Directions for Viewing and Reading (Classwork): 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 (Homework): 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.
Oscar Wilde had an original point of view, with an emphasis on originality. He believed strongly in Aestheticism, or art for art's sake. He said that bad art came from copying, and life was supposed to imitate art more than art imitated life. The purpose of art, according to Oscar's watch, was to tell of beautiful, albeit untrue things.
ReplyDeleteHe had a very revolutionary philosophy, too. He said that the first duty in life was to be artificial, and no second duty had been discovered. His idea of perfection was to be premature. He believed that wickedness functioned only an excuse as to why others were so attractive. Homosexuality was heavily frowned upon in Wilde's time, so coming out was dangerous. But "the danger was only half the excitement," so he went on his adventures with Lord Alfred Douglas. Extravagance was the only thing that concerned him economically.
DeleteHe claimed that industry was the root of all ugliness, and seriousness wasn't important as style. He said that abnormality was the only thing in life that stood in normal relations to art. And art was the only thing he took seriously.
DeleteWhen his plays were performed in the United States, where not many people had even heard of Aestheticism, Oscar had to come and do lectures. He learned some things from his American tour, too, and upon coming home, he declared that he wouldn't be his old self again. When he discovered that he was gay, he got inspired to write all sorts of stuff hinting at homosexuality, which looked very suspicious at the time. The number of boys visiting him in hotels was rather suspicious as well, not to mention the letters to his wife, Constance, claiming, "I need the privacy to write."
DeleteNow he actually reminds me more of one of the Monty Python guys than Mel Brooks. But he still was a goofball, nonetheless.
DeleteOscar Wilde was all about originality. I, on the other hand, like to quote my role models and make references to various stories. Therefore, I'm somewhat allergic to copyright.
DeleteOscar Wilde was a revolutionary in victorian London, he created the concept of aestheticism and had a very strong personality, as a kid he was a genius. He attended top academies and that led him to attending college at very prestigious schools like Trinity and Oxford. He was top of his class and also participated in rowing. After he graduated he moved into downtown London and instantly became quite popular. He self published his first selection of poems, however it faced a lot of criticism and he was made fun of it. He was then sent to America to give lectures on aestheticism and after his first show he ended up changing his lecture to more of a comedy and this is what kicked off his career as an influencer and writer. He returned to London as a new man and said "The old Oscar is as as good as dead". Yet he hadn't become a world renowned writer yet, however that changed when he discovered his homosexuality. This boosted his writing tenfold and he created timeless pieces like the importance of being earnest, The picture of Dorian Gray and many others that changed the world of literature forever.
ReplyDeleteWould you mind signing your name. It says "Unknown"
Delete-Aidan Foley
DeleteOverall it looks like Oscar Wilde went from good to bad - put very blandly and simply. Currently he is a writer focused upon in many advanced and higher level english/literture classes in schools. His writing peaked after his initial views on aestheticism and during that peak he wrote several of his comedies. Along with aestheticism he believed that art should just be viewed as art - nothing more, nothing less. amid his writing successes during this time, the world was starting to see who we was as a writer and somewhat as an entertainer as well. Wilde's downfall was/involved the homosexual acts committed which started to deter good public attention from himself, and ultimately landed him in prison. He comes back in his writing in the present day due to the re-publishing of his works before he went to jail and at that point the public was more willing to conform to his writing and apparently his views in addition. So overall Oscar Wilde led a widespread type of lifestyle in which he experienced ups and downs of being both a writer, and a human being.
ReplyDeleteOscar Wilde was and is still known as a very famous poet/writer throughout London. He created the concept of Aestheticism. He was very talented as a kid. He went to Trinity College and Oxford University and topped in both colleges. He then moved to London to become a professor of Aestheticism. He came up with 4 ideas of art...
ReplyDelete1) 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.
