Directions for Viewing and Reading: Please view the A&E Biography documentary on Oscar Wilde, titled, Wit's End. Next, read the selections that follow: 1) Selected Works, 2) Aestheticism, 3) The Decay of Lying: An Observation by Oscar Wilde, 4) Phrases and Philosophies for the use of the Young, and 5) A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-Educated. NOTE: As you read, take notes in your reflective journal. Title it: Oscar Wilde Introductory Material.
Directions for Blog Response: Compose a comprehensive blogs response touching on all the elements you have read and viewed on Oscar Wilde. Use directive evidence from the texts below in your response. Engage with the text.
Selected Works of Oscar Wilde
Prose
- The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890)
- The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888)
- “The Canterville Ghost”
- “The Sphinx Without a Secret”
- “The Model Millionare”
- “The Selfish Giant”
Plays
- Lady Windermere's Fan (1892)
- Salome (1893)
- A Woman of No Importance (1893)
- An Ideal Husband (1895)
- The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)
Poems, Criticism, and Essays
- "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" (1898)
- "The Decay of Lying" (1889)
- "De Profundis" (1897)
- "The Soul of Man under Socialism"
- "The Harlot's House"
- "The Beauties of Bookbinding"
Wit's End - A&E Biography of Oscar Wilde
Aestheticism
Definition: The aesthetic movement was a late nineteenth century movement that championed pure beauty and ‘art for art’s sake’ emphasizing the visual and sensual qualities of art and design over practical, moral or narrative considerations.
Background: Aestheticism (also the Aesthetic Movement) is an intellectual and art movement supporting the emphasis of aesthetic values more than social-political themes for literature, fine art, music and other arts. This meant that Art from this particular movement focused more on being beautiful rather than having a deeper meaning: Art for Art's sake. It was particularly prominent in Europe during the 19th century, supported by notable figures such as Oscar Wilde, but contemporary critics are also associated with the movement, such as Harold Bloom, who has recently argued against projecting social and political ideology onto literary works, which he believes has been a growing problem in humanities departments over the last century.
Literature: The British decadent writers were much influenced by the Oxford professor Walter Pater and his essays published during 1867–68, in which he stated that life had to be lived intensely, with an ideal of beauty.
The artists and writers of Aesthetic style tended to profess that the Arts should provide refined sensuous pleasure, rather than convey moral or sentimental messages. As a consequence, they did not accept John Ruskin, Matthew Arnold, and George MacDonald's conception of art as something moral or useful. Instead, they believed that Art did not have any didactic purpose; it need only be beautiful. The Aesthetes developed a cult of beauty, which they considered the basic factor of art. Life should copy Art, they asserted. They considered nature as crude and lacking in design when compared to art. The main characteristics of the style were: suggestion rather than statement, sensuality, great use of symbols, and correspondence between words, colors, and music. Music was used to establish mood.
Predecessors of the Aesthetics included John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley, and some of the Pre-Raphaelites. In Britain the best representatives were Oscar Wilde and Algernon Charles Swinburne, both influenced by the French Symbolists, and James McNeill Whistler and Dante.
The Decay of Lying: An Observation by Oscar Wilde
Wilde presents the essay in a Socratic dialogue, with the characters of Vivian and Cyril having a conversation throughout. The conversation, although playful and whimsical, promotes Wilde's view of Romanticism over Realism. Vivian tells Cyril of an article he has been writing called, The Decay of Lying: A Protest. In the article Vivian defends Aestheticism and Art for Art's sake. As summarized by Vivian, it contains four doctrines:
1) Art never expresses anything but itself.
2) All bad art comes from returning to Life and Nature, and elevating them into ideals.
3) Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life.
4) Lying, the telling of beautiful untrue things, is the proper aim of Art.
Phrases and Philosophies for the use of the Young by Oscar Wilde
The first duty in life is to be as artificial as possible. What the second duty is no one has as yet discovered.
Wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others.
If the poor only had profiles, there would be no difficulty in solving the problem of poverty.
Those who see any difference between soul and body have neither.
