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.
This is going to be a little informal, but when I watched the video for the first time before class, I thought that Oscar Wilde wasn’t very bright, in that he didn’t dream up anything new. All his ideas felt really attention seeking (the were), and shallow. However, in the epitome of the false narrative that Wilde so despised, in class when we discussed Wilde’s ideas, my opinion changed. Not only were Wilde’s one liners clever and witty, but multifaceted. I found myself puzzling over what Wilde was getting at, and surprised by how the initial superficiality evaporated. Not only did Wilde put on a show, creating a cult like following, but he criticized Victorian society and the focus of the artist at the time.
ReplyDeleteArtistic movements that neglect meaning are few and far between. New styles of art have been used across millennia to poke at different aspects of the truth, to uncover why we live. To seek the beautiful is only what Oscar Wilde wanted. However, he also sought to reveal that not everybody is just as perfect, just as evil as so many believe people to be. Wilde mentioned that “wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others” (Phrases). This mirrors his homosexuality, which was illegal at the time, and his expensive tastes. Wilde didn’t find it wrong to go against the grain, to reach ideals that society told him not to. In addition, unlike so many of his contemporaries, Wilde was not a hypocrite. He lived by his one liners, his speeches and prose. Although he believed that “lying, the telling of beautiful untrue things, is the proper aim of Art,” everything Wilde did followed what he believed. From his dress to his mannerisms, Wilde took what he had and elevated himself to hyper-reality. In addition, there was so much more that went along with beauty that just what appeared on face value alone.
Wilde also found that “in all unimportant matters, style, not sincerity, is the essential. In all important matters, style, not sincerity, is the essential.” Wilde did not shy away from a well tailored suit, or the finer things in life, and his flamboyant appearance drew crowds. However, this also speaks to Wilde’s criticism of his contemporaries, and their writing that forced a meaning, and left no room for interpretation. In our class, this can been seen in some of the poetry we have examined so far, like “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” and “The Red Wheelbarrow,” where meaning doesn’t have to be derived, but the work be enjoyed as the consumer so pleases.
I wanted to give my thoughts on some of Oscar Wilde’s pearls of wisdom for my blog post:
ReplyDelete“Wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others.”
I think this statement is somewhat passive aggressive. I believe, based on Wilde’s tendency to focus on superficial figures in his works, he uses the word “good” to mean “seemingly holy” or “societally correct/conforming”, not ethically or morally good. The “good” people of the world are devoutly religious or members of the upper class who, due to their insecurities, label people who look better than them as wicked and sinful. In their eyes, anyone who is too good for them or wouldn’t get with them under normal circumstances is basic and undeserving of salvation because of the lust they make others around them feel. This idea probably stems from Oscar Wilde’s homosexuality, which made him a target for discrimination by the same people who slut shamed attractive people.
“A really well-made buttonhole is the only link between Art and Nature.”
I have a pretty wild idea about this one (see what I did there). This pearl most likely refers to the human body as being natural, and human clothing being superficial art. If all of your buttonholes were broken, you would effectively be naked, revealing your natural, bare, simplistic self to the world. I think Wilde probably was a big fan of clothes and therefore considered fashion an art.
“Pleasure is the only thing one should live for. Nothing ages like happiness.”
I related a lot to this statement. I am not religious and therefore I don’t necessarily believe there is something on the other side of death. I think it’s the end of this magical adventure we get to experience during our time being alive, and therefore I want to experience as many pleasures as I can before my time is up. Being happy right now is much more important to me than being happy in a place nobody can even prove is real. I personally don’t understand some people devoting their time and energy to things they don’t even care about in order to be saved in the afterlife.
“To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.”
This one is just very sweet and I like it. Why spend effort looking for someone else to love you when you can love yourself?
I was fascinated by this material on Oscar Wilde - what a life! There is a lot to unpack.
ReplyDeleteI found Wilde’s idea of truth vs. fact interesting - “The English are always degrading truths into facts. When a truth becomes a fact it loses all its intellectual value.” The documentary stated that he spent much of his younger years very close to his mother, who was an activist and poet. Many of her opinions and ideas must have had an effect on Wilde’s personal mindset, because his mother also agreed that “facts shouldn’t get in the way of a good story,” that you can say anything that you wanted to and that the truth isn’t really that important when you are just trying to entertain people. I think this idea likely translated over to his writings.
