“Yes: I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.”
Words are truly a powerful thing; they hold as much power to create as they do to destroy. They are our only true form of communication- but oh! What a convoluted entity words are, and what a man Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was, playing and bending them at his will. He was one of the few people capable of giving form and vitality to the most abstract thoughts and raw emotions, transforming them into eloquent prose and witty aphorisms.
In his short life of forty-six years, the mark he left on the world is indelible. From exploring seemingly bizarre plotlines to declaring rebellion against societal norms, he has done it all. Born to intellectuals, a career in writing was somewhat expected from him. Starting out in journalism, he slowly traversed into the world of playwriting, short stories and his singular unforgettable novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray. His mother was a revolutionary folklore poet, and wrote under the name of ‘Speranza’. Perhaps her life was his inspiration to write as fearlessly and unapologetically as he did.
“Beauty is a form of Genius--is higher, indeed, than Genius, as it needs no explanation. It is one of the great facts of the world, like sunlight, or springtime, or the reflection in the dark waters of that silver shell we call the moon. It cannot be questioned. It has the divine right of sovereignty. It makes princes of those who have it.”
Being one of the major torchbearers of the Aesthetic movement, Wilde also believed in making art just for the sake of it. Not for it to break any boundaries or move large mountains, but just to be beautiful, to sit there on a common man’s mantel, waiting to be consumed.
If you had stepped into that era of Victorian society, you would’ve realised that Aestheticism around that time, which was based on the cult of beauty and pleasure, aimed to replace the puritanism prevalent back then. Oscar Wilde was no different. Though ironically, almost all his works have had an impact on society, ranging from women's rights in works like ‘A Woman of No Importance’ to his novel rife with homosexual imagery, in an age that deemed him a criminal for it.
“Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.”
An individualist at heart, Wilde was brutally honest about his self-image. In his essay “The Soul of Man Under Socialism”, he even declared himself an anarchist. And though he never directly critiqued altruism or charity, he often found himself wondering- weren’t the people who felt the need to do most good, also the ones who did the most harm? And thus, didn’t this atrocious cycle of injustice keep repeating itself instead of breaking down? In no way was he obligated or pushed to make social commentary, but it was still a choice that he made.
Oscar seemed to have lived numerous identities in society, he was both a colonised Irishman and a privileged socialite, a husband and a homosexual, a successful playwright accepted in high society but also a socialist.
Here, we attempt to explore these very identities and Wilde’s beliefs through some of his incredible and life-changing works, and just maybe try to grasp a bit of what his journey was like, and if he truly did have nothing to declare but his genius.
The Importance of Being Earnest
Art can be so many things at once. Abstract, straightforward, colourful, plain, inspiring, grieving, filled with love, and bursting with angst. Yet, when it comes to fruition, it is nothing more than the melody of the artist’s heartbeat. You can only create what you feel, and you can only emulate what you are. In almost every single work of his, Oscar Wilde gifts his characters his own turbulent persona and the bizarre situations he found himself in.
Much like his characters Jack and Algernon, a significant chunk of his life was spent juggling both his lives, one respectable and ordinary, the other passionate and real. Jack lives as “Ernest” in the city to escape the responsibilities of his life in the country, where he is guardian to a young Cecily. Algernon creates Bunbury, an imaginary friend and through him, he disappears whenever he wants, under the pretence of attending to a sick Bunbury. Life doesn’t go as planned for these romantic liars. An earnest ‘Ernest’ is desperate to marry Gwendolen, who has a strange infatuation with his fake name, while Algernon’s eyes light up with Cecily’s mere mention.
Does Wilde then excuse their blatant dishonesty because it was for love? Not explicitly. Except for some momentary embarrassment for Algernon and Gwendolen’s mother telling off Jack with the kind of classism you can only see in Victorian-era England, they don’t really face any consequences. Perhaps he poured so much of himself into them that their victories felt like his. In the realm of his imagination, he was free to do whatever he wanted.
"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his."
Despite the abrupt happy endings and little-to-no “lesson learning,” the three-act play does exactly what it intends to do. Satire. The villain of Wilde’s life was the age he was born in. And so he went on to mock it, depicting how absurd most of their ideologies were. Maybe he wanted to open people’s eyes to reality. After all, only the sufferers are cursed with eyesight, everyone else remains blissfully blind.
The Soul of Man under Socialism
Giving off very strong ‘Karl Marx if he was an individualist’ energy, this essay is one of Wilde’s more outright and straightforward commentaries. He surprisingly employs minimal satire and almost no comedy to make his points, he just writes them down and it is somehow still just as impressive. A reader can’t help but perceive this as something written in haste, maybe as an ill-framed response to well-framed societal practices he witnessed.
