Oscar Wilde

INTERVIEW

“Questions are never indiscreet; answers sometimes are.”

Host: Welcome to today’s segment: Wild for Wilde! Featuring the astoundingly talented author, playwright, and poet Oscar Wilde!  It’s a pleasure to meet you.

Oscar: Thank you for having me.

Host: Let me start off with the basics, when and where were you born?

Oscar: October 16th, 1854 in Dublin, Ireland

Host: What was it like for you when you were growing up?

Oscar: My parents were unique in their own ways. My mother had been a supporter of the Irish nationalist movement and was a published poet under the pen name Sperenza. My father, Dr. William Wilde, although being a philanthropist and surgeon, was condemned by the public for being a philanderer.

Host: What themes do you depict in your writing?

Oscar: Aestheticism, corruption, morbidity, morality, satire, deceit, death, and love.

Host: Who influenced your writing or what is your source of inspiration?

    • Examining the upper classes of royalty and aristocracy
    • Lord Alfred Douglas, my lover
    • At Oxford
      • John Ruskin
        • critic, writer, and professor
      • Walter Pater
        • a critic and essayist whose Studies in the History of The Renaissance legitimized Wilde’s nascent ideas on art and individualism.

Host: This might be a sensitive topic, but what are you able to tell us about the current controversy you are in?

Oscar: I married Constance Lloyd in 1884 and had two sons with her, Cyril and Vyvyan, but I  was later exposed for having an affair with Lord Alfred Douglas. I was convicted of gross indecency with men and served time in prison for two years- there, I wrote some of my greatest works. My wife later changed her and our children’s surname to Holland.

      • Met Douglas in 1891
      • Imprisoned 1895 – 1897

Host: Thank you for sharing such personal information. To end off this interview, what advice would you be able to offer to our audience and aspiring writers alike?

Oscar:

  • “There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. That is all.”
  • “Make some sacrifice for your art, and you will be repaid, but ask of art to sacrifice herself for you and a bitter disappointment may come to you,”
  • “The best work in literature is always done by those who do not depend on it for their daily bread and the highest form of literature, Poetry, brings no wealth to the singer.”

Host: Those were very wise words. We really appreciated your time here. Let’s give him a round of applause! Thanks for watching our Wild for Wilde segment and we’ll see you next time!

BIOGRAPHY

  • During his college years, he won awards such as the Berkeley Gold Medal at Trinity College and the Oxford Newdigate Prize for his poem “Ravenna” at Magdalen College.
  • While in Oxford, Wilde became involved in the aesthetic movement.
        • Literature and art movement that emphasized the aesthetic values over social/moral/political themes
        • ‘art for art’s sake’
        • anti-Victorian literature: when conventionalism and totalitarianism were the basis of society, he opted for his own, “different” way of thinking
  • Epigrams
    • a short pithy statement written in verse that depicts humorous/satirical observations
  • Aphorisms
    • a terse, witty saying that embodies a general truth, or astute observation
    • Similar to Proverbs
  • He died in Paris on November 30th, 1900.

“Beauty is the only thing that time cannot harm. Philosophies fall away like sand, creeds follow one another, but what is beautiful is a joy for all seasons, a possession for all eternity.”

MAJOR WORKS

  • Intentions: A collection of essays based on the characteristics of art, literature, criticism, and society, that offers insight into Wilde’s wit and intellect.
  • De Profundis: A letter written to Lord Alfred Douglas when Wilde was imprisoned, where he indicts Douglas’ arrogance and vanity. The most important elements of this piece include a spiritual awakening for Wilde alongside a hope of redemption.
  • The Ballad of Reading Gaol: A long poem depicting Wilde’s time in Reading Gaol prison and the psychological effects it had on the condemned. The hardships he faced are clearly reflected in the piece as there is a purposeful dark, sorrowful tone that is conveyed rather than what he is commonly known for in his writing: His brilliant wit.
  • The Importance of Being Earnest: A satirical, farcical, and comedic play that trivializes the Victorian Era and its social obligations or code of behaviour such as marriage and communication (social interactions).
  • The Picture of Dorian Gray: Oscar Wilde’s one and only novel depicts the meeting of Basil Hallward, Lord Henry, and Dorian Gray. Dorian Gray is a young man whose hungry desire to maintain his youth and beauty leads to the selling of his soul and corruption of morals, which thus results in the progressive ugliness of his portrait.

WRITING STYLE

  • Thoughtful imagery
  • Realistic dialect
  • Paradox
  • Irony
  • Satire
  • Long complex dialogue over action
  • Allusions
  • Wit
  • Irony
  • Juxtaposition
  • Epigrams, Aphorisms
  • Symbolism
  • Figurative Language

“THE DOLE OF THE KING’S DAUGHTER” BY OSCAR WILDE

Seven stars in the still water,

And seven in the sky;

Seven sins on the King’s daughter,

Deep in her soul to lie.

Red roses are at her feet,

(Roses are red in her red-gold hair)

And O where her bosom and girdle meet

Red roses are hidden there.

Fair is the knight who lieth slain

Amid the rush and reed,

See the lean fishes that are fain

Upon dead men to feed.

Sweet is the page that lieth there,

(Cloth of gold is goodly prey,)

See the black ravens in the air,

Black, O black as the night are they.

What do they there so stark and dead?

(There is blood upon her hand)

Why are the lilies flecked with red?

(There is blood on the river sand.)

There are two that ride from the south and east,

And two from the north and west,

For the black raven a goodly feast,

For the King’s daughter rest.

There is one man who loves her true,

(Red, O red, is the stain of gore!)

He hath duggen a grave by the darksome yew,

(One grave will do for four.)

No moon in the still heaven,

In the black water none,

The sins on her soul are seven,

The sin upon his is one.

 

MY EMULATION: 

lovers among the Stars

Filled with beauty, the mesmerizing stars

Glisten in the blackened night;

Looking up at his lover, he

Recites the orison, heavily.

 

 

Each word with more passion

And yearning.

 

 

Surely, it was fate that  brought him

To see the beautiful face painted

Among the stars, every night.

 

 

The bittersweet whine rose on her

brilliant hair grew more delightful,

As each night passed.

 

 

He grew a white rose underneath

The stars above.

 

 

Finally, after the stars

Had blessed it, he gave it to her.

 

 

She stained its delicacy with

The blood on her hands:

The tainted glory of all those before

Him.

 

 

Truly, it had been a burden for him to

Ever pray underneath the painted face among

The Stars.

 

 

SOCRATIC DISCUSSION

  1. How does the usage of the colours (gold, black, and red) connect to themes in this poem?
  2. What are possible theme statements you can create for this piece?
  3. How does the use of punctuation throughout the piece affect it?

“In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it. The last is much the worst—the last is a real tragedy.”

CONCLUSION: HOW HAVE WE BEEN INFLUENCED?

Through the process of doing this major project, I feel as if I have been exposed to a whole new side of literature that I had never been before. I have explored his writing style and gained a deeper understanding of it and its tendencies. For me personally, studying and emulating his works have helped me improve my poetry writing. I have always struggled with poetry the most in terms of writing; however, through studying Oscar Wilde I think I have definitely improved from where I was before.

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

 

Citations

Image used for my emulation, “lovers among the Stars,” is in the public domain and does not require attribution.

Sarony, Napoleon. “Portrait of Oscar Wilde.” Wikimedia, 9 Apr. 2006, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sarony,_Napoleon_(1821-1896)_-_Oscar_Wilde_(1854-1900)_1882_-_picture_-_23_-_reversed.jpg.