Along with art Oscar was an activist for women's rights. In 1887,Oscar accepted a job in the magazine "The Ladies World" and renamed it to "The Women's World" and wrote about women in London. This job gave him an opportunity to meet famous women and ask them to talk about topics that are important to them. Throughout his life, Oscar got married, and became attracted to two young boys who were homosexual as well (Robbie Ross and Bosie). As Oscar fell into a love triangle between Bosie and his wife, he told his wife that he needs privacy for his writing. Oscar had been spending most of his time in hotel rooms with Bosie. In 1892, he wrote famous plays such a "The Importance of Being Earnest." After that, things went downhill for Wilde. He became a prostitute and was charged with 2 years of hard labor and prison. " I can resist everything except temptation", he said. After he got out of prison, his wife agreed to help him with money and all as long as he would stop seeing Bosie. But he decided to still see him as "Friendship is far more tragic than love. It lasts longer." After 3 months with Bosie, Oscar moved back to Paris and wrote a play. In 1900, Wilde died due to meningitis but was again restored by Robbie Ross owning his writing's and publishing them again influencing and encouraging the people to read them and to honor Wilde as a writer and a human being.
Oscar Wilde is a well known figure today for his plays and literature, like The Picture of Dorian Gray. Though his written works were thematically different from his performed ones, his writing overall showed his love of opulence, fame, and a wealthy lifestyle. Wilde spent the majority of his life either rising to fame, or famous, and living in decadence. He thrived off of fame and notoriety, often using even his negative reviews to his advantage. In his prime, Wilde was intelligent, educated, and known by all. Despite his education and good fortune though, his poor choices regarding his lover, the Lord Alfred Douglas, lead him to a fall from grace, resulting in his own imprisonment and early death. It is interesting, and sad, that learning about himself, and discovering his sexuality lead him to both his greatest personal, and international, success, as well as to his own greatest downfall. His relationship with Bosie lead Wilde to create his greatest works, but in the end, it also lead to his bankruptcy, imprisonment, and ultimately to his death.
ReplyDeleteThe life of Oscar Wilde is one that plays out very similarly to a movie. I say this because his life was very similar to tragedies that are seen in films and movies today. A man who was born with it all, wealth, intelligence, everything leading to a long, happy life. But in Wilde's eyes, these things that would make any man happy did not satisfy him. He believed in aestheticism and what it showed him about life. Wanting other people to see what he sees, he ventures around sparking the aesthetic movement even though it was laughed and mocked upon by society. However the mockery will later change into applause as his once "outrageous" ideas have now filled the heads of society. One would assume everything was going perfect for Oscar now, he is now infamous for his ideas in aesthetics and wealthy, as well as starting a family with a wife and two children. However it was not quite perfect still for him... Oscar was not sure what it was exactly at the time but he was no longer attracted to his wife. He was now more easily seduced by other men. At that time during the Victorian era, homosexuality was shunned upon but Oscar did not care. He had many affairs with other men and did not try hard at all to conceal these secret relationships. However it was from spending time with these men that allowed him to become such a successful writer. Everything came from his true heart and soul now. In short, Oscar will eventually be found out by society that he is gay and everyone will turn their backs against him. Now do you see why Oscar's story is like a movie? Starting out with everything one could need, he decided that it is not enough, that piece of his identity is missing. He goes searching for this identity not knowing what it is and when he does find it (his homosexuality), he writes incredible pieces of stories because he found his purpose. However his identity came at a price which ultimately lead to his name being shunned forever.
ReplyDeleteOscar Wilde's ideals still live with us today in his original literature, as well as in life and movies. The quick-wit and irony we find humorous developed from watching shows such as The Office and Parks and Recreation is all due to Oscar. The term aesthetics and what it is used to describe can be seen in art, photography, even one's house.