Does subtle social critique and display of reformist thinking in his works make Wilde an activist? Decidedly not. It is interesting however to see how all this fits into the puzzle that is his life. Some like to imagine what Wilde would be like in the present, with more freedom but also possibly unmoved to write for exactly that reason. He mainly derived art from suffering, that was the root of everything he ever wrote and each branch is a different play, story or novel. This essay, though underrated, is one of his defining publications because of how far it strays away from the rest of his work.
Two pigtails sway as she steps out of her shiny black car. She’s holding a soft toy in one hand, and a wad of cash in the other. Thump. The man’s eyes light up as his empty bowl fills with bounty. His humble abode, lit up by streetlights and shared with wild dogs also nods in approval of this generous transaction by inviting a breeze inside. The transaction is so incredibly generous that most would call it grossly unfair. He gets four meals, and what does she get? She only gets the superiority of being the giver, the satisfaction of giving and the leverage to keep enabling the system that lets him starve while her father closes the deal on the purchase of his fifth building.
That is exactly what Wilde means when he criticises the concept of charity, and how it treats the symptoms to put off finding the cure. It is but a temporary means for exploiters to feel better about themselves and chant “poor thing” at their victims. At first glance, Wilde’s beliefs seem quite common, but studying his works reveals that he was very distinct in his thought process. From his core, he was an artist not for change, not for fame, not for acceptance, but for the sheer contentment that he derived from being one.
Lady Windermere’s Fan
Secrets, secrets, secrets. Conniving little ants queueing up in their numbers and whisking away an innocent woman’s peace of mind. The weight of their treasure is much, much heavier than them, yet they glide effortlessly along the corner of the wall. Only when someone interferes does the train halt, and start to attack. The pinch is felt only for a second, yet the resentment longs to last. In vain, because the ant is already dead.
Infidelity, estrangement, misunderstanding, theft. There is no theme that Wilde does not explore in this play. Besides its two popular movie adaptations, this play is also responsible for coining “Lady Windermere’s syndrome”, otherwise known as mycobacterial infection (MAC). It is commonly observed in elderly women who suppress their cough reflexes to maintain decorum, much like Lady Windermere who suppresses her emotions to remain poised and proper as was expected from women in the 19th century (arguably even now).
No matter how you look at it, the main theme of this play is complicated relationships. Or in some cases, undiscovered ones. Starting out as a classic ‘the other woman’ story, this play undergoes a variety of twists and turns to reveal something so unfathomable that even the main character doesn’t have the fortune of finding out. Lucky woman that she is, Lady Windermere always has a cynical dandy around, ready to do anything for the slightest chance with her. Now when desperate times call for desperate measures, he does experience a glint of hope from her, however it blows out soon after. She is bothered by the rumours of her husband’s affair but like any self-respecting woman, she doesn’t dare make a scene about it in public. Instead she agrees to invite and host his husband’s alleged mistress.
Is all well that ends well? Is a slight brush with adultery a fair response to almost confirmed infidelity? Why does this other woman seem so familiar and close to her? Wilde does not shy away from sharp social commentary and exposing exactly how flawed and shallow relationships can be. They can continue to ‘prosper’ whilst hiding skeletons in the closet, locked away for good. Of course, such conflicts are likely to come from a successful and respected family man, who also happened to have a male lover.
An Ideal Husband
Oscar Wilde's one-act play "The Ideal Husband", laced with his wit, is a delightful mockery of Victorian hypocrisy and moral double-standards. In this social satire, Wilde invites us into the drawing rooms of London's elite, where secrets, scandals, and the fragility of reputation threaten to disrupt the carefully curated lives of the aristocratic class.
At the core of the play is Sir Robert Chiltern, a rising political star whose perfect life is on the brink of collapse. Everything he’s worked for—his career, his marriage—is suddenly in danger when Mrs. Cheveley, a woman from his past, reappears with a dark secret that could ruin him and his reputation. Wilde spins a tense and tangled story of blackmail, deceit, and tough moral choices, forcing the audience to question what honour and integrity really mean, and how far one will go to protect their status.
Offsetting Sir Robert's internal turmoil is the spirited Lady Chiltern, the ambassador of Victorian virtue who finds her unwavering moral convictions tested as she is forced to confront the complexities of her husband's past. Wilde uses this dynamic to explore into the gender politics of the era, highlighting the double standards that constrained the lives of women even in the highest pockets of society.
