by Sabrina Wu
I hate literature. Yes I know I’m a DFLL student, but I have to confess that Homer’s battlefields fail to shake my world and Milton’s Christianity doesn’t inspire me. These “masterpieces” enlighten nothing in me. However, one man did make a difference to me, Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), the only writer that can make me want to read all his works without even being assigned to do so. To understand Oscar Wilde’s philosophy, let me give you some of his most quotable quotes: * Wicked women bother one. Good women bore one. (Lady Windermere’s Fan) * One should always be in love. That’s the reason one should never marry. (A Woman of No Importance) * To be Greek one should have no clothes; to be medieval one should have no body; to be modern one should have no soul. * I can resist everything except temptation. (Lady Windermere’s Fan) Isn’t it amazing that a person who lived more than a hundred years ago talked like this? Wilde was famous as one of the leading characters of the “Aesthetic Movement,” which asserted “Art for art’s sake” and, in terms of literature, that form is more important than content. Therefore Wilde often parodied high-society’s masquerades. However Wilde himself wasn’t such a comedic character. There is something much sadder about his real life. Finishing his best work, The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), Wilde was charged with “gross indecency” (what they called homosexuality in his time) and was put in jail. Even worse, his family considered him such an embarrassment that they refused to keep his name (his descendents restored the name Wilde only in 1998). In 1897, Wilde was released from jail, but these incidents had destroyed his career. He died in 1900 a broken man. So why do I enjoy Oscar Wilde’s writing so much? Try to imagine a man who was a talented writer who happened to be gay, who was charged by the world and put in jail, and who was rejected by his own family, but whose works still show nothing desperate. Instead, Wilde’s writing is filled with wit and satire of high-society’s dandies and ladies. Wilde chose to keep all his personal misery to himself. Reading literature can be entertaining, it doesn’t have to be a “mission” to find philosophy or holy grandeur. Just enjoy the lines and feel the passion that passes through his words. a
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May 2024
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