Oscar Wilde was incredibly progressive. His beliefs on aestheticism and style of writing truly influenced modern-day society. Although the Aesthetic movement was mocked at the time, his work was not in vain. Like many other famous writers, his fame came after his death. Oscar Wilde’s plays and literature, like The Ideal Husband and The Ballad of Reading Gaol, were thematically unique compared to other plays and literature. They questioned the norm and mocked the people of the time. “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” is one particular quote that still resonates with society today. It promotes mental health, something that people weren’t concerned about during the Victorian Era. There are a plethora of quotes from Wilde that still hold meaning today. The best of his literature came during a time of crisis however. Although he had not confessed, Oscar Wilde was gay. And during the time he wrote these plays, poems, essays, and criticisms, he was hiding the fact that he was gay. Homosexuality was punishable by the law and eventually he was caught. Sentenced to two years in prison, he lost all his reputation. His identity did not ruin him, but it made him who he is. Despite it leading him into prison, losing his fame, and living in decadence, it gave him the power to write. And as a result, Oscar Wilde pushed the aestheticism into the modern-day.
ReplyDeleteOscar Wilde was an Irish Nationalist author, playwright and poet. He was very popular in Victorian England in the late nineteenth century and his works are still taught in literature courses worldwide today. Wilde was intelligent but also grew up incredibly privileged. His journey as a writer began much due to his mother, Lady Wilde, who was a strong female poet at a time when women were not typically a prominent voice in society. Oscar went on to earn a scholarship to both Trinity College and Oxford University. Upon graduation, he moved to London where he would really begin his career as a writer. Wilde craved attention through fame and notoriety, and successfully got that. He believed that everything should be about beauty and carried himself in that way; he thought that one must either “wear art or become it.” He invented the idea of aestheticism and declared art’s “four tenets”. He went on to self-publish poems that promoted aestheticism, yet received much reidicufhole from the public. He continued to push his flamboyant values of art even though they were not well received. Although he went on to marry and inpregnate his wife, he later realized that he was homosexual. The Victorian public criticized his homosexuality, but this only put his work at the forefront of British wruting at the time. His relationships with other males influenced his writing. In the heat of his productive period, when he wrote “The Importance of being Earnest”, he was persecuted. He was sued by the father of Bose Douglas, his significant other at the time, and tried for “Gross Indecency”. Although his initial trial resulted in a hung jury, he was found guilty at the next and was sentenced to two years of harsh labor in prison. His reputation was so tarnished the he winded up being shunned for the rest of his existence. However, his experiences made him who he was and create the works he did. The ideas he promoted have existed since his death and are still talked about today.
ReplyDeleteWhen analyzing the life and works of Oscar Wilde, he was a very rambunctious man who didn’t care what other people thought about his beliefs and ideals he lived out throughout his life. As I was looking over his selected works that are some of his notorious works of literature, it surprised me how he was concerned and thought a lot about the social issues and rights of women. During the Victorian Era in England, women were always underappreciated in society, had no rights, nor couldn’t speak their own opinions and judgements towards anybody. So I really appreciated how he was able to shed light on those issues through his notorious plays such as “The Importance of being Earnest” and especially “A Woman of No Importance”. In “A Woman of No Importance”, it's about a son having to choose between his mother who set a good role model for her son and his father is the complete opposite and struggles through this decision because of the status of his mother and father have in society (I’m butchering the plot of this play but I think that the general explanation of it don’t come for me if I get it wrong). With also mentioning women issues back then in his works, it all comes down to the basis of his ideals, which is aestheticism, which is the ideal that art is meant to be beautiful for the sake of art and not have deeper meanings. When he was in this movement, he wrote a lot of his own work to express what he had felt throughout this movement and one of them was “The Decay of Lying”, which sums up the 4 doctrines that you should go about art when being in this movement. One of those doctrines is “Lying, the telling of beautiful untrue things, is the proper aim of Art” and that was something Oscar had did, especially when he was at court and tried to lie about not being gay and having a fun approach to it, which honestly is a somewhat nerve-racking since it’s his sexuality that the public and the law was trying to exploit him for, but that amibition he was also living off from is hilarious. Even though he did go through a rough time of before, during, and after jail, he was still trying to live off from that thrill with Bozy when he promised his wife that he wouldn’t go to him again.