A really well-made buttonhole is the only link between Art and Nature.
Religions die when they are proved to be true. Science is the record of dead religions.
The well-bred contradict other people. The wise contradict themselves.
Nothing that actually occurs is of the smallest importance.
Dullness is the coming of age of seriousness.
In all unimportant matters, style, not sincerity, is the essential. In all important matters, style, not sincerity, is the essential.
If one tells the truth, one is sure, sooner or later, to be found out.
Pleasure is the only thing one should live for. Nothing ages like happiness.
It is only by not paying one's bills that one can hope to live in the memory of the commercial classes.
No crime is vulgar, but all vulgarity is crime. Vulgarity is the conduct of others.
Only the shallow know themselves.
Time is a waste of money.
One should always be a little improbable.
There is a fatality about all good resolutions. They are invariably made too soon.
The only way to atone for being occasionally a little over-dressed is by being always absolutely over-educated.
To be premature is to be perfect.
Any preoccupation with ideas of what is right and wrong in conduct shows an arrested intellectual development.
Ambition is the last refuge of the failure.
A truth ceases to be true when more than one person believes in it.
In examinations the foolish ask questions that the wise cannot answer.
Greek dress was in its essence inartistic. Nothing should reveal the body but the body.
One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.
It is only the superficial qualities that last. Man's deeper nature is soon found out.
Industry is the root of all ugliness.
The ages live in history through their anachronisms.
It is only the gods who taste of death. Apollo has passed away, but Hyacinth, whom men say he slew, lives on. Nero and Narcissus are always with us.
The old believe everything: the middle-aged suspect everything: the young know everything.
The condition of perfection is idleness: the aim of perfection is youth.
Only the great masters of style ever succeed in being obscure.
There is something tragic about the enormous number of young men there are in England at the present moment who start life with perfect profiles, and end by adopting some useful profession.
To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.
A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-Educated by Oscar Wilde
Education is an admirable thing. But it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.
Public opinion exists only where there are no ideas.
The English are always degrading truths into facts. When a truth becomes a fact it loses all its intellectual value.
It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information.
The only link between Literature and Drama left to us in England at the present moment is the bill of the play.
In old days books were written by men of letters and read by the public. Nowadays books are written by the public and read by nobody.
Most women are so artificial that they have no sense of Art. Most men are so natural that they have no sense of Beauty.
Friendship is far more tragic than love. It lasts longer.
What is abnormal in Life stands in normal relations to Art. It is the only thing in Life that stands in normal relations to Art.
A subject that is beautiful in itself gives no suggestion to the artist. It lacks imperfection.
The only thing that the artist cannot see is the obvious. The only thing that the public can see is the obvious. The result is the Criticism of the Journalist.
Art is the only serious thing in the world. And the artist is the only person who is never serious.
To be really mediæval one should have no body. To be really modern one should have no soul. To be really Greek one should have no clothes.
Dandyism is the assertion of the absolute modernity of Beauty.
The only thing that can console one for being poor is extravagance. The only thing that can console one for being rich is economy.
What is abnormal in Life stands in normal relations to Art. It is the only thing in Life that stands in normal relations to Art.
A subject that is beautiful in itself gives no suggestion to the artist. It lacks imperfection.
The only thing that the artist cannot see is the obvious. The only thing that the public can see is the obvious. The result is the Criticism of the Journalist.
Art is the only serious thing in the world. And the artist is the only person who is never serious.
To be really mediæval one should have no body. To be really modern one should have no soul. To be really Greek one should have no clothes.
Dandyism is the assertion of the absolute modernity of Beauty.
The only thing that can console one for being poor is extravagance. The only thing that can console one for being rich is economy.
One should never listen. To listen is a sign of indifference to one's hearers.
Even the disciple has his uses. He stands behind one's throne, and at the moment of one's triumph whispers in one's ear that, after all, one is immortal.
The criminal classes are so close to us that even the policemen can see them. They are so far away from us that only the poet can understand them.
Those whom the gods love grow young.