In this play, Wilde makes us question our own assumptions about honour, redemption, and the thin veil that separates wrong and right, while making a bold statement about the sexist nature of politics.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The doom of Dorian Gray weaves a cautionary fable for the ages, drawn from the tapestry of Oscar Wilde’s life and experiences. Within these gothic pages, we peer into a mirror that not only reflects the vanity of one man, but the hypocrisy of an entire society.
Wilde, the infamous rebel and icon of Victorian England, was well-acquainted with the delicate balance between morality and indulgence. And so, in Dorian, he's crafted a protagonist who is the embodiment of that delicate dance - a beautiful young man who sells his very soul to preserve his flawless visage, while descending into a dark rabbit hole of sin and depravity.
As Dorian becomes enraptured by Lord Henry's hedonistic philosophy -
"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it" -
We can't help but see the parallels to Wilde's own battles. The man who wrote that "all art is quite useless" has spun a tale dripping with philosophical musings on beauty, art, and the corrupting influence of unchecked desire.
And Wilde really pours his heart and soul into the telling of this tale. His prose positively drips with lush, evocative details, drawing us ever deeper into Dorian's twisted psyche. We witness the portrait - that silent, damning witness to his sins - slowly transform into a grotesque reflection of his tarnished soul. It's a powerful metaphor, one that calls all of us out on our own vanities and the deep divide between our public masks and private demons.
But within this gothic nightmare, there are subtleties that reflect Wilde's own struggles as a homosexual man navigating the suffocating ways of Victorian high society. Wilde poured his heart and soul in this novel, possibly as his way of battling and expressing his struggles with his identity.
De Profoundis
From the depths of Reading Gaol, Oscar Wilde penned "De Profundis," a powerful letter that lays bare the soul of a fallen literary titan. This lengthy letter to Lord Alfred Douglas transcended mere correspondence, evolving into a profound meditation on love, art, and the transformative power of suffering.
In "De Profundis," Wilde not only grapples with his homosexuality, a core aspect of his identity that Victorian society deemed criminal, but also reflects on the dichotomy between his public persona and private self:
"I let myself be lured into long spells of senseless and sensual ease. I amused myself with being a flaneur, a dandy, a man of fashion. I surrounded myself with the smaller natures and the meaner minds."
The letter explores Wilde's tumultuous relationship with Douglas, exposing its destructive nature through a mixture of tenderness and bitterness. Through his introspection, Wilde also attempts to chart a course towards redemption, reframing his suffering as something like a crucible for personal growth.
"Where there is sorrow there is holy ground. Someday people will realise what that means. They will know nothing of life till they do."
Ballad of Reading Gaol
Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic.
The last work of a genius stands as a poignant lament, born from the ashes of his once-glittering career. This haunting poem, penned as a result of Wilde's imprisonment and his life in jail, offers a window into the soul of a man broken by society's harsh judgement and the cruel realities of incarceration.
Through its verses, Wilde weaves a tapestry of suffering, using the collective experience of his fellow inmates to paint a broader picture of human pain. The recurring line, "Each man kills the thing he loves," serves as a mournful chorus, reminding us of the universal nature of guilt and regret. Wilde's own tragic fall from grace is reflected in lines that speak to the crushing weight of societal condemnation:
"The vilest deeds like poison weeds,
Bloom well in prison-air;
It is only what is good in Man
That wastes and withers there."
These verses hint at Wilde's sense of his own goodness being eroded by his imprisonment, while also offering a biting critique of the penal system.
The harsh conditions of prison life left an indelible mark on Wilde's psyche, evident in his visceral descriptions:
"With midnight always in one's heart,
And twilight in one's cell,
We turn the crank, or tear the rope,
Each in his separate Hell."
As the poem progresses, Wilde's personal lament evolves into a broader cry for compassion and understanding. He challenges society's treatment of the condemned, urging readers to see the humanity in even the most reviled individuals. "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" seems to serve as a catharsis for Wilde and also sounds like the last cry of a person who goes silent forever.
One of the most striking features of Wilde’s work that is consistent and can be felt in all his art, was how close it made you feel to real life, almost as if his mind had stepped into the dimension of your thoughts and vividly turned it into poetry. Reading descriptions and journeys of characters written over a century ago not only tugs at your emotions and perspective, but sends the reader into a state of nostalgia and introspection, almost as if we are the ones experiencing those said situations. And in a way we are. That is the beauty of it, isn’t it?
Maybe there is something tragic behind every exquisite thing that exists, but somehow we are part of this tragedy together, and Oscar Wilde stands as proof of that as his art and work continue to live on in a world that was once harsh to him, but now gives him life through the minds of numerous entangled tragic and exquisite lives.
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