The fact that Wilde became the editor of the magazine “Lady’s World,” female power. Using his identity as a celebrity, Wilde was able to help women express themselves during a period of complete oppression and inequality. When we think about how much this actually would have done to help to fight for women’s rights, I would argue that not much progress was made. The only voices represented in these editions of “Lady’s World” are those of the upper class aristocracy. It is also unclear how much Wilde actually believed in equality himself- he could have just become editor to win the respect or support of more women, expanding his audience for his writing works… : “Most women are so artificial that they have no sense of Art. Most men are so natural that they have no sense of Beauty.”
Wilde’s use of undertones of sexuality and gender in his pieces, specificlally homosexuality, suprised and engaged the victorian audience of the time. It was scandalous to speak of such urges, especially since the English government had just deemed sexual relations between men against the law and punishable byimprisonment. He lived a double life: he had a serious boyfriend, while at the same time balancing his marriage to his wife and maintaining relationships with their two children. I am also surprised that he was an advocate for prison reformation, which is exciting because my capstone project is on the effects that prison design has on the psychological well being of prison inmates, specifically those situated in psychiatric wards. Because of my capstone research, I already knew that the prison conditions in England were the most brutal in the world around the time of the Victorian Era. The conditions were ultimately even what lead to Wilde’s death. Living off of barely enough food for survival, in cold, unsanitary, small and secluded environments, was and still is no way to live (though there are still some prisons today that are just as terrible, such as the California Institution for Men, Sabaneta Prison in Venezuela, Bang Kwang Prison in Thailand, or the Petak Island Prison in Russia, just to name a few). Prison design and policy is still an issue today, and is something that I hope to gain more knowledge of so that maybe one day I can help to impact real change.
Finally, I would like to explore Wilde’s idea of celebrity, that celebrity comes first rather than celebrity coming at the end of years of work. I think this is very uncommon but can be seen today in the Kardashians or in social media influencers. The Karashians became celebrities before they did anything, really, and then they used that fame to start extremely successful businesses. Social media influencers most of the time become very popular through what they post, and then use that power to make a profit through promotions and brand deals (Some do use their popularity for good, like for supporting a cause or raising awareness of issues like mental health or female empowerment, to name a few.)
Oscar Wilde was obviously a man of flamboyancy and self-centeredness. His ideas were made to shock people, including characters who were different than the norm (including many instances of homosexual subtext). He did not care for others, and lived his life as a form of aestheticism; he lived his life the way he wanted to because it was without meaning to others, therefore they shouldn’t have to have an opinion on it. He was also very, very dramatic. When he reinvented himself after gaining popularity and wealth in the United States, he is quoted as saying, “the Oscar of the first period is dead”––a comment drastic and almost Shakespearian in nature and formality, yet grim and shocking. Even though Wilde lived as how he had wanted, that didn’t stop him from commenting on the lives of those less fortunate than him. In Phases and Philosophies for Use of the Young, one quote is, “If the poor only had profiles, there would be no difficulty in solving the problem of poverty.” This sounds as if he’s blaming the poor for being in their state, which is an incorrect statement (in today’s world, at least). He doesn’t just criticize the poor, though. He criticizes the young, the rich, and big corporations as well. For a man, so bent on living life free of judgment or opinion, he gives his often when it isn’t asked for. Oscar Wilde is a man of pure narcissism.
ReplyDeleteAfter viewing the documentary about Oscar Wilde’s life, I am amazed by just how complex his life was. Going into this research, I expected the documentary to be the same old boring documentary I have viewed for all of high school, with simply a list of dates and facts with nothing more. Instead, the documentary depicted Oscar Wilde’s incredibly complicated, double life. At the beginning of the documentary, one of the biographers describes Wilde as “[bringing] color to the gray of Victorian England” which he did. His aesthetic point of view was unlike anything anyone in England or in the world for that matter had ever seen. The fearless personality of Oscar Wilde enabled him to “dominate and devastate” every dinner table as well as continue to live his life the way he wanted to despite it being against the law in England for two men to have romantic relations. Wilde was not afraid to think differently than those around him which is why people would gravitate towards him. There was also the mysterious aroma that followed Wilde. He would leave guests speechless after their dinners, causing others to desire to take part in the next one. The scandal of living in secret with Bosie was very captivating to learn about through the documentary. Wilde would spend almost all of his earnings on Bosie instead of providing for his children whom he had loved so much before meeting Bosie. Wilde was extremely deep in debt yet continued to live his lavish lifestyle with Bosie with his golden tipped cigarettes and silver case, while his wife Constance had no idea. It is rather remarkable that Bosie was able to transform Wilde’s life so dramatically. Wilde was an extremely active and fun father, doing the typical every day fatherly things with his children yet was willing to give it all away for his life with Bosie. In the end, his relationship with Bosie diminished any relationship he had with his children because Constance refused to let Wilde see the children if he was still with Bosie. Wilde chose to ignore Constance’s ultimatum resulting in him no longer receiving money from Constance as well as no visitations with his children. Shortly after, Constance died and Wilde lost all hope of seeing his children again for no one would let a convicted criminal near children regardless of whether or not they were his own.