Even the disciple has his uses. He stands behind one's throne, and at the moment of one's triumph whispers in one's ear that, after all, one is immortal.
The criminal classes are so close to us that even the policemen can see them. They are so far away from us that only the poet can understand them.
Those whom the gods love grow young.
After watching the documentary it became very clear that Oscar Wilde was a very interesting individual due to not only his work but the lifestyle he attained. In the description of the blogpost you stated how he is similar in popularity to the kardashians in the sense a lot of his fame came from the way he conducted himself rather than his work purely. The documentary explained how in a boring Victorian age he stuck out like a sore thumb - his antics and the way he acted was very different than the way most people conducted themselves at the time. Even after the setback of not getting the recognition for his book of poems he enjoyed the spotlight and stated “There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about” - any fame is good fame. One of his phrases that I really connected with is Nothing that actually occurs is of the smallest importance. Its kinda funny but I relate this to test grades or inconveniences in life in the ssnet hat if I do bad on a test or project in 5 years it will most definitely not be on my mind and so i should take any setback lieka grain of salt.
ReplyDeleteSomething that sets Wilde apart from many other famous people is the relatively small amount of tragedy in his life. Besides his trial and having to go to prison, he seemed to always have the better end. He was lucky enough to witness his mother's salons and have the chance to go to an elite boarding school at age 9, but along with his ingenious, he was able to take his education to considerably one of the best universities in the world. He bestowed it upon himself to do something great with his education (writing), which people criticized at first. But, through his insightful outlook on life, he was able to succeed. For example, he embraced people calling him a bloody fool by seeing it as his receipt for being well known, and he didn’t care that people criticized his work because he thought “there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” He always found a loophole when the glass of his life seemed half empty, and much of this had to do with his intelligence and his philosophies.
ReplyDeleteHe was also very accepting of what he said and believed. The fourth prong of The Decay of Lying explicitly says that “lying, the telling of beautiful untrue things, is the proper aim of Art.” The word lying has such a negative connotation with it that most other people try and stray away from it when validating their philosophies. For example, Tim O’Brien argued that The Things They Carried was fiction, but feelings presented were true. Wilde would have argued that the book was a lie, which made it a work of art. He never altered what he said to make it sound more positive or sophisticated, and they always told the utmost truth, for example “in examinations the foolish ask questions that the wise cannot answer.” This allows for his phrases to be ingenious while containing the satire that he sees when he views the world.
To say the Oscar Wilde was 'interesting' is to do him an injustice. Through everything that I learned from the sources above, Oscar Wilde was truly splendid. He did as he liked, greatly influenced by a lively mother and "colorful" father. He was taught, from a young age, to shock and entertain people. His philosophy of art for arts sake and that lying is a part of art, and very necessary at that, is just so unexpected. I've never heard something like that from an author, but it makes perfect sense now that I think about it. His entire aesthetic was to entertain and be known, for whatever the reason. He became famous for being himself, not from any real achievement. But then he was ruined for being himself, he was encouraged to be violently himself. And he couldn't help himself. It's tragic that he got thrown in jail and that his life was subsequently ruined. Nevertheless, nowadays, people speak highly of him, enough to teach his works in a high school English class! So, unfortunately, he did become famous while he was alive, but that fame was taken away and he did become even more respected when he was dead, something he had wanted to avoid as he started down his road to fame.
ReplyDeleteI am very excited to read his works because it will be funny, honest, and entertaining overall - the type of writing we don't usually read in school.
ReplyDeleteOscar Wilde grew up under the influence of his mother, a free spirited and boundaryless women who did as her mind pleased. Such is how his personality came to be, organized wholly around the concept of Aestheticism, which can be best described by Oscar Wilde motto to life: “one should either become a work of art, or wear a work of art” with no room for anything in between. Although at first this only applied to his outer appearance, aestheticism soon became the inspiration behind his greater works. Such can be attributed to his success, as his two first publications were quickly labeled as average, where as his later works, published after he learned to embrace the vanity he found in the US, were much more successful.
