DOCSLIB.ORG

6 the Importance of Being Honest

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
6 the Importance of Being Honest 6 The Importance of Being Honest Steven Lubet ONG BEFORE BILL CLINTON ever form of affection. There is nothing un- lied about sex, another out-sized natural about it. It is intellectual, and it personality made the same mistake repeatedly exists between an elder and a on the witness stand, attempting to fool the younger man, when the elder man has Lcourt, the public, and his own attorney about intellect, and the younger man has all the joy, hope and glamour of life before him. his illicit liaisons. In 895, Oscar Wilde was That it should be so the world does not perhaps the most celebrated literary figure in understand. The world mocks at it and England. A famed poet, playwright, novelist, sometimes puts one in the pillory for it. and belle lettrist, he led an aesthetic revolu- tion against the stifling proprieties of the Sodomy, however, was illegal and officially Victorian era, championing a new freedom despised in nineteenth century England (al- in artistic expression. though evidently much practiced in the upper Wilde was also a lover of young men. To- class “public schools”). So Wilde flouted more day we would call him a homosexual or bi- than aesthetic conventions when he involved sexual (he was married, with two sons), al- himself in poorly concealed affairs with oth- though neither term was current in the 890s. er men, most notably (and disastrously) the In Wilde’s own view, he engaged in the young Lord Alfred Douglas, nearly 6 years his junior, whom everyone called Bosie. … great affection of an elder for a younger Unfortunately for Wilde, Bosie’s father man as there was between David and was John Sholto Douglas, the Marquess of Jonathan, such as Plato made the very basis of his philosophy, and such as you Queensberry and the author of boxing’s Mar- find in the sonnets of Michelangelo and quess of Queensberry rules. Queensberry Shakespeare. It is that deep, spiritual af- was a bully and a tyrant – so much so that his fection that is as pure as it is perfect. … wife divorced him, a nearly unheard-of event It is beautiful, it is fine, it is the noblest in Victorian England – who became enraged Steven Lubet is a professor of law at Northwestern University. All quotes from the trial record are taken from The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde (Fourth Estate 2003), edited by Merlin Holland, who is Wilde’s grandson. Steven Lubet when they were inevitably caught in the act. They even look somewhat alike, graceful and leonine in their better moments. Each man was relentlessly stalked by his own Javert, and, most importantly, each thought he could outfox his adversaries in court, and did not bother to inform his law- yers of his intended deceptions. At least Bill Clinton had an excuse. As the defendant, he was an involuntary participant in the Paula Jones case, which he considered part of a politically motivated vendetta. His affair with Monica Lewinsky was not even remotely related to Jones’s complaint; indeed, Judge Wright later ruled it immaterial. While there is no justification for lying under oath, it is possible to sympathize with Clinton’s rationalization that he needed to conceal his infidelity in order to preserve his marriage Oscar Wilde (left) and Lord Alfred Douglas. and protect his family. at the thought of his son embracing the effete Wilde, on the other hand, initially came Wilde. He began hounding and threatening into court as a plaintiff, bringing a false the pair, attempting to intimidate them into charge of criminal libel against Queens- breaking off their relationship. Eventually, berry, and knowing that he would have to the hostilities brought them into court, where lie to sustain his case. Wilde’s motivation Oscar Wilde’s conduct proved even more self- must have seemed compelling to him at the destructive than Bill Clinton’s. time, but it has baffled historians and biog- To my knowledge, no one has ever before raphers for over a century. Only recently has compared Bill Clinton to Oscar Wilde – one the complete transcript of Wilde’s first trial a politician and the other an artist – although been published, edited by his grandson Mer- their similarities are in some ways striking. lin Holland, allowing us to draw a few new Both were youthful prodigies, although Clin- insights into Wilde’s self-inflicted ruin. ton has survived well into middle age, as Wil- Queensberry’s pursuit of Oscar and Bosie de did not. Both men were Oxford-educated eventually became nearly intolerable. He fol- outsiders – an Arkansan in Washington and lowed them to clubs and restaurants, and an Irishman in London – who challenged even accosted Wilde in his own home with the established order. Both dominated their an accusation of sodomy: “You look it and eras by force of personality, overshadowing you pose it, which is just as bad.” The scarlet their more pallid contemporaries even as Marquess (as Wilde called him) threatened they were denounced as corrupt and deca- to thrash the poet if he ever again saw him in dent by cultural conservatives. As we know, public with his son. Wilde’s reply was utterly both men heedlessly indulged their large pri- in character: witty, provocative, and seem- apic appetites, assuming that they could rely ingly calculated to make matters worse: “I on charm and wit to disentangle themselves do not know what the Marquess of Queens- 164 8 G REEN B AG 2 D 163 The Importance of Being Honest berry rules are, but the Oscar Wilde rule is to shoot on sight.” Things came to a head in February 895. Wilde’s new play, The Importance of Being Earnest, was premiering at the St. James Theater in London’s West End. Queensberry planned to disrupt the opening performance by haranguing about Wilde’s misdeeds. For- tunately, the theater