ReplyDeleteOne of the statements Oscar Wilde had that stuck out the most to me was “The first duty in life is to be as artificial as possible. What the second duty is no one has as yet discovered”. In today’s society, people are often extremely artificial or fake in the sense that they try to change themselves to “fit in”. We are continuously editing our pictures and adding filters to make ourselves seem as perfect as possible while at the same time making them also unrealistic. Changing ourselves has become the main focus in the world and society today. Instead of loving our bodies and being proud of who we are, we instead choose to become other people, hiding who we truly are. People are so focused on changing themselves to fit into other people’s views that we cannot move past it and discover what else there is in the world.
Some of Oscar Wilde’s sayings are quite abstract. I don’t understand some of them, but there are others that I agree with. Then there are some sayings that I never thought about, but now they make total sense.
ReplyDeleteIn An Observation, the main ideas about art are highlighted. One of them stuck out to me.
“Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life.” If you think about it, this is true. As humans, when we look at beautiful artwork, we have the desire to shape our lives to resemble the art. This is mostly due to our need for perfection. If that artwork is considered perfect, we want to recreate it in our own lives. This doesn’t apply to only the physical form of artwork like paintings and drawings but also music and television productions as well. We all know, what we see in movies and television shows are not realistic, but we can’t help but try to recreate them. And yes, in some ways art still imitates life like in portraits and observational drawings. But as Wilde said, it’s less common.
There were many quotations in Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young that stuck out as well.
“Wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others.” We see this in society all the time. But I don’t think many have thought about it in this way. Everyone has different ways of thinking. But some refuse to accept that different is good, and in no way does it harm other beliefs. I honestly believe that’s how most conflicts start, over conflicting ideas. People will label others’ ideas as “wicked” because it’s different from theirs. That makes them afraid, even though there’s nothing to be afraid of.
Some sayings make sense, but at the same time, they don’t.
“Time is a waste of money.” I’ve heard people say money is a waste of time. This is saying, if you spend all your time dedicated to work and money, then you won’t have any time left to enjoy the good things in life. In some ways, I agree with that, but I don’t fully agree with it. I’ve never heard anyone say time is a waste of money. I don’t fully understand what it means either.
“Industry is the root of all ugliness.” This made me giggle because of how true it is. It’ll be a waste of time to list all the examples of how the industry has caused most of the society’s ugliness, so I’ll say this if you trace any problems back to its root, it’s most likely caused by the industry.
The last quotation I have is from A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over- Educated.
“Nothing worth knowing can be taught.” I think people have mixed feelings about what Wilde is trying to say here. Most things we learn in school are very subjective, and if we don’t end up in a field that needs it, then it’s pretty much worthless to us. What is worth knowing, we learn through experiences. For example, take the simple lessons parents teach their children. Kids are taught to “be nice”, but they aren’t going to suddenly be nice right after their parents tell them to do so. They have to experience the act of kindness for them to understand that they need to give people the kindness they have received. Most worth knowing things we learn in a classroom setting aren’t related to the subject of that class. It’s more of how to work together, how to multitask, how to not stress over an assignment. All the things we learn from experiencing them; those are things worth knowing.
Oscar Wilde was a man ahead of his time. His view on life would have been extremely controversial back then. Honestly, some of them are probably still debated today. But seeing how his views are so abstract makes me intrigued to see how they are presented in his work.
Before the brief introduction that we have had to Oscar Wilde I had actually never heard of him before and I only have a vague memory and relevance to The Picture Of Dorian Gray but I am sure glad that we are going to be reading and analysing his writing! He seems like a really interesting guy and I like his morals and ideas about living a happy life and his style kind of reminds me of Harry Styles because they both have very flamboyant, unique but also incredibly stylish sense of fashion. Considering how dreary and conservative much of European history is I can definitely understand how in the 1800s people started to want some more easy going happiness in their lives and that is likely why the Aestheticism movement started. I like how it values art for what it is and doesn’t focus too much on deeper meanings of things. I also like how the post briefly mentioned Harold Bloom because I looked him up and he has recently passed this October but he seemed to have great insight and options on literature and art and how it shouldn't be too socially and politically forcefull in plot and ideas. Personally, I really agree with this because even though it is important and sometimes interesting to have deep meanings behind art and writing, if you make art and literature too serious it isn't fun or enjoyable to look at and read anymore which defeats the purpose of art and literature (they’re supposed to be interesting and engaging and pleasurable).