His literature became unafraid to push the boundaries set by society, and embracing his new found homosexuality, created literature seen as scandolous and borderline illegal under Britians new laws against relations between two men. Such is how The Picture of Dorian Gray Came to Be.” Although never outright saying anything about homosexuality (a characteristic of aestheticism literature, “suggestion over statement”), the novel used sensual, sinful description horrify to London society of the day to symbolize such (another characteristic, “sensual, and using symbols”). From then on, most of his novels, plays, and other pieces of literature modeled the characteristics of aestheticism literature. An example can be found in Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young, where he makes statements completely nonsensical like “the first duty in life is to be as artificial as possible,” which symbolizes a contradiction to what the average person of the time would say: follow the model of British society.
Oscar Wilde seems like a very intriguing figure. The documentary outlines his unique and funny personality that set him apart from all of the other writers of his time. I think that the role that his parents, especially his mother, had on his life is very interesting as well. They both had very unique personalities as well which is unexpected because you would think that a son would act out and become so interesting if his parents were stricter and tried to get him to fit in with the rest of the world. His family life influenced his later life very heavily. But Wilde was still able to become very successful even though he was so different. He went to prestigious schools and was very book smart, having such a strange mind proved to be very helpful for him. A quote that stood out to me was “One should either become a work of art, or wear a work of art.” I like his overall outlook on life and how he is able to always see the beauty in everything. Which ties in perfectly with aestheticism and explains his reliance on it. Aestheticism focuses on being beautiful and sensuous rather than having a deeper meaning or moral. I think this form of art is very interesting and I was also interested in The Decay of Lying. It examines four beliefs, the first three mainly focus on and summarize aesthetic beliefs. But the fourth one stood out to me a lot more. It says “Lying, the telling of beautiful untrue things, is the proper aim of art.” this is confusing because it could be interpreted as art is an attempt to tell the truth, or an attempt to hide it.
ReplyDeleteOscar Wilde’s story is like a tragedy in the same way Van Gogh was. Both of their greatness was recognized long after their death and both died very much shunned by society.
ReplyDeleteWatching the documentary was interesting because it showed how incredibly gifted he was in dealing with people. His upbringing of always being around his mothers’ salon parties would have been a major factor in understanding people and how to interact with them. His idea of putting the celebrity before its work must have been the basis of his success. Despite the weakness of his work, people couldn’t help but be drawn to him so he had many chances to succeed as a writer. Especially his ideals on aestheticism were quirky enough to be interesting but not too weird to be avoided. He himself became a “work of art” which matches his ideals of “Pleasure is the only thing one should live for.
However his downfall was due to his controversial personal life and writings. Wilde seemed to be ahead of what Victorian era England was used to so such actions such as “gross indecency” or indulgent novels like “The Picture of Dorian Gray” were met with shock and anger. Despite what standards are today, he was punished.
While today we appreciate his works all over the world, its very sad that he isn’t able to see what an impact he had.
