THE
IMPORTANCE OF
BEING EARNEST
And the Life of
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was an
extraordinary character, a
coveted party guest whose witty,
urbane, irreverent, wise,
generous, and kind presence was
sought by many.
Irish poet W.B. Yeats said, “the
dinner table was Wilde’s event
and made him the greatest talker
of his time, and his plays and
dialogues have what merit they
possess from being an initiation,
now a record, of his talk.”
Wilde was more than just a posturing aesthete. His nature
was governed by an irreconcilable duality. He was the
most of men yet frequently destitute, graceful while
unusually muscular, whimsical though keenly observant,
no one’s fool and society’s whipping boy.
Discuss the use of the word duality in this description of Oscar Wilde.
How might one person possess these antithetical characteristics?
Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin in
1854 to notable parents. His father, Robert Wills Wilde, was a
well-established surgeon (and womanizer) and his mother, Jane
Francesca Elgee, wrote poetry under the name “Speranza.”
In this learned, if somewhat eccentric environment, Wilde was
exposed to culture, drama and aesthetics.
Aesthetics = The study of beauty and art.
An accomplished student, Wilde
attended some of Dublin’s finest
educational institutions—the Protestant
public school Portora Royal (1864) and
Trinity College, to which he won a
scholarship in 1871. He later attended
Magdalen College, Oxford.
Oscar Wilde at Oxford
Under the tutelage of such eminent fine arts scholars as
John Ruskin and Walter Pater, Wilde developed his
particular sense of aestheticism. He affected a languishing
air, wore eccentric clothes, grew his hair long, and often
carried lilies or sunflowers.
How do you think
Wilde was received by
the public?
What modern-day
celebrities have
adopted a similar
aesthetic?
EARLY CAREER
“It’s extraordinary how soon one gets known in London”
✺ Oscar Wilde’s first published works, the play Vera; or, The
Nihilists and a collection of poetry called Poems received
mixed reviews.
✺ In 1882, due to the growing popularity of Gilbert and
Sullivan’s satirical opera, Patience, Wilde was invited to visit
the United States on a lecture tour of the “decorative arts,”
which was very successful.
“When good Americans die, they go to Paris;
What do you think are some characteristics of Decadent art based upon
when bad Americans
die, they
stay in America.”
the paintings
below?
---
Oscar Wilde
“As a method, Realism is a complete failure…[T]he two
things that every artist should avoid are modernity of form
and modernity of subject matter.” -- Oscar Wilde
As we read The Importance of Being Earnest, pay
attention to the ways in which Wilde eschews the
“real” in favor of developing a decadent aesthetic.
PERSONAL LIFE
Wilde’s income was meager and always
short of his extravagant spending.
In 1884 he married Constance Lloyd, the
beautiful young daughter of a Dublin
barrister, whose small fortune helped to
rectify his financial difficulties.
Of course, their marriage would not be his most celebrated romance…
FINDING SUCCESS
 In 1887 Wilde became editor of The Woman’s World, a
progressive magazine, and held that position for two years.
 Wilde garnered acclaim at first for his collections of stories
and novels, and then for his great successes in theater. His
final years were among his most prolific.
In 1891, Wilde was introduced
to Lord Alfred Douglas, then a
student at Oxford and a
handsome and spoiled young
man. The two quickly struck an
intimate friendship and soon
became lovers as well as
literary collaborators.
Total ruin nipped at the heels of Oscar Wilde’s most
lauded success, The Importance of Being Earnest…
Alfred Douglas’ father, the Marquess of Queensbury, outraged
by his son’s relationship with Wilde, went to the theater on
opening night intending to embarrass the playwright by tossing
rotten vegetables onstage. Wilde caught wind of the plan and
denied Douglas entrance. Four days later the Marquess sent an
insulting card to Wilde’s club which read, “For Oscar Wilde,
posing as somdomite [sic].”
What might be some of the social and
professional implications of this event?
The Marquess’ charge is serious.
How do you think Wilde responded?
Wilde’s friends urged him to be prudent and leave the country for a while.
Wilde responded, “Prudent? How can I be that?
It would mean going backward. I must go as far as possible.”
Wilde sued the Marquess for libel,
but during rigorous crossexamination Wilde’s
homosexuality was revealed. He
was arrested and convicted of
committing “gross indecency.”
“‘The love that dare not speak its name’
is such a great affection of an elder for a
younger man as there was between
David and Jonathan, such as Plato made
the very basis of his philosophy, and
such as you find in the sonnets of
Michelangelo and Shakespeare. It is that
deep spiritual affection that is as pure as
it is perfect . . . . It is beautiful, it is fine,
it is the noblest form of affection. There
is nothing unnatural about it. That it
should be so, the world does not
understand. The world mocks at it, and
sometimes puts one in the pillory for it.”
-- Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde was
sentenced to two years’
hard labor. After his
release he took up exile in
Paris where he died, lonely
and penniless, of cerebral
meningitis in November,
1900. De Profundis, a
collection of his prison
letters to Alfred Douglas,
was published many years
after Wilde’s death.