Concetti Chiave
- Oscar Wilde's early life was marked by his education in Oxford and his adoption of Aestheticism, leading him to become a celebrated figure in London for his wit and dandyism.
- His literary contributions include the novel 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' and various plays, which, while innovative, damaged his reputation due to perceived immorality.
- Wilde's personal life was tumultuous, including a public trial and imprisonment due to his affair with Alfred Douglas, leading to his eventual exile in France.
- The philosophy of the dandy, as embraced by Wilde, emphasized individualism, wit, and aesthetic elegance, distinct from bohemian values.
- Wilde's belief in 'Art for Art's Sake' was central to his work, focusing on beauty without moral implications, as highlighted in the preface of his novel.
What was Oscar Wilde's early life like?
Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854.
He studied at Oxford and became a disciple of Walter Pater, the theorist of Aestheticism in England accepting the theory of ‘Art for Art’s Sake’.
He then moved to London, where he became a celebrity for his extraordinary wit (spirit, humor) and his dress as a ‘dandy’.
He also did a tour in the United States, where he gave some lectures about the Pre-Raphaelites and the Aesthetes; the tour was a great success for Wilde, who became famous for his irony, his attitudes and his poses.
He then went back to Europe and married Constance Lloyd.
He was also a great talker, he participated to many events in London.
Literary contributions
Wilde wrote many short stories for his children, but also wrote an important novel ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’.
After his first and only novel, he developed an interest in drama and recovered/renewed the comedy of manners.
He produced also a series of plays, but those, with the tragedy ‘Salomé’, damaged the writer’s reputation, as they were considered immoral.
In 1891 he met Alfred Douglas, with whom Wilde had a homosexual affair.
Douglas’ father forced for a public trial and Wilde was sentenced to two years of hard labour.
When he was released, he was a broken man; his wife refused to see him, so he went into exile in France, where he lived his last years in poverty.
He died of meningitis in Paris in 1900.
The philosophy of the dandy
Wilde lived in the role of the rebel and dandy.
The dandy must be distinguished from the bohemian: while the bohemian allies himself to the rural or urban proletariat, the dandy is a bourgeois artist, who remains a member of his class.
The Wildean Dandy is an aristocratic, whose elegance is a symbol of the superiority of his spirit; he uses his wit to shock, and is an individualist who demands absolute freedom.
Life for the Dandy was meant for pleasure.
Wilde’s interest in beauty had no moral stance.
He affirmed in the Preface of his novel: ‘There is no such thing as a moral or immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. That is all’.
Wilde believed that only ‘Art as the cult of Beauty’ could prevent the murder of the soul.
He wrote only to pleasure himself and was not concerned in communicating his theories to his fellow-beings.
Domande da interrogazione
- What was Oscar Wilde's educational background and early influences?
Oscar Wilde studied at Oxford, where he became a disciple of Walter Pater, embracing the theory of Aestheticism and 'Art for Art’s Sake'. This philosophy greatly influenced his later works and lifestyle.
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