Oscar Wilde had a unique and unheard of personality for his time. His personality was heavily influenced by his mother, who was known to be spirited and eccentric, holding lavish parties with socialites of the time. Growing up in this type of environment led Wilde to believe in the importance of celebrity and aestheticism. His love for aestheticism is especially interesting. Wilde was captivated by art and beauty, wanting to be a work of art himself. It is very interesting to me how Wilde became such a well known figure before even putting out any popular works of writing. This seems to be a result of his belief of the importance of celebrity. He was fine with being famous simply for his personality. It was only after he became well known that his writing became famous. Even then, he had works that were unsuccessful and criticized. It was interesting how unafraid Wilde was about unapologetically being himself. He refused to change for anyone, which is what made him such an intriguing figure. Especially in issues of his sexuality, he remained true to himself. He went to jail for being himself and refused to change after being released, electing to leave his old life behind. I look forward to seeing how his personality is reflected in his work.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read the description of Aestheticism, I was intrigued. I found the concept very interesting and was excited to see it in action by reading Wilde’s work. The Decay of Lying kept my interest and enforced what I knew about Aestheticism: art for art’s sake, romanticism over realism, etc. Then I got to Phrases and Philosophies for the use of the young. From there, I was lost. The phrases that I did understand were fascinating though they were few and far between. For example, I really liked the lines “the condition of perfection is idleness; the aim of perfection is youth” and “Those who see any difference between soul and body have neither.” But then a simple 6 word line like “Time is a waste of money” had me absolutely stumped. Frustrated by my inability to understand much of his work knowing it was crafted by a literary genius, I interrupting my reading to start the film hoping it would clarify my struggles. The background information provided by the film allowed me to understand that I wasn’t necessarily supposed to understand Wilde’s message because there was no message. His writing was not based on real life, as in accordance with Aestheticism. He was taught that the truth was not important in telling stories. So as I sought the deeper meaning in the phrases, I was digging an impenetrable hole. I interpreted phrases through my perspective, as every person does. I understood some phrases and enjoyed them because I found a personal connection in them. For example from A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-Educated, I related to the line “education is an admirable thing. But it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” But then again, Wilde claimed that art should not be inspired by life, life should be inspired by art. So is this what Wilde intended the reader to do? Or did he intend to incite confusion and paranoia like I am experiencing right now. Did he even have any intentions at all as he claimed to make art for art's sake, saying “art never expresses anything but itself.” I am left truly confused, likely by my own overthinking or possibly by design.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a complicated guy he was! There are a lot of things that I admire about him and also many that I would be pretty annoyed at. I really like comedy and am excited to read his play. I thought it was really funny when he said “I can resist anything except temptation.” Haha, I feel like that could have been a meme today. I also admire his courage to come out in such a harsh, unforgiving social environment and code of law. Knowing now how fluid sexuality is, it is ridiculus to think that being gay could be one, catogorized in such black and white terms, and two, punishable. Progress has happened, yay! Speaking of progress, my feelings on Aestheticism are torn. On the surface level yes, it is nice to look at pretty things and just admire them. But then again, I don't think that anything, especially any piece of art, is ever possible of just one thing. Who’s to say someone won’t draw a deeper meaning from what is supposed to be an Aesthetic piece of art. I highly disagree with Harold Bloom who stated that projecting social and political ideology onto art is a growing problem. I think that art has been many suppressed people’s only mode of expression and furthermore, art is another expression of the human spirit. Humans are affected by society and politics. I think attempts to discredit all art that aims to comment on society as first, impossible, and second, ignorant and elitist. If we want art and literature to continue to grow and thrive, I don't think we should be discouraging any type of art. Oscar’s quote “Religions die when they are proved to be true. Science is the record of dead religions”, I think should be read by the archaeologists in Jerusalem who are digging to “prove” different happenings in the old testament for better political leverage over their occupation. I'm not religious but I can see the value in believing something bigger than oneself. If you lose sight of that purpose, isn't that more like a conspiracy theory?
ReplyDeleteIf you were to ask me about Oscar Wilde prior to this assignment, I would have had a vague notion of having heard his name before, but nothing more. However, I am glad to have learned more about this historical figure, as his life is really quite fascinating. I’ve always thought it to be a relatively modern concept of being famous simply for the sake of it, though I can see now that is not. Although it is not entirely true that Wilde was famous just because: he wrote a good deal of plays and poems. In general, his work and life supported aestheticism, and idea I can’t help but agree with at least to some extent myself. Too often we find ourselves hung up on the meaning of something truly beautiful, and this leads to the ignorance of beauty in a search for meaning. What did the author mean? What was the painter’s intention? Why did the composer make that choice? If we become too hung up on the meaning behind a piece, we forget to focus on its beauty, and afterall, art is meant to be beautiful. In line with this, Wilde had the view that “Pleasure is the only thing one should live for. Nothing ages like happiness.” The deeper meaning behind everything is unimportant. In the moment joy and pleasure are the only things that matter to people, and in the long run, the mark of a good life is the accumulation of all the pleasure one has experienced through life, not the deeper meaning behind his or her choices.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to his general life summary, I must admit to being shocked (though I should’ve known better) by the way he was treated after his sexuality was outed. He was known to be a caring father and generally kind person, yet faced trial against a partner’s father who was known to beat his wife and children. Society truly is so cruel as to turn on its idol at the drop of a hat. It is appalling to me that the qualities of his partner’s father (beating his family, anger issues, alcoholism, etc) were preferable traits to homosexuality in the time period. However, Wilde handled it well: it was an admirable decision not to run from the trial against him, but rather to brave the courts. Perhaps this was due to his nihilist view that “Nothing that actually occurs is of the smallest importance,” but his reputation likely would not have recovered in the way that it has after his death had he taken the cowardly way out.