ReplyDeleteWith following aestheticism, there are definitely some phrases and maxims that Oscar Wilde really lived by on purpose and on accident. One of the phrases that I think stands out for not only his life and predicament but also many other people in this world is that “The well-bred contradict other people. The wise contradict themselves.” Honestly, this describes Wilde in a nutshell: Victorian society in England was so caught up with hypocrisy and the unrealistic values and standards for men and women in society that it became toxic and hard for anyone who was abnormal in society and Oscar really threw those harsh standards and values out the window and was so ahead of his time that him and his lifestyle, personality, and ideals are perfectly normal and accepted in our society today. Because he broke so many of those standards, people were really harsh towards him in his work and his preference of his sexuality but he didn’t care about what other people thought about it and was only focused on how to make himself a better version of himself by first expressing himself in the attire he wore and then through his writing about his feelings about the movement through his plays, poems, articles for women activism at the time, and so on and even through his sexualtiy and experimenting with that. And even after all of that, he learned through his mistakes and sought to just live out his life to the fullest until he dies. This also brings back a maxim he once wrote was that “art is the only serious thing in the world. And the artist is the only person who is never serious,” which he did live to the fullest and even when he was in situations like his brief entertainment at his own trial or when Bozy’s father threatening him to kill him if he and Bozy continued their relationship, he just shrugged it off and didn’t mind in the predicaments he was in and played it cool for the time being. I really like his attitude towards life and it’s funny because he’s like a hippie in his time but very well-known and intelligent with his own thoughts and stuck what he believed should be accepted in society and not be frowned upon.
ReplyDeleteOscar Wilde came from a wealthy family in Victorian Era England. He was very intelligent and graduated from Oxford. He became a celebrity in England and America by teaching his theory/art of aestheticism. After this he started writing poems and stories. Then he starts writing very influential and popular comedic plays. During his very extravagant life, he spent a lot of money on his other life. He was put in jail for homosexuality and this basically ended his carrer. After he died his plays became famous again and very influential everywhere.
ReplyDeleteChristine
Oscar Wilde was one of the greatest writers in history, despite the fact that he wasn’t viewed as one during his time. His life was full of ups and downs, with no lack of excitement. Beginning his childhood in a wealthy family, his intelligence was quickly recognized as he was offered a large scholarship from Trinity College, and later, Oxford University. For most of his life, he wanted to sell aestheticism. He started trying to spread the knowledge in England, but was later sent to America before returning to Europe. After returning to Europe, Wilde soon made a romantic relationship with Bosie Douglas. As a homosexual, Oscar would have been wise to keep his relationship a secret to prevent arrest by the government, particularly to preserve his lavish lifestyle. However, his downfall was trying to sue Queensboro. He was later forced to drop this case as he had overwhelming evidence against him, but the case did reveal his homosexuality. Soon after the end of the case, the police arrested him for “gross indecency”. As a result, Wilde was sent to Reading Jail and spent two years in isolation, which very literally destroyed him. When he got out, he very literally had nothing left.
ReplyDeleteOscar Wilde was a very interesting character. He presented himself in very elegant clothes and had very expensive taste. He had blue china in his dorm room in college, and he would wear velvet and silk vests and suits. With aestheticism, the way he would present himself almost made him seem like a character in a play. He also made progress in the theater world by making plays that mocked Victorian era beliefs and ideals, and society in general. I find it crazy that he was making the equivalent of $10,000 a week in today's money, and he would spend it all. I also find it crazy that when it came out that he was a homosexual he was blacklisted from society and put in jail, I find it crazy how similar modern day society still is when a celebrity does something that is different from everyone else, they are blacklisted and disregarded by society. It also shows with his death the age old saying, they love you when you’re dead, because in today's world, usually after someone dies they are hailed as a hero, or an inspiration, but when they were alive, no one talked about them. Oscar Wilde's life story took place over 100 years ago, but it is still so relevant today because stuff like this happens in the modern day, and his work is still relevant today.
