Concetti Chiave
- Oscar Wilde was a scholar-wit and aesthete influenced by Ruskin and Pater during his studies at Oxford.
- He published his first volume of poems in 1881 after traveling in Italy and Greece.
- Wilde's literary period began with fairy tales and culminated in the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, which critiques societal norms.
- His reputation as a dramatist is secured by four comedies of manners, notably The Importance of Being Earnest.
- Wilde's life was marked by scandal and imprisonment, leading to works like The Ballad of Reading Gaol before his death in France.
Oscar wilde's early life
Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin and educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he felt the influence of Ruskin and Pater.
He distinguished himself as a scholar-wit and an aesthete immediately upon his arrival at Oxford in 1874. He travelled in Italy and Greece and published his first volume of poems in 1881.
In 1884 Wilde married Constance Lloyd, and a period of intensive literary production ensued, beginning with his fairy tales The Happy Prince and Other Tales for children, rich in ironical comment on the selfishness and hypocrisy.
Dorian gray and aestheticism
In his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, his aestheticism is to be found with all its aspects: the superiority of the artist over the rules of society and morality. The story of the portrait growing old and monstrous while the person it portrays – Dorian Gray – always remains young and handsome is a variant of Balzac’s Peau de Chagrin. In spite of its exasperated aestheticism teaches in essence a moral lesson which was overlooked owing to Wilde’s scandalous life.
Wilde's dramatic legacy
It is as a dramatist, however, that Wilde still holds his place in literature. His reputation rests on four “comedies of manners”: Lady Windermere’s Fan; A Woman of no importance; An ideal Husband; The importance of Being Earnest, his masterpiece.
All of them provide an elegant – and ironical – picture of the upper classes of Wilde’s Time.
Wilde was a man who needed a life ostentation; his vanity landed him into disaster. The father of Lord Alfred Douglas accused him of homosexual dealings. The writer was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with hard labour. In his misery the poet wrote The Ballad of reading Gaol and De Profundis.
After his release form lived in France rejected by most of his friends, he died in France in 1900.
Domande da interrogazione
- ¿Cuál fue la influencia de la educación de Oscar Wilde en su carrera literaria?
- ¿Cómo se refleja el esteticismo de Wilde en su novela "El retrato de Dorian Gray"?
- ¿Qué impacto tuvo la vida personal de Wilde en su carrera y legado?
Oscar Wilde fue educado en el Magdalen College de Oxford, donde sintió la influencia de Ruskin y Pater, lo que contribuyó a su distinción como erudito y esteta desde su llegada en 1874.
En "El retrato de Dorian Gray", el esteticismo de Wilde se manifiesta en la superioridad del artista sobre las normas de la sociedad y la moralidad, aunque la novela también enseña una lección moral que fue pasada por alto debido a la vida escandalosa de Wilde.
La vida personal de Wilde, marcada por la ostentación y el escándalo, culminó en su caída cuando fue acusado de relaciones homosexuales, lo que resultó en una condena de dos años de prisión y su eventual rechazo social, afectando su legado y llevándolo a vivir sus últimos años en Francia.
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