Oscar Wilde is a wild card. He spends his younger days not attempting to please others, but instead attempting to make himself known. He dresses decadently, surrounds himself with finery, and feels no shame in his expression of wealth and beauty. As he says in one of his most famous sayings, “One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art”. Because of this, he is thought of as an idiot, and disliked by many. However, he is known. People in London recognize him, a fact that he is proud of. This is similar to his reaction to the response to his first bodies of work. He is glad that they have made an impact and generated a conversation, despite it being a mostly dismissive and negative one. Throughout his life, this is a common theme - he does not often take things too seriously, even making jokes during the trial that eventually led to his downfall. I find his theory on art to be interesting. More specifically, when he says that “Lying, the telling of beautiful untrue things, is the proper aim of Art.” This is a view similar to ones that I have read before, like that of the nature between truth and lies in storytelling, from Tim O'brien's The Things They Carried”. More important than the truth is what is being told - what is being heard. This is what makes up his view as an author, and gives a solid philosophy on why he writes what he does. His eventual downfall comes from his own unapologetic lifestyle however. He is not careful in his sexual escapades, and is then discovered, and outed as homosexual to the public community. As homosexuality is not accepted at the time, this results in his being ostracized, and his career being ended. However, the novels and plays he wrote survive, to be “rediscovered” at a later time, and enjoyed for their merit, instead of being shunned for his reputation.
ReplyDeleteOscar Wilde comes off as a very self centered man, but his idea of beauty and its power in one’s life is rather refreshing. “One should either become a work of art or wear art” seems like a not so bad motto to live by. With polemic behavior the eccentric author sets a goal to shock those around him in order to rise in the social scale and become internationally notorious, and indeed he does. Whether people were saying good or bad things about him, Wilde seemed to adore the attention and did not hold back his desire to be talked about. Although the author chose to live a very public life, his sexuality impaired him from living it fully. Marrying a woman and later falling in love with a much younger man, his turbulent life soon became more of a drama, but so did his career; while away with his ‘pupil’ Wilde became the most prolific he had ever been, achieving the fame and respect he so fervently craved. One of my favorite lines of his is “only the shallow know themselves,'' although primarily simple, once further analyzed the phrase takes deeper meaning. Only those who have not much to offer can fully know themselves, for they are uninteresting. To be peculiar is to be bold, and to be bold is to never know what to expect from yourself. The predictability of one’s action is the proof of their lack self understanding, which leads to their false convictions of self. To be unpredictable is to truly be magnificent, and to be in an incessant search for one’s identity.
ReplyDeleteBecause of the Aestheticism movement that Oscar was apart of, it shaped the way he viewed art and writing. He saw art as less then what the meaning behind it was. Art is what it looks like, not what it means. This can translate into writing in how a novel should be about the story, the sound of the wording and the scene that is being created. The character development and showing visuals, not a message and symbolism. Im really excited to read his works of writing because I think I will be more immersed in the story rather then trying to find symbols and meaning behind each sentence. I liked his maxim that said "The only thing that the artist cannot see is the obvious. The only thing that the public can see is the obvious. The result is the Criticism of the Journalist." I like this because it gives an inside on how he sees his work and how critical he can be of his work. Also, this is a good way to decide creators and artists, they focus so much on what the art looks like in all aspects, that they get distracted of what it should be all together. They're so focused on what they create rather then how it looks and functions as a work of art.