ReplyDeleteA quote that I really liked from Oscar Wilde was, “Pleasure is the only thing one should live for. Nothing ages like happiness.” because that’s one of my long term goals; to live a happy life. All I want is for me and the people who I love and care about to be happy and content. I also thought that some of his quotes were kind of confusing and I couldn't fully understand them when I first read through them all. But then I thought to myself that maybe they aren’t meant to be understood. Maybe Wilde just wanted us to read and enjoy them and to not over analyze and interrogate them.
The documentary described him as homosexual, a drunkard, and an "uncontrollable fornicator." All of these traits do not necessarily make a likable or an interesting person but Wilde is such a character that he uses his flamboyancy and utter glamour to incite shock and swoons alike. His mother said "facts shouldn't get in the wya of a good story." The same applies here, he does not let his characteristics define the story he is trying to tell society about his life. If he could not attain fame, he would settle for notoriety. He did not succumb to temptation, he let it manifest by its accord. There are elements of the way he lived, that were covered in the documentary, that are motivational to me because how he went about achieving them.
ReplyDeleteThe philosophy: "Wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others" seems to stem from some of Wilde's eccentricities, but mainly the fact that his homosexuality was considered "wicked" during that period. He was covert about his partners but brave enough to broadcast homoerotic undertones in his books, especially in "The Picture of Dorian Gray." He seems to have a good self-image of himself and thus makes it possible to be able to spell bind everyone around him.
He presents controversial yet intriguing opinions on a variety of subject matters. One such opinion, "Education is an admirable thing. But it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught," breaks down our understanding of the intended role and definition of education. Bodily functions, sex, love and more are all worth knowing but cannot be taught. They have to be experienced, through trial and error.
I admire Oscar Wilde because of how well he followed through his goals without being chained down to Victorian societal constructs. It took me a while to embrace the idea of aestheticism and what it truly meant but it hit me this past week. I did not fully grasp the purpose and limitations set by Wilde in "The Decay of Lying" but it clicked when I was watching a winter guard show at a party with my color guard team. The show "Independent World" by Etude, according to me, can represent the pinnacle of art and I believe Wilde would find it to fit his aesthetic. I have attached a link: https://youtu.be/g4a1qHc2i2o
Oscar Wilde is the most intelligent man to ever live and I believe that is irrefutable. This man stayed true to himself and blazed his own trail of life which he felt no shame for. People may think that he was hot headed, too egotistical or otherwise idiotic for a lack of a better term, but that is the true core of his genius. He knew what he wanted in life and he reached for it every waking opportunity that he stumbled across. A criticism against his intelligence could be that if everyone acted like Oscar Wilde then this world would be chaos; but that is refutable by the point that no one could ever be like Oscar Wilde no matter how hard they try. He was original and confident, doing what he wanted and how he wanted. When he wanted to write, he wrote; when he wanted to indulge, he indulged; when he found out he was gay, he embraced it. He was realistic with himself, saying that "The only thing I can't resist is temptation" in the documentary; then later he spoke down upon education and indirectly his own academic achievement, "Education is an admirable thing. But it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught." When he was running low on money he did not care enough to stop enjoying what he wanted because he knew there was no point in not; he knew that he could lose everything at any given moment and yet he continued being himself through it all.
ReplyDeleteI am interested to hear from my classmates any candidate perceived smarter than Oscar Wilde. Stephen Hawking was intelligent but not popular; Napoleon was a great conqueror but could not handle his own empire; Rockefeller was an excellent businessman but died with a tarnished name; Steve Jobs was an innovative mind but not nearly as amiable. Oscar Wilde receives astounding marks on his attributes of integrity, sociability, academic intelligence, egoism, independence and celebrity presence. He can be outdone in a single category, but no historical figure can stump him in every aspect.