ReplyDelete-CJ
Oscar Wilde was born in 1854. His parents were well regarded, and his mother wrote poetry and hosted parties to raise political awareness. He spent a lot of time in these parties and learned about human behavior and politics. He did well in school and went to college in Dublin. He topped his classes and got a scholarship to Oxford. In Oxford he became known for being a supporter of Aestheticism, wrote the four tenets of art. He befriended Miles, and got into high society. He became very well known, and released a book of poetry, which was made fun of by the press. There was an opera written to make fun of aestheticism, and when it went to America he went with them to give lectures on aestheticism. He liked American society because it lacked the hypocrisy of Victorian society. When he returned to Europe he married Constance. They had children together, but he wasn’t satisfied with domestic life. During this time he began to realize he was gay. He had an affair with Robby Ross, and then fell in love with Bose Douglas. However, Bose’s father disapproved and his disapproval led to Oscar Wilde being arrested for homosexuality. Although in our current society we are more accepting of LGBT+ people, this kind of prejudice does still exist. In some places it is still legal to fire or deny service to people based on their sexual orientation. If he were a celebrity today, it could still badly impact his life to be outed, despite the fact that more than a century has passed.
ReplyDelete-Solace Lockheardt
Oscar Wilde was a very intellectual young British scholar. Oscar Wilde was a genius and managed to reach the top of his class at his schooling in Oxford. Because of his education, Oscar Wilde managed to reach a mindset above the public. First he became obsessed with aestheticism, to Wilde everything had to be beautiful and all walks of life had to be art. To Wilde, "Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life." This meant that to Wilde life needs to be art. Oscar also explored his observations in his socratic essay The Decay of Living in which he explores romanticism and realism. in the essay he expresses that, "Art never expresses anything but itself." which means Wilde believes art is independent and has no attachments to anything than what is. Oscar Wilde is a brilliant philosopher who has expressed his unique view on life, art and importance. One of Oscar Wildes many philosophies is that "Nothing that actually occurs is of the smallest importance." Oscar believes that you must make importance, and anything significant is artificial and created by the person. Oscar Wilde has explored the world of maxims, he says, "Public opinion exists only where there are no ideas." After his many brilliant plays, art, poems and philosophies Oscar Wilde passed away in prison. - Troy Kennedy
ReplyDeleteOscar Wilde was a character who was widely known in the late 1800s as a controversial celebrity. He was the leader of the aestheticism movement, and a accomplished scholar. Throughout his career he published many different plays and poems. His first few poems that he published received very bad push back on them. Critics tore apart his poems and said that these were a big disappointment. But Wilde was not known for his poems, he was known for his plays and his most famous play is The importance of being Ernest. He has said "Art never expresses anything but itself." Which means that people say that they create art to express feelings and emotions, but instead Wilde is saying art is created to express itself and that we should not try to associate it with anything. While he was writing his best plays he also was caught up in a scandal with young boys prostitution ring where he would take men to motel rooms overnight and have sex with all of them. This was very bad because at the time it was illegal to have engaged in homosexual acts. His acts eventually caught up with him and he was sentenced to 2 years in prison where he took his time to reflect on what he has done. Like most people ahead of his time he was only celebrated once he died and people started to study his genius in the 1960s and beyond. Now we learn about his life and impact in school and we celebrate his genius and read his pieces.
ReplyDelete-Bryant
DeleteOscar Wilde's life is one that plays out very similarly to a movie. I say this because his life was very similar to tragedies that are seen in films and movies today. A man who was born with it all, wealth, intelligence, everything leading to a long, happy life. But in Wilde's eyes, these things that would make any man happy did not satisfy him. He believed in aestheticism and what it showed him about life. Wanting other people to see what he sees, he ventures around sparking the aesthetic movement even though it was laughed and mocked upon by society. However the mockery will later change into applause as his once "outrageous" ideas have now filled the heads of society. One would assume everything was going perfect for Oscar now, he is now infamous for his ideas in aesthetics and wealthy, as well as starting a family with a wife and two children. However it was not quite perfect still for him... Oscar was not sure what it was exactly at the time but he was no longer attracted to his wife.This also brings back a maxim he once wrote was that “art is the only serious thing in the world. And the artist is the only person who is never serious,” which he did live to the fullest and even when he was in situations like his brief entertainment at his own trial or when Bozy’s father threatening him to kill him if he and Bozy continued their relationship, he just shrugged it off and didn’t mind in the predicaments he was in and played it cool for the time being. I really like his attitude towards life and it’s funny because he’s like a hippie in his time but very well-known and intelligent with his own thoughts and stuck what he believed should be accepted in society and not be frowned upon.
