Oscar Wilde (Research Paper Sample)

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Research Paper for Oscar Wilde
Wilde was born in 1854, and is widely regarded as a bright author, playwright plus wit. In fact, much of his popularity in academic circles is associated to his literary achievements. He remains a fundamental figure in artistic writing. Nevertheless, he was born to R. Wilde and J. Francesca in Dublin (Ireland). Senior Wilde was a famous surgeon and had been knighted due to his service. Wilde’s mum wrote and promoted liberal causes including fervent supporter for Irish Nationalism. Nonetheless, Wilde had a rather swift and fluid intelligence in addition to a gift for languages. Throughout his education he excelled. He attended Enniskillen, Dublin’s Trinity College, plus Oxford’s Magdalen College.
It is noteworthy that he started to build a reputation in poetry as a student, and in 1878 he won the Newdigate prize. He moved to London in 1879, and began to release some of his works including Vera. In 1881, Wilde met his future wife M. Lloyd and continued to utilize styles that advanced his reputation. In the following year, he embarked on a lecture tour of the U.S.A and Carte managed him. He briefly returned to England before travelling to Paris where he met P. Verlaine, S. Mallarme and others. He then went back to the New York to witness his 1st play Vera (Whittington-Egan Richard 93). During this time, he was engaged to Lloyd and returned to England before settling in London. The young couple’s first son was Cyril (1885), and his Vyvyan was born the following year. In the next few years, Wilde was embroiled in homosexuality claims and sodomy charges in court.
The difficulties gave him strength to commit to writing and he became a regular publisher including The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888), The Portrait of Mr. W. H (1889), The Decay of Lying and others. He encountered some legal difficulties in 1892 after his play (Salome) was banned in England. He travelled to Algiers because French colonies Africa had emerged as a haven for sexual tourism. He returned to England and his play -The Importance of Being Earnest- opened. He was unlucky and lost a case before being sentenced to 2 years (Whittington-Egan Richard 95). Constance died 1898 after a surgery in Italy, and the wife’s family sought to prevent Wilde from ever being with the children again. However, he was released from prison in 1897; and lived under the pseudonym Sebastian Melmoth in exile. His life ended in 1900 in Paris.
Throughout his literary career, he excelled in a number of literary genres. In fact, Wilde’s work is often felt to reflect a close association between his life and art. For instance, early in his career, Wilde came up with fairly tales in which the good and pure always eventually triumphed (Whittington-Egan Richard 97). This formed a benchmark from where his growth in art and other works could be felt differently from other people during the time. Instead of portraying evil as the external force, he chose to depict the evil within humans. This helped him to shed light on what the society was expected to do. Nevertheless, having been born at the time of the Victorian age, some of his works were not received well. It is noteworthy that during this period of history, the continent was undergoing many fundamental changes. Consequently, they contributed to the manner in which the society lived and thought. The changes led to various realignments in the society and its activities.
Wilde was involved in artistic movements since his days at oxford. He was one of the iconic figures associated with late Victorian society. His artistic work plus criticism is often read historically, but if well scrutinized reveal the vast power of thought as well as the thinking subject. As mentioned above, he was born in an era dominated by the thinking that art –including other intellectual activities- comprised a passive mirror to life and nature. However, he fought stubbornly for the opposite. His was a view that the critical role in life was played by a creative personality. For instance, his famous aphorism that nature and life limited art calls for scrutiny, rather than dismissal. When his spokesman in his famous work The decay of Lying claims “At present …but no one saw them… Art had invented them”, Wilde strayed to something that was beyond the average artist plus intellectual during that era (Poetry Foundation, n.d).
Undeniably, his achievements were not only recorded in the world of literature, but also in other fields such as politics. For instance, in politics, he went far beyond his contemporaries and or supposed co-thinkers. This is reflected in his profoundly humane plus subversive work The Soul of Man Under Socialism. In fact, he ended up heaping contempt on approaches to the social tribulations by capitalism. In one instance, he attacked the so-called reformers by claiming that the remedies they supposedly provide do not cure any disease. Rather, they simply prolong it. All of these were intended to rebuke the evils, and show that not everything was meant to benefit the society. On the whole, his name is inextricably bound to the aesthetic movement in England (Poetry Foundation, n.d). The association results as much out of the lurid details of Wilde’s life as from substantial contributions to literature. His lasting fame is largely based on five of his works including The Importance of Being Earnest. This work remains a model of comic theater. Though flawed, his solo novel The Picture of Dorian Gray gained him notoriety by giving a particularly 1890s view on the ageless theme of punishment/sin.
As mentioned above, he also published a number of poems as a writer. His considerable literary contributions are summed up through critical essays including Intentions (1891) plus soul-searching letter De Profundis (1897). Altogether, his profound influence on literature and theatre lasts to this day. Wilde’s legacy is rather interesting especially when considering all accusations directed towards him. He remains one of the most ...