OSCAR WILDE THE DRAMATIST AND FOUNDER OF THE ESTHETIC CULT 1856-1900 (INTRODUCTORY NOTE) It was about the year 1880 that the name of Oscar Wilde first became a frequent one in common conversation; and from that time until Wilde's death in 1900 he was continually furnishing the English speaking world with new shocks, new interests, new excitements. Wilde was born in Dublin, the son of a noted Irish physician, and first became known as the leader of the aesthetic craze of the '80's. As a student at Oxford he talked scornfully of collegiate athletics, praised idle leisure and dreamy ecstasy, and adorned his room with peacock-feathers, sunflowers and lilies. A great many people enjoyed laughing at Wilde and his cult, but it had a distinct artistic influence. He wrote a novel, "The Picture of Dorian Grey," and then in 1892 achieved a much more distinct and virile fame as a playwright with his drama of "Lady Windermere's Fan.’’ One witty, paradoxical play after another increased his reputation until the sudden disastrous climax in 1896. He was accused and convicted of gross immoralities of life and was sentenced to two years in prison. Some rumor or flavor of immorality had clung about Wilde ever since his Oxford days, but had been disbelieved by the better class of friends and critics who admired his real abilities; now his guilt was manifest and beyond society's condoning. After serving his sentence Wilde lived abroad for the brief remnant of his life under the name of Sebastian Melmoth, a pseudonym borrowed from an old romance of a homeless, sinful wanderer. During his prison life he produced two works which perhaps mark the highest reach of his genius, one, a poem, "The Ballad of Reading Gaol''; the other, an explanation or defense of his career, including a picture of his jail life and mental suffering. This remarkable work, "De Profundis," has been widely read and accepted as a classic. It was issued by Messrs. Putnam's Sons in 1905, and its sales formed the chief fund for the provision of Wilde's unhappy family. Only the more directly autobiographical portion of the work can be given here, but the reader will find equal value in the remainder of the book. |