ReplyDeleteWhen watching Oscar Wilde’s biography and reading The Decay of Lying: An Observation by Oscar Wilde and A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-Educated by Oscar Wilde, the one sentiment that keeps recurring is that Oscar Wilde was never societal expectations. Especially when going through his readings, there are some quotes that would take the elite in England by surprise. For example, when Wilde says “Industry is the root of all ugliness,” he brings forth an opinion that was very different for his time. During that time, the Industrial Revolution was taking place in England and those of Wilde’s class were thriving. But Wilde was able to look past all this success and tell the English people that those of lower classes were being abused.
ReplyDeleteThe same is true about Wilde’s sexuality. He was willing to go to court and challenge something he believed in, rather than conform to societal expectations. Even though Wilde lost everything in the process, he knew that he needed to take a stand in order to allow for these opinions to progress.
My expectation is that when we read plays by Oscar Wilder in class, we will be introduced to ideas that were revolutionary and unheard of at that time, but are now commonplace.
I am really fascinated by Oscar Wilde because I have truly never read anything like his works before. As I was reading through his works as well as his phrases, philosophies, the “maxims for introduction”, I was confused yet still satisfied and inspired by what he was saying. I was content with what he was saying and believed I had a solid idea on who Wilde truly was from all of these phrases, and his works as well, but while reading some of them like - “a truth ceases to be true when more than one person believes in it” - I was so confused but wanting to learn more about what this meant! I began to analyze each phrase, picking apart certain words to figure out why he would say such a thing but understanding that he is a believer for this aesthetic movement, I started to see what he was really saying. One phrase that really struck me while reading about Oscar Wilde was in the phrases and philosophies category, “those who see any difference between soul and body have neither”. I read this phrase so many times because I really loved the way he put this. Although kind of harsh, it stuck with me and maybe this was his whole purpose after all. I began to put this in my real life and think I’m going to stick with this phrase because of how much it affected me while reading.
ReplyDeleteI’m really excited to begin reading “The Importance of Being Earnest” because I would love to see how Wilde works his beliefs and philosophies into his literature. I would love to look more into him and more of his works beyond this play - as I was able to watch the documentary! While watching, I was given the chance to see his love for art (and china) and meaning behind everything which was really interesting. I loved listening and watching about his life, what he was surrounded by, the society he had, and what he went through - with his sexuality. I am very eager to begin reading The Importance of Being Earnest and can’t wait to see what the documentary shared about his writing, and whether his beliefs play a part in his play.
No name is more bound to the Aesthetic movement than Oscar Wilde’s. His lasting literary works of literature of the Aesthetic movement resides in plays and novels such as, “The Importance of being Earnest”, “An Ideal Husband”, and “The picture of Dorian Gray.” Besides his literary accomplishments, he was particularly infamous for his wit and flamboyance. He adopted this eccentric, free spirited lifestyle that he carried out in public. It seemed like he relished in this kind of attention his behavior brought upon. Soon after though Wilde’s life began to unravel when he became involved with Lord Alfred Douglas. He was then tried as a result of multiple affairs with men and soon imprisoned for his homosexual relationships. After being sentenced for two years of hard labor his life went downhill, with a lot of his close friends abandoning him, his plays closing, and getting denied by publishers.
