incident. It reflected his own inner paradoxes and revolutionary views.
In some ways he was both a saint and sinner at the same time. Rightly
or wrongly Wilde is remembered as much for his life as his writings.
However he himself said.
“I have put my talent into writing, my genius I have saved for living.”
His writings reflect in part his paradoxical view of life,
suggesting things were not always as they appeared. As his biographer
Richard Ellman said of Wilde.
“Along with Blake and Nietzsche , he was proposing that
good and evil are not what they seem, and that moral tabs cannot cope
with the complexity of behaviour”
Whatever one may make of Wilde’s life, his capacity for writing
remains undeniable. His greatest work and comedy is arguably “The
Importance of Being Earnest”. Here the plot line is thin to say the
least but Wilde brings it alive through his scintillating repertoire of
wit and biting humour.
“Relations are simply a tedious pack of people, who
haven’t got the remotest knowledge of how to live, nor the smallest
instinct about when to die.”
- Algernon, Act I
“Thirty-five is a very attractive age. London
society is full of women of the very highest birth who have, of their
own free choice, remained thirty-five for years."
- Lady Bracknell, Act III
Wilde was not an overtly political commentator, but through his
plays there is an underlying critique of social norms that are illumined
for their absurdities.
Wilde remains a fascinating character; someone who lived life to the
full, experiencing both the joy and tragedy of society’s vacillating
judgements. With the distance of over a century, it is easier to judge
Wilde for his unique contributions to literature rather than through
the eyes of Victorian moral standards. His quotes have become immortal a
fitting tribute to a genius of the witticism
“I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying.”
-Oscar Wilde
She
and the picture are swell!” Although it didn’t get good reviews The
Misfits is one of Monroe’s most staggering and indelible performances.
She received a Golden Globe award for her performance in Some Like It
Hot and a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in Bus Stop. 