Oscar Wilde is one of those people in history that I feel like I’ve heard about, but yet haven’t the faintest clue who they are. For whatever reason, I associate Oscar Wilde with Oliver Twist. This is probably just because they are British people with names that start with ‘O’. When I was reading the selected pieces I was struck by the aspect of absolution. Something is either true or false, everything or nothing. There was no middle ground, no gray area. Let’s start with aestheticism. While this was created by Wilde on his own, he was certainly a strong supporter of the idea. The concept of putting sensual qualities over practicality has come and go in time. Personally, I believe that it has been making a comeback in the 2000s. This may just be a result of my limited time on earth, but I have never heard of a family such as the Kardashians in the mid to late 1900s. Harold Bloom’s goal of keeping politics out of art has merit. The internet and social media has created a killing ground for people that seek to call people out for their political views. For instance, if the Kardashians started focusing on their politics, the show would fall off. People want an escape from politics, and art that follows aestheticism provide them with that escape. Going on to the Decay of Living, we see Wilde’s beliefs around the idea of aestheticism. The concept of romanticism over realism is conforms to this practice of sensuality before practicality. It is in through the four doctrines that we begin to see Wilde’s habit of making absolute claims. By saying art never express more than itself, Wilde provides no wiggle room. This makes sense in the context of aestheticism, but it is in total contrast to statements we might make today. Nowadays celebrities almost never make absolute claims. This is because people today have a tendency to call people out on exceptions to their claims. Wilde seems to have no care for those that oppose him. This allows him to make these absolute claims that have a powerful meaning behind the meaning of art. His phrases and philosophies are in much the same style. They provide no room to argue; they are just statements. Wilde constantly uses the word ‘is’ as it was intended. He uses it to make assertions that he believes in, and provides no other words that could lessen it’s impact. In A few maxims… he, again, makes many absolute claims. My favorite is “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.” This quote made me laugh for some reason, probably because of the truth behind it. We, the public, put so much trust in those that review works of art for no reason other than that they claim to see beyond the obvious. The clearest example of this today it Rotten Tomatoes. I believe that if Wilde were to go to a movie theater today, he would look for the movies that have high audience scores but low critic scores. These movies would be full of sensual pleasures, yet they would have no meaning behind them, a true example of aestheticism. One example of this would be the most recent Godzilla movie. Full of explosions and monster fights that create pleasure for the audience, critics struggle to find the underlying meaning behind it because there is one. In conclusion, Oscar Wilde would love to go see Godzilla, King of Monsters.
ReplyDeleteI think that Oscar Wilde was undoubtedly a genius and his work is incredible. I think that Oscar Wilde’s works are very interesting as a whole. I did not particularly like the documentary, I thought it was pretty basic and didn’t go too much depth on anything. I thought that Oscar Wilde’s incorporation of Aestetheticism to his work was very cool. One thing that I like about Oscar Wilde is the way that he challenges traditional endings to stories. His stories don’t end with a resolution of a “Happily Ever After”, and often have terrible endings. In “THe decay of Lying”, Oscar Wilde say that “Art Never Expresses anything but itself”, I see a connection between this line and Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins, because people often try to put deeper meanings out of art, and see what it is imitating, which is like beating a poem with a rubber hose. I enjoyed reading Wilde’s prases and philosophies to be used by the young. I like all of these phrases but one of them is by far my favorite, “Nothing that occurs is of the smallest importance”. When I first read this line I began thinking about all the things people do in their lives, and why, and I realized that everyone is going to die, so why would anything we do matter. This quote is so bleak and I love that words alone can make someone question the entire reality they live in, this is a true expression of Oscar Wilde’s genius.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Oscar Wilde’s works, I have a strong feeling that he just wants to tell us that what you know, what you think, and what you believe are all wrong. He tries all his best with his excellent language skills and elaborate plots to criticize Victorian society and make his audience aware of Victorian vices. He emphasizes ‘art for art’s sake.’ People have their freedom to think. Their thoughts should not be judged or confined by the conventional ethics and morality. He believes that Art did not have any didactic purpose; it need only be beautiful. He asserts that life should copy art.
ReplyDeleteIn The Happy Prince and Other Tales, the prince enjoyed his extravagant life. Until he turns into a statue, "Happy Prince.” Then, he sees the the miserable world with people suffering in poverty. With the help of a swallow, he gives the ruby from his hilt, the sapphires from his eyes, and the gold leaf covering his body to the poor. Eventually the swallow dies in cold winter, and the statue’s heart breaks. People pull down the statue and melts it in a furnace. In this story, the real life is ugly but “Happy Prince”, the statue, is beautiful, both internally and externally.