ReplyDeleteOscar Wilde appears to be quite a character. He lived to entertain others, and saw lying as a good thing. He defined lying as “the telling of beautiful untrue things,” and thought that it should be the focus of art. While this may be an acceptable explanation for lying, I personally disagree with it. Even though he was primarily promoting lying to give others more beautiful things to see, I think that should be done through art rather than by word. If it is done by word, then it may be very misleading or create a falsely optimistic view of the world. He also believed that the truth is not very important for people to know, and rather entertainment is of importance. “If one tells the truth, one is sure, sooner or later, to be found out.” Upon first hearing this, it appears to be a backwards way of thinking. Usually, people say things in reference to lying being bad and that people will always catch you in your lies. I admire the courage Wilde had to be such an original thinker. He had many controversial ideas and values, yet still appeared to be a light in the life of others. He is described as being one of the funniest men to ever live, in the very beginning of his video biography. His idea of entertainment being of such high value is not very common, as most people have more self revolving priorities. He believed “the first duty in life is to be as artificial as possible,” which once considered appears more and more true. From his perspective, it may have been mainly for entertainment, though I see it also as people being forced to be like the others around them in order to fit into society. Despite this, Wilde appears to be a free spirit, as he was said to believe he can do whatever he wants, and that one should strive for pleasure and happiness throughout their lives. Also, he thought that, while education is admirable, “nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” I think that that is an exaggeration to get his message across. Clearly there are many things worth knowing, things that keep us alive, that we are taught; however, it is the things you are forced to learn on your own, the things that are often impossible to put into words, that truly hold the most meaning. After learning about Oscar Wilde, I am very excited to read a work of his, as it should be very entertaining.
ReplyDeleteOscar Wilde is so incredibly a fallen star. He was amazing in his time, but due to the circumstances around him he fell from the sky in this blazing glory that eventually was burnt out into nothing. It's a shame that he could not survive his time because of the laws surrounding him, and the society surrounding him. He was so much more than his time period. His wit and clever way of thinking really makes his writing more extraordinary. I wish he had been born in a much more accepting time period, but at the same time, I know he would not have flourished so much if not for his time period. His time in America greatly contributed to his adventurous spirit the way only the great frontier could. And the secretive nature of his late night on the town only added to the enigma he could be. To unravel him by unraveling his experiences would be losing something. He is a symbol of what was too much for this world yet, but I am so excited to read what he did impact us with.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading through, Wilde’s complexity was clear to me. He has so many profound and distinct ideas that are really clarifying in a way to read. He just seems confident in his ideas. He is such an interesting person for many reasons. One being that he grew up gay in a time when that was very scarcely accepted. He tried to hide it but eventually came out, I feel like that adds to how complex and sure he was, he was able to share his sexuality when that was a very difficult thing to do. I feel like we always hear the saying “they weren’t meant for that time” or “they’re ahead of their time” I feel like this applies to Wilde because he had such profound ideas about life and the world and people and relationships etc in a time when everything was so rigid. I wonder how he would be perceived if we were alive today? I also feel like we assume that to be a great artist, someone has to go through a great tragedy in their life, while Wilde faced challenges, his life wasn’t exponentially hard. He produced impressive work and had a unique perspective without having to face severe trauma, I find this really intriguing for some reason.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading through and learning about Oscar Wilde, my opinion stands that I don’t particularly like him as a character. I think his motives and morals are a bit skewed, and I don’t think that his famous personality should write him off as a good person. The biggest thing that stood out to me was that he went off and lied to his wife to live a luxurious lifestyle he couldn’t afford with his boyfriends. I do acknowledge he had talent in the comidic sense, but he did participate in prostitution for fun, and the thrill of being caught, and also lied to his wife about what he was doing. I think after reading his beliefs and watching the documentary, I think Wilde’s life could have the similarity of a reality TV star, but you watch the performance for the drama. He did create a fresh perspective on literature, and his works are very popular because of that, but as a person I think he’s not the best.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know much about Oscar Wilde before reading some of his works and what went on in his life. He seems to have been born into a time where his way of thinking was seen as less acceptable. But being different in a crowd of people who are all the same is the only way for change. Being brave enough to have different ideas is how change starts. Something he said was, “nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” Although there is so much that needs to be taught to us, in life sometimes you need to experience something for yourself to understand it. Sometimes someone telling you the result of something is not convincing enough. I also believe that you need to go through somewhat unpleasant things to grow as a person. I find it interesting that his life goal was entertainment, fulfilling others. He didn't want to just fulfill his own life, but others as well. I enjoy that Wilde didn’t follow the crowd or believe something just because everyone else did. He was an independent thinker with his own ideas which I find an admirable trait. I'm excited to read his works and read more about him this term.
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