Why Is Oscar Wilde A Literary Critic

Art is a medium for exploring a culture’s characteristics during a specific time. Understanding an art piece’s content and historical significance can reveal key details about different civilizations. Following the time period of the Renaissance, European artists experimented with styles to separate their works from the prior time period. They strayed away from even lighting, stillness, and symmetry to form a new artistic style that differed from the Renaissance. This type of style was labeled the Baroque, a European aesthetic focused on movement, emotion, and drama. Francois Boucher was a French artist from this time that embraced the rising Baroque style. In the 17th century, the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture was created in France.

         The novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, written by Oscar Wilde originally appeared in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine in 1890.  It was then published in 1891, in book form, containing six additional chapters with revisions. The first reviews of Dorian Gray were mostly unfavorable.  It was condemned for its speculative treatment  of immoral or at least uncomfortable subjects. A review in the St. James’s Gazette by Samuel Henry Jeyes, journalist and biographer was titled "‘A Study in Puppydom."   Jeyes refers to Wilde’s idle, “effeminate” characters in the book and writes: “The puppies appear to fill up the intervals of talk by plucking daisies and playing with them, and

Written by Jeffrey Eaton, an Open Letters editor, this source is reliable because the magazine speciality is to critique many works of art and literature. Rather than merely summarizing the main events of the memoir, Eaton actually expresses his dislike about it by providing

    "I turned half way around and saw Dorian Gray for the first time. I knew that I had come face to face with someone whose mere personality was so fascinating that, if I allowed it to do so, it would absorb my whole nature, my whole soul, my very art itself" (7). During the Victorian era, this was a dangerous quote. The Victorian era was about progress. It was an attempt aimed at cleaning up the society and setting a moral standard. The Victorian era was a time of relative peace and economic stability (Marshall 783). Victorians did not want anything "unclean" or "unacceptable" to interfere with their idea of perfection. Therefore, this quote, taken from Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray,

quoted “When we see a landscape, we situate ourselves in the it. If we saw the art of the past, we

It exercised the flexible use of an illustrious imagination to offer the audience a different interpretation of the world. Romanticists are often guided and influenced by their emotions to write the way that they do, almost as if it was a ‘law’ of romantic writing. The ideology of romanticism tended to clash with that of satire, which is why satire is belittled in the eyes of romanticists. It was also closely aligned to Emerson’s belief of self-reliance and emphasized individualism and people’s natural inclination to do well. They also highly praised nature, which was evident in most pieces during the romantic era. The author also tended to have a personal relationship with the audience, which was inclusive, as most romantic pieces often included a tranquil and didactic

Both Edgar Allan Poe and H. L. Mencken can write reviews bursting at the seams with sarcasm and humor. These pieces of criticism speak novels about their judgment of these works that don’t “make the cut” of perceived greatness, and of the types of people who would indulge themselves with them. However, Noël Carrol does not speak about the use of humor in arts criticism, for good or for bad. If we are to use Carrol’s definition of arts criticism, then we can’t judge the effectiveness of Poe and Mencken’s use of humor in criticism, or whether it belongs at all. The question, then, is if humor has a place in the world of arts criticism, and how effective it is at conveying the critic’s judgment and evaluation of the work. As Poe and Mencken

Homoeroticism and Defiance of Victorian Values in Oscar Wilde's The Portrait of Mr. W.H. Oscar Wilde once satirically said, "Arguments are extremely vulgar, for everybody in good society holds exactly the same opinions. " Rather than hold the same opinions as those in good Victorian society, he boldly challenges them. Oscar Wilde parallels the relationships of Shakespeare, Michelangelo and other revered historical intellectuals with his relationship to Lord Alfred Douglas in his work, The Portrait of Mr. W.H., and during his criminal trial. Through these parallels, Wilde attempts to normalize and justify his homosexuality in a time of rampant homophobia, forcing the examination of self-expression, through writing and speech, as a tool of defiance.

Over the course of several months the meaning and understanding of aesthetics and its application to art have taken place as a means to expanding the mind of a budding aesthete. Multiple respected aesthetes have been discussed regarding their philosophical approach to art and the theories influencing their philosophical stance. Some theories have been refuted while others have been regarded yet the insight provided by these aesthetes has been profound. Several of these aesthetes studied have helped in shaping one particular individual’s viewpoint in the creation of her own philosophy of art. Art and its significance can be appreciated by critics willing to understand the artist is in control of creating and expressing herself through

Despite what many might think, Satire in The Importance of Being Earnest: Oscar Wilde is known for his satire, and The Importance of Being Earnest is no exception to Wilde's usual mode of satirical writing. The effect of satire will change, however, depending upon the audience, and one of the fascinating things about this play is that the people Wilde satirizes are also the people he expects to be watching the play. Why does Wilde satirize the viewers who will be buying the tickets? What kind of reaction might he be aiming to evoke in his audience? Historical research into social issues of the time might be helpful here.

John Lahr, a critic of the famous author and playwright Oscar Wilde, once claimed, “To stand out in Victorian culture,Wilde had to stand against it.” Wilde definitely did not conform to the society by which he was surrounded; being an aesthetic homosexual was not the typical or ideal Victorian man. His distaste for the era he lived in is seen clearly in his humorous play The Importance of Being Earnest. Wilde was personally judged and outcasted by his own society, which caused him to mock his audience and argue that the Victorian Era was not as virtuous as those of that time attempted to appear. He uses this piece of writing as an opportunity to not only stand against and disprove the Victorian ideals, but to persuade his audience to realize

Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ and Neil Jordan’s ‘Interview with a Vampire’ are gothic narrations that incorporate the themes of sensuality and hedonism. Although the texts do not contain any explicit statements of homoeroticism, the suggestive narration, allusions and imagery, camera angles and music highlight the homoerotic feelings between men. While Wilde does not mention any homosexual acts explicitly, the element of homoeroticism is described within the competition for Dorian’s attention. Dorian is described through allusions to be likened to Adonis; a creature who looks as if ‘he were made of ivory and rose-leaves.’

In Oscar Wilde’s play, ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’, we find many comedic elements strengthening his criticism of Victorian society. With a range of devices providing comedic elements, this comedy of manners is a play varied in its provision of humour. Firstly, Wilde uses satire in the play in order to mock society at the time, with the many ideals and manners of the people of the time challenged, the satirized theme of marriage featuring heavily in Act 1. A great example of such is in Gwendolen’s erroneous insinuation that men with the name of Ernest are more ‘safe’ in terms of marriage.

Oscar Wilde was born in the height victorian age. His dad was a doctor tell he died. His mother who wrote under an alias for an irish newspaper called The Nation until it was raided in 1848 and had to close. He had 5 siblings, Willie Wilde, Mary wilde, Emile Wilde, Isola Wilde, and Henry Wilde. He has been rich and poor all his life and today he has been remembered for all the good he did and all the bad.

Throughout the years, there have been many people have tried to come up with their own ideas for life that have failed. Some may have been closer to the truth than others. Many writers expressed these theories of theirs in their writings, creating a large amount of literature reflecting their anomalous opinions. The Dubliner Oscar Wilde portrayed his hedonistic struggles his writings. Hedonism tainted Wilde’s life and was thoroughly reflected in his writings. These hedonistic views are painted across his countless essays. Weighed with this bondage Wilde postponed a long needed conversion. Struggling with these difficulties right up to the end. Extravagance occupied Wilde’s stories in the form of hedonism. All of Oscar Wilde’s writings reflect his life in a personal way most largely in the aspect of Wilde’s hedonism also his torn conscience was greatly reflected in them too (Pearce 241; Ellmann 66).