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Delete- Kelvin Davila
DeleteOscar Wilde was an Irish writer, and poet. Wilde was very popular throughout the 19th century and his work has survived the test of time as we still learn it in school. Wilde was very smart during his youth and throughout the rest although coming from a very privileged family. Oscar Wilde found himself out of place from everyone else and found himself very confused about his sexuality. Oscar then went off to earn his degrees from Trinity College and Oxford University. After graduating he moved to London to start his career as a writer and accomplish his dream of becoming famous. Wilde began to show his flamboyante side through his writing that was widely unaccepted by the public. This didn’t change his views on his work and he proceeded to be who he was. Although Wilde was confused about his sexuality he did end up marrying and impregnating a woman. After this he finally realized that he was gay and spent a lot of his time in underground homosexual hangouts and with male prostitutes. After writing homosexual works he was prosocueted and sentenced for 2 years of hard labor in prison. After this he was looked down upon and shunned for the rest of his life. Although his life wasn’t as good as he wanted his work is still used in schools and he is a widely beloved artist.
ReplyDeleteThe story of Oscar Wilde is something that you can easily look to if you’re looking for a case of fame going to someone's head. What a cool guy he had the potential to be, I’m sure any man of his time would love to have been in his shoes as a youngster. He was rich, handsome, funny, his mother was a prominent political figure, and he had the attention of nearly the entire population of Ireland. In other words, this guy really had it all, but knowing human nature, he was never satisfied. He wanted to be famous, and so starts the Aestheticism movement, saying that the ideal life mimics art; it is beautiful, but quite useless beyond its beauty, concerned only with the individual living it. This sort of thinking was a little outrageous for his time, so it wasn’t received too well. This didn’t stop him though because his controversial opinions did net him some notoriety and so he traveled the world enjoying life to the fullest. At one point he settled down and had a family; a wife and two kids, and like every other thing in his life he got bored of them. See, all this time, unbenownst to everyone (even Oscar himself) Oscar Wilde was a homosexual, and he only discovered this when having an affair with his male friend. He went on for years leading a double life hiding his homosexuality. This kind of behaviour is illegal where he was, and eventually he was caught in the act. After this his life spiraled and as his money dwindled, everyone in his life left him. He died alone and poor. But it’s not all bad per say because after he died his work gained even more notoriety then when he was alive
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in an affluent household should give someone ample opportunity to establish oneself in society and keep a good image, but Oscar Wilde was not like the others. He wanted to be a writer, and his mother was there to help him in doing so. Lady Wilde, under her pseudonym Speranza, wrote many poems and attracted people from all over Dublin by hosting lavish parties. Young Oscar would attend these parties, and learned the nuts and bolts of Victorian society by observing his mother’s guests. He soon went off to school and excelled in all subjects. After graduating from Oxford, Wilde became acquainted with his wife-to-be, Constance Lloyd. They married in 1884, but it began to fall apart following Wilde’s infatuation with a boy from Oxford. This revelation about his sexuality inspired his writings and his ultimate downfall. As Wilde began his journey to the top of the social ladder, his marriage began to crumble. Not only was his fame keeping him from visiting his wife and children whom he loved so dearly, but his homosexuality drove him to lie and say that he required a “private space” to write. Wilde soon began an affair with Lord Alfred Douglas, colloquially known as Bosie. Together, they would constantly seek out male prostitutes, but they could not hide such acts for too long. Wilde was charged with gross indecency and sent to prison for two years, ending in 1897. He died three years later, due to meningitis. During his lifetime, The Picture of Dorian Gray is arguably the most prominent of Wilde’s works, as it was inspired by Bosie’s beauty. It received lots of harsh criticism for its “uncleanliness” because of its homoerotic undertones. Wilde’s promotion of aestheticism was deemed absurd in England, so he was sent to America to teach the importance of beauty. He gained much support at then, in about 1882. Before this time, Wilde’s works were somewhat obscure. The Harlot’s House is a premonition of sorts that predicts the path his life eventually takes. Written in 1882, it shows the power that lust has over true love. He describes the women as marionettes, and the men being phantoms disguised as a chance at true love. Eventually, the narrator’s female companion falls into the so-called harlot’s house and leaves him. This piece could have been an indicator as to which way Wilde’s life would eventually spiral into a mess of lust and prostitution. Keeping in mind that Wilde married two years later after it being published, he himself essentially predicted the downfall of his marriage. In the real world, Oscar was the one that fell into the harlot’s house.