In Lady Windermere's Fan, Wilde tells a peculiar story full of coincidences. Lady Windermere, who suspects that her husband is having an affair with another woman, decides to leave her husband for another lover, Lord Darlington. After discovering what has transpired, Mrs Erlynne follows Lady Windermere and attempts to persuade her to return to her husband. It is then revealed Mrs Erlynne is Lady Windermere's mother, who abandoned her family twenty years ago. However, in Lord Darlington house, Lord Windermere shows up and sees Lady Windermere's fan. Mrs. Erlynne must come out of hiding and say that she took the fan, allowing Lady Windermere to escape without being seen. An exalted lady, Lady Windermere is about to do something indiscreet, but Mrs. Erlynne, a woman with a past, sacrifices herself and her reputation to save her daughter's marriage. In this play, Wilde blurs the line between the morality and the immorality, and overthrows the traditional concepts of good women and bad women in the Victorian age.
Wilde’s confrontation with the traditional morn is seen in the words he uses. With humor, satire, and contrasting words, he often presents impressive ideas. ‘Wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others.’ ‘Only the shallow know themselves.’’To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.’ ‘If one tells the truth, one is sure, sooner or later, to be found out.’His words always give me a shock and then a sudden enlightenment. I can’t help to ask myself “why didn’t I see another side of the coin?”
To be completely honest, I had no idea who Oscar Wilde was prior to this assignment. But after watching the documentary, I can say without hesitation that I have great respect for him and what he did. His story stood really stood out to me; it was unlike anything I'd ever heard of before. It was very inspiring to see someone strive to become as successful as he did, then risk his everything he'd worked for by challenging the beliefs of society. He was an important reformer for homosexual rights as well as famous figure in the literary world.
ReplyDeleteOne of the more interesting works, in my opinion, was “The Decay of Lying”. If there was one thing I noticed about Wilde, from reading this, “Phrases and Philosophies for the use of the Young”, and “A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-Educated” was that he has very one extreme opinions on a lot of matters; he generally states that something can either go/be all of one way or all of the other; with no in between. As a result, I found that most of the time I either completely agreed or blatantly disagreed with him. For example, one of his statements is “One should never listen.” I disagree with this; I feel like most of the time the only way to learn and grow is to listen to others.
Aestheticism- A late nineteenth century movement that emphasized the creation of art just to be beautiful, not to push any sort of agenda.
ReplyDeleteAlthough an initially difficult concept to understand, I can relate to the thought process that led Oscar Wilde to adopt an aestheticism view towards art. Especially with the way modern art is today, with such works of art such as a canvas painted completely black depicting police violence, an emphasis on aestheticism not only gets rid of these ridiculous “symbolic” pieces of art and actually forces the artist to be good at art. While the movement may restrict what some believe to be the purpose of art, at least it’ll look damn good while you look at it.
Oscar Wilde is a character. I cannot believe that I have heard of him until today. Strangely, he reminds me of Trump. In fact, as I think about it, their lives are eerily similar. Both were born into rich families, manipulatively intelligent, stubbornly confident, and successful and charismatic despite mounds of criticism. Furthermore, after coming back from America he even adopted a very American ambition which involved stepping on others’ toes if required. Now I’m just waiting for Trump to discover his own “sexual consciousness” and come out as gay.
Uh oh. I just got to the part of the documentary where we find out Wilde is a pedophile. With all of his intelligence and charisma, he ended up becoming exactly what he feared due to his obsession to “attractive boys”, a hypocritical victorian. With his own personal life seemingly overshadowing his writing career, I found it very interesting and lucky how his work was still revived after his death which I suppose is a nod to his skill as an author.
It seems to me that Oscar Wilde was ahead of his time. I think he would be a spectacular millennial. I love how eccentric he was, how he insisted upon dressing well all the time. It seems kinda crazy how he was famous before he’d actually done anything. It speaks to his ability as a socialite. I can understand how he became such a celebrity; He is such a genuinely interesting person. I think the world couldn't help but watch him. A lot of his mantras seem less like sound logical conclusions and more like sensationalist claims that serve only to get people talking. Additionally, I find it funny how he sounds like an angsty teen. I swear that my friends have said something like “only the shallow know themselves.” overall he seems like a cool guy and I look forward to studying his works.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine how unheard of Oscar Wilde’s ideas were during the Victorian era because they are still unheard of today. Almost every one of his quotes seem to contradict everything our society and culture says is true. However, he does this in such a humorous way through witty wording and paradoxes. I, myself, have a witty personality, so I appreciate Wilde’s clever comments that are sprinkled in the documentary, especially when he says to the American customs official, “The only thing I have to declare is my genius.”
