Oscar Wilde: A Comprehensive Analysis of His Life, Style, and Major Works - Prof. Delacruz, Summaries of Literature

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Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Introduction.

 Oscar Wilde Personally.

 Wilde’s Style Of Writing.

 Victorian Era.

 Major Works.

The Picture Of Dorian Gray.

 The Importance Of Being Earnest.

Oscar Wilde Personally:  (^) Occupation: ‡ (^) Writer (1880-1898) ‡ (^) Lecturer (1881-1884)  (^) Language: English, French  (^) Nationality: Irish  (^) Education: ‡ (^) Trinity College (1871-1874) ‡ (^) Magdalen College, Oxford (1874-1878)  (^) Period: Victorian era  (^) Genres: Drama, short story, dialogue, journalism  (^) Notable work: The Importance of Being Earnest, The Picture of Dorian Gray  (^) Spouse: Constance Lloyd (1884–1898)  (^) Children: Cyril Holland, Vyvyan Holland

Widle’s Style Of Writing  (^) Oscar Wilde’s style of writing is, in many ways, just as important and rich as the content.  (^) Elements such as tone, diction, imagery, irony, allusion, symbolism, metaphor, personification, etc. are always a part of his writings.  (^) His writings had a very witty and pointed but easy-to- read style.  (^) He's known for his clever curt and sly sayings, sometimes self-deprecating irony.  (^) Mocked Victorian notions about moral seriousness of great art  (^) Treated art as the “supreme reality” and treated life as “fiction”

Victorian Period

Censorship of writers: no mention of “sex,

birth, or death”

 Materialism, secularism, vulgarity, and sheer

waste that accompanied Victorian progress led

some writers to wonder if their culture was

really advancing by any measure.

 Victorian writing reflects the dangers and

benefits to rapid industrialization, while

encouraging readers to examine closely their

own understanding of the era’s progress.

Oscar Wilde And The

Victorian Era

 Student of “aesthetic movement” –

which rejected older Victorian

insistence on moral purposed of art

 Celebrated value of “art for art’s

sake

 Settled in London

 Mocked Victorian notions about

moral seriousness of great art

 Treated art as the “supreme

reality” and treated life as “fiction”

Dorian Gray

 This wad Wilde’s first and only

novel.

 It was written over 100 years

ago (1895)

Opened to much criticism

 Ultimately, was very successful

 The novel raised quite a

blizzard of scandal in its day,

and had critics denouncing

Wilde for what they perceived

to be his own innate

immorality

Basic Synopsis

 The story of three friends: Basil, Lord Henry,

and Dorian Gray

 The soul is a blank canvas

 Basil-angel

Lord Henry- Devil

 Dorian Gray- a clean slate

 Id, ego, superego

 Semi-autobiographical

The Importance Of Being Earnest  (^) The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde’s last and most famous play.  (^) It’s a satire of the Victorian era.  (^) The Importance of Being Earnest is funny all the time  (^) Genre of the play: ‡ (^) Social comedy ‡ (^) Comedy of manners ‡ (^) Satire ‡ (^) Intellectual farce

Literary Device  (^) Paradox: seems contradictory but presents truth  (^) Inverted logic: words/phrases turned upside down reversing our expectations  (^) Pun: play on words using word or phrase that has two meanings Epigram: brief, witty, cleverly-expressed statement  (^) Parody: humorous mocking imitation of literary work  (^) Satire: ridicules through humor  (^) Irony: something you don’t expect to happen  (^) Foreshadowing: creates suspense through hints to the ending

Thank you FYBA – A