Special thanks to JEHallows and watashiwaeren for recommending Oscar Wilde!
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in 1828, in Dublin, Ireland. In the early 1890s at the height of his career, he was one of the most popular playwrights in London.
Aside from his poems and plays, he's also well known for his novel, "The Picture of Dorian Gray." Wilde was a spokesman for the aestheticism movement and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into his only novel. Wilde was not only famous for his talent, intellect, wit, and style, however. Two very public trials in 1895 concluded in Wilde being charged and convicted of "gross indecency", a charge used broadly to persecute homosexual men in that time period.
Wilde's last work, a long poem titled, "The Ballad of Reading Gaol", was of an entirely different nature than much of his previous work, entailing the harsh and cruel reality of prison life. Although his prison sentence was behind him by then, Wilde had become an outcast, impoverished, and was in poor health. He passed away at the age of 46 in 1900.
This week's questions:
What is your favorite work of Oscar Wilde's and what elements make it your favorite?
How do you feel about aestheticism's emphasis on aesthetic values over social or political themes in art and literature?
We also welcome any other discussion or comments about Oscar Wilde or his works.
If you have another author you'd like to see a discussion on, please leave it in the comments below for a chance to be featured in a future chapter!
Have fun!
Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Wilde
http://victorian-era.org/victorian-era-aestheticism.html