ReplyDelete“The Picture of Dorian Gray” sounds like a fascinating novel with such a unique storyline. Every time Dorian does something immoral, the painting of himself ages, while he remains young. The novel also hints at homosexuality, which shocked his Victorian audience. It is interesting to contrast Wilde with Charles Dickens, who focused on conveying political and social messages through his novels. In “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” Wilde does not make known a real moral or happy ending. Instead, he allows good things to happen to bad people such as Dorian. He was so boldly counter-cultural. It is also important to remember that it was extremely more difficult in the late 1800s than it is today to introduce an idea so foreign like Aestheticism and even criticize the social hierarchy system.
I noticed that Wilde tends to emphasize the idea that youth is perfection. Dorian remaining young and beautiful in the novel is one example, but Wilde also has several quotes on this topic. One of his quotes from “Phrases and Philosophies for the use of the Young by Oscar Wilde,” is
“The old believe everything: the middle-aged suspect everything: the young know everything.” Additionally, in “A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-Educated by Oscar Wilde,” is a quote that says, “Those whom the gods love grow young.” I wonder if his perspective on youth played a part in his being attracted to Robbie Ross, a college student and later, Lord Douglas, who was 16 years younger than him.
I ended up reading Oscar Wilde's writings before I learned about his history in the biography. When first reading them and knowing nothing about him, he honestly set me off the wrong way. At first, I thought his work was just a bunch of facts that he believed in. I wrote down in my notes that I believed he had a very "it is what it is" personality because he makes these statements that you either agree with, or disagree with, but he doesn't care to explain why he thinks that way; he just moves on to the next 'idea'. After watching the biography, I don't think I was that far off, but I do think I took his writings more seriously than intended. I didn’t take a moment to think that he was joking, and I was too invested in agreeing with his statements, or disagreeing with his statements.
ReplyDeleteOne part of the biography that stuck out to me was when they were talking about his mother, who was also a poet. The way they describe what she was like stating, "She would say things to shock people...she believed that facts really shouldn't get in the way of a good story." I enjoy the thread from her writing continued throughout his.
I’m very excited to start reading Oscar Wilde because I feel like although him and Woolf may share some ideas (like him writing about being as artificial as possible which relates to Woolf’s character Clarissa and her way of acting happy throughout the whole story despite having many thoughts of sadness). I think that Woolf’s writing was very dragged on and beautiful, but I feel like Wilde’s writing will be a bit more entertaining, knowing about his humor.
Oscar Wilde was someone who was not afraid to push the boundaries in his craft and in his life. He was a person in which all his actions were in an effort to shock or create a conversation amongst others. Some may view this as self-centered, but it was this part of his personality that allowed for him to push the boundary for the norms in writing. Once Wilde gained popularity and created a name for himself, he said that “the Oscar of the first period is dead.” Oscar did this to become a better writer, and constantly create surprises in his life and in his writing. This reminds me of today how celebrities, particularly singers are constantly evolving, and change their image in hopes to continue and advance their success and popularity by surprising their audience. Wilde led a life that constantly had its challenges, and this probably allowed for the cleverness in his writing and the worlds he was able to create in his writing. The idea of aestheticism fascinates me because it is the complete opposite of what we are taught in school. We spend our time in history and English class analyzing the deeper meaning about art pieces throughout history, and the hidden messages in the writing by different authors, and how it related to the time period. The movement of aestheticism led by Wilde in Britain was a new idea for its time, and the shock of this idea has allowed his works to survive, and are still popular today.
ReplyDeleteOscar Wild’s fought the stereotypes that surrounded him and was always striving to shock his audience, this courageous intelligence transcends Victorian England and his work and ideas will always be relevant in our society. Wilde refused to conform to society at the time and this was evident in his relationships, writing, and all other aspects of his life.
ReplyDeleteHe thought one should either be a work of art or create a work of art, which would in turn create a world of beauty. Wilde saw the power of art created to be beautiful, instead of creating it to serve a purpose or impose a deeper meaning. He wanted to prove that art was worth creating just to relish its beauty and he wanted people to also recognize the beauty in objects. Instead of being materialistic and looking for more quantity in his life, he noticed and respected the quality of belongings.
To be completely honest, I had no idea who Oscar Wilde was prior to this assignment. But after watching the documentary, I can say without hesitation that I have great respect for him and what he did. His story stood really stood out to me; it was unlike anything I'd ever heard of before. It was very inspiring to see someone strive to become as successful as he did, then risk his everything he'd worked for by challenging the beliefs of society. He was an important reformer for homosexual rights as well as famous figure in the literary world.
