I am. I am, and have been for many years, truly and deeply enamoured of Oscar Wilde. I see Newman in Wilde, and I see Wilde in Waugh (as well as others), and it all comes together in a lovely tapestry of beauty, sin, and, ultimately . . . atonement.In my opinion, Wilde's genius knew no bounds. His plays are brilliant and tremendously funny, his children's stories are positively delightful, his non-fiction is insightful, and his poetry bears its own unique beauty that is alive with color, depth, and sensuality (I'm thinking primarily of "A Harlot's House").
I'm also fond of Joseph Pearce's biography, _The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde_. I think that he treats Wilde fairly, both with honesty and with understanding. What do you think, fellow readers?
Wilde, of course, still remains of figure who provokes controversy. Where do you weigh in on this enigmatic genius?
18 comments:
Hi, I love your site. I'm also a big fan of Wilde and Waugh (Somerset Maugham too.) I love Wilde's children's stories, espcially The Selfish Giant, which still brings me to tears whenever I read it.
:-) I liked The Picture of Dorian Gray, and to my knowledge that is all of Oscar Wilde I have experienced. I've just been moved to click on a site about him, and am halfway through "De Profundis" (Where there is sorrow there is holy ground..) -- and interrupted that to read his poem "Easter Day."
It's funny.. I had just mentioned to a friend that I wanted to explore God through poetry and other works of art, perhaps icons, too. I already find myself praying that Oscar has been forgiven all, freed into All.
*sigh.. :-) I myself feel sprung.. thank you. Happy Easter.
I shall have to avoid this post. Though I majored in English, I successfully avoided reading more than one poem or essay (can't remember which) by Wilde. I was a Hemingway man, through and through.
Go ahead. Hate me. You know you want to! :-)
PS - The Lord is Risen! Happy Easter
I cannot speak to this as to date I have dodged reading any Wilde... Well it isn't that I avoided it, I simply have not.
On the topic of influences, I would be intrigued to see whom Waugh fans believe has been influenced by Waugh.
For my money I have always been confident that P.J. O'Rourke has been influenced by Waugh... I just missed an opportunity to meet him when he was in town for a live audience taping of the NPR Program "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me"...
Had I been able to make it, I would have loved to have actually asked O'Rourke if indeed that was the case.
I LOVE "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me." And, you know, Rob, I don't have absolute proof in the matter, but I'm fairly confindent that Hemingway wouldn't have shunned Wilde for the world. Wilde's wit was immeasurable, and even if Hemingway might have been a "manly man's man," he was first and foremost a writer of extreme natural talent, and I'm sure that he recognized the same in others. By the way, I would love to discuss _The Sun Also Rises_ and _A Movable Feast_ anytime. AND, no I don't hate you . . . What is it, hate the snobbery, love the snob? :)
"The Importance of Being Ernest" . . . Read it. I know you want to.
Hi, wick! I love people who love my site . . . small and silly though it may be. "The Selfish Giant" is wonderful, but I'm especially in love with "The Happy Prince." I did a Reader's Theatre piece based on that story back in college, and it was great fun. I actually got to play Wilde on stage . . . What fun!
Happy Easter to you too, justme. "De Profundis" is sad and beautiful and brilliant . . . I'm sure you'll find this out for yourself.
If you like plays, or even if you're just halfway sensitive to absolute brilliance, you should read "The Importance of Being Earnest." (There, have I "pimped" this play enough, or what :) . . . all apologies to the overly sensitive.) And, again, I recommend the Joseph Pearce biograpy, especially if you are a believer in Mr. Wilde's deathbed confession. I am, of course, as certain as a mere mortal such as myself can be of Oscar having come full circle. So many of his contempories did just the same . . . Maybe not as "late in the game," but that's Oscar . . . He extended the drama as much as possible and made a memorable exit . . . Or, so I dare believe.
I don't suggest that a Waugh fan might hate me because Hemingway was a "manly man". Rather, I think Hemingway, while he is essentially contemporary with Waugh (actually predates him by a fews years), represents the "age which had destroyed so many traditions", which Waugh seems to protest. Hemingway seems to be all that Waugh despised. Safe at my chronological distance, I can appreciate them both.