ReplyDelete-Nabilah
Ben Ashworth
ReplyDeleteOscar Wilde was truly one of a kind, many people argue his ideas were way ahead of his time and I would agree with that. Based on he video it is easy to see how Wilde got his characteristics. For starters his mother was a public figure and had huge parties at her house. Oscar would just watch and later in life most likely use the skills to always be the focus of the dinner or event his was attending. When he got older his order of priorities was much different than everyone else and this is a reason of his success. Until this time often people would work then become famous based on their work, but Wilde did the opposite. He became famous and then started to write literature. When he basically ruled London he was sent to America to spread his ideas of Aestheticism there. He was a huge success and became a world wide star. Later he wrote saying how much he liked America because of the way one could change classes by working to achieve success. When he returned to London he started writing literature. At first it was very bad and people criticized it, but Wilde said as long as people were mentioning his name it was a success. He then married but later found he was a homosexual. He was secretly with a partner from oxford named Boise Douglas. During this time he was very productive. In the following years he was convicted for Homosexual acts and was sent to prison. This broke Wilde and ended his comical sense and he died 3 years later.
Oscar Wilde had a short but impactful career as a writer which was heavily impacted by the short time he was free to do what he wanted. His aesthetic movement began to emerge when he discovered his homosexuality. His career began to take off with the picture of Dorian gray which had a lot of sexual undertones and shocked the world. However, when he goes on trial the short period of time where he was free to express himself ends and his works aren’t as good as they were. His 4th doctrine of aestheticism that states, “ Lying, the telling of beautiful untrue things, is the proper aim of Art.” describes his homosexual life before he went to jail. He lied and entertained the jury when he was on trial which was an art to him. When Wilde was living his best life and making good art he lived by his own philosophy, “Pleasure is the only thing one should live for. Nothing ages like happiness.” because he was only focused on his happiness at the time.
ReplyDeleteNalin
DeleteOscar Wilde was born during the mid 1800s into a very wealthy family of Dublin, Ireland. His father was a profound doctor and his mother was a poet. Wilde attended the best schools in the area and performed extremely well where he went, being one of the brightest kids of his time. In his first year at Trinity college he was awarded the most prestigious award given to undergraduates giving him a full scholarship. This is sort of ironic as later in life he had said “Education is an admirable thing. But it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught” which you would not expect to hear from someone who performed so well academically.He further continued his education until 1878 when he graduated at the top of his class. After graduating he began his literary career with a collection of poems that received only modest reviews. I believe this to be when Oscar Wilde realized that he should first be a celebrity and then his works should follow that. He then went on an American Lecture tour giving lectures at prestigious American colleges and then furthermore doing the same thing in Europe. This allowed him and his views of Aestheticism to be more well known so that his works would take off. His basic view was that art was just made for the sake of being art and its beauty, also that lying was art and art was lying. A famous quote he once had was “The first duty in life is to be as artificial as possible. What the second duty is no one has as yet discovered.” He seemed to achieve this “life duty” in his most infamous act of all, as he was lying to the world about his sexual orientation for years. In the late 1800s Oscar Wilde had an affair with a young man and this eventually lead to imprisonment for these acts. Unfortunately this act seems to have more remembrance than his works.
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