ReplyDeleteOne of the more interesting works, in my opinion, was “The Decay of Lying”. If there was one thing I noticed about Wilde, from reading this, “Phrases and Philosophies for the use of the Young”, and “A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-Educated” was that he has very one extreme opinions on a lot of matters; he generally states that something can either go/be all of one way or all of the other; with no in between. As a result, I found that most of the time I either completely agreed or blatantly disagreed with him. For example, one of his statements is “One should never listen.” I disagree with this; I feel like most of the time the only way to learn and grow is to listen to others.
Oscar Wilde is absolutely fascinating. After reading through the pre-materials, the more I learn about him the more interesting his work becomes. His views towards aestheticism are quite intriguing. The idea of “art for art’s sake”, while seemingly implausible and odd at first, takes on a new meaning when further observed. In Wilde’s The Decay of Lying, his four doctrines of aestheticism lay the foundation for his views towards art itself. The piece that I found to be particularly striking was the last rule, “Lying, the telling of beautiful untrue things, is the proper aim of Art.” He claims that art in of itself is a lie, for it portrays fantasies. These fantasies may be positive or negative, but they are artfully beautiful, and are thus not true. This play on the idea of “lying” is a fascinating one. Wilde’s fondness for paradoxes is quite interesting and to a degree very funny. My favorite of the quotes listed is, “One should never listen. To listen is a sign of indifference to one's hearers.” He has a distinct air about him, one of undyingly effervescent character, and I cannot wait to delve into his work.
ReplyDeleteOscar Wilde lived a very unique life. He was raised by two very educated people that taught him to listen first before he spoke. His peculiar mentality developed from there as he used it to arise in society. Wilde used the fact that people called him a fool to forward himself in society as he believed that celebrity should always come first. After gaining such popularity, he married and had children but soon became bored with the conventional Victorian life so he put himself back in the spotlight by becoming the editor of the Ladies World. He soon began his relationship with Bosey which led to Wildes absolute dismay. His eye-opening discovery of his sexuality essentially led him to become bankrupt, a convict, and ostracized by English society.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I'm going to truly enjoy reading Oscar Wilde's works as he would be the perfect person to hang around with. He has a great personality and unique perception of oneself and life in general. I really liked the lines “Friendship is far more tragic than love. It lasts longer” from A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-Educated and “To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance” from Phrases and Philosophies for the use of the Young as they target many of the difficulties that people face in everyday life with the challenges of knowing how to love themselves and others as well as knowing how to balance the two. I feel like many learn how to love others first before they truly love themselves when the most important and significant type of love is self-love.
The way Oscar Wilde expresses himself feel incredibly obnoxious and self assured to me. Maybe it wasn’t so back in his day but it certainly feels that way to me. His quotes on education, are incredibly rich for someone so well educated, and I am bothered less by the content than the presentation of his opinions. The are uncomfortably reminiscent of the types of quotes you might see on an instagram page frequented by edgy teenagers. His clothing also adds to his sense of self centeredness. I’m sure if he read this he’d tell me that’s the point though. His writing is really clever though, so I guess some of his confidence is well deserved.
ReplyDeleteHis serious pursuits of frivolity is the most unique part of him to me. Perhaps it’s a result of his upbringing and status. I don’t want to speculate though. Rather than a sort of dreadless pointlessness, his bright nothings are certainly a perspective to think about.
I enjoy thoughts on art, and the aesthetic movement in general. It’s interesting to me that people were asking the same question about art and writing at the same time as in music, albeit in the opposite direction. Western music, for a while, at the time, was usually about nothing, with creative titles like Allegro (fast), String Quartet in D, etc. However, around this point people were starting to write music about things like Flight of the Bumblebee, Clair de Lune, and Don Quixote. It’s a funny contrast to me. I tend more towards the idea that having an intended meaning or sentiment attached to music removes some of the ability to enjoy it more personally, now that an interpretation has been forced on you, especially since in music there is another layer between the creator and consumer, that being the performer, whose interpretation is arguably more important than the composer’s. Bach’s cello suites, for instance, were relatively unknown for 200 years before Pau Casals played it, and is now heard in commercials everywhere due to the interpretations. I feel the same way towards art. I wish to know as little about as possible before I see it, the same with works of writing. I also don’t like forcibly attaching meaning to things. I appreciate his ability to create something intentionally pointless, and just pretty because I’m tired of looking for something.
James Chen
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