Well, as I read down through D.P., I saw that Wilde was quite familiar with the Church.. as was poor Jack Kerouac.
Although I love plays of any sort, my favorite books have always been auto/biographies--writers, poets, fan-dancers, European/troubled actresses (Hildegard Ness, Hedy Lamaar, Frances Farmer), and actors (who'd have figured Milton Berle for a ladies' man?? which wasn't half as shocking to me -- apparently out of the loop -- as was Robert Frost's passion), saints, murderers, Ronan Tynan (a hilarious book, an astounding Irishman), veterinarians, poetesses.. I just wish many of those who make my heart thump harder (like Carson McCullers--The heart is a lonely hunter..) weren't gay. I cannot identify! As a matter of fact, I got personally p.o.'d when Melissa Etheridge came out. If anything weird comes out about Jason Robards, I'm drowning myself.
By reading different biographies of one person, I see how differently we appear to others. By that, I'm leading into whispering how much I loved Papa Hemingway-- right up until he insulted our Scotty. I had to stop reading Hem anyway -- I got too depressed. As the email says he'd say in answer as to why the chicken crossed the road: "To die. Alone. In the rain."
I think Oscar came full circle.. I think he did so in prison. He died not long after being freed, right? Another instance of God's mercy, tho' it appears harsh justice. Anyway, I do indeed look greatly forward to reading more of/about Wilde.
Rob, I don't hate you as a Waugh fan, I hate you as a WILDE fan. Get it right, gosh freakin' darn it! :)
How little we know anyone, but I rarely cross-examine any epiphany/conversion story because a) it doesn't matter if one is duped --it costs one nothing but a reweighing of trust; and b) the proof will be in the fruit, if one needs proof. I'd minimized how brilliant Wilde was and perhaps also that he (thus) was ever in creative-mode, but still, it seems the new fruit came forth indeed. New, small, and very sweet. You've probably read this parsing of De Profundis -- I like that it ultimately gives Wilde the benefit of the doubt.
First, thanks for the site!
I took a Wilde class in college, and the Prof. gave us the typical view of Wilde, but I always wondered at a small footnote to his life that never got any discussion: Wilde was baptized a Roman Catholic on his death bed, why?
Needless to say Joseph Pearce came to the rescue. What a great biography! I knew there was more to Wilde than the mere puppet of sensuality and aesteticism that he portrayed to the masses.
A great writer and a profoundly honest man--that's probably my favorite part.
You are most certainly welcome, Joe. Please visit often. I'll try to post something entirely new this weekend, if not sooner.
I'm glad that you're fond of the Pearce biography of Wilde. OC is very near and dear to me, and I think that Pearce treats him with kindness, fairness, and absolute respect.
I'm reading De Profundis again . . . slowly and (hopefully) thoughtfully. I'm going through a "rough" patch in my life, and it is this particular piece of literature that always serves to pull me out of myself.
It's such a very intimate work. Wilde's mind and heart are absolutely exposed, and his struggle is painfully and beautifully evident. He has been greatly altered at the writing of De Profundis, but he is (in spite of his prison time and humiliation) still very much of the world, and groping around imperfectly for answers, for justification, and for reasons to go on living and loving on this great, spinning dustball. In DP, Wilde isn't "deathbed" Wilde yet, but he isn't "I have nothing to claim but my genius" Wilde either. He is somewhere in between here, and he's a little like a wounded sparrow. One's heart quite bleeds for him.
Ahem, yes . . . that "OC" should be "OW" . . . for Oscar Wilde. I'm sure that you guys figured that out, but just in case . . . And, yes, I'm a doofus. :P
Poor Oscar, but at least he found out it's more noble to be a wounded sparrow than a cauterized one.
Oh, and.. you're not a doofus. You're a Godsend.
That's entirely sweet of you to say, but, trust me, I know me, and if I'm a Godsend, then God sent a doofus.
ROFL, well, I like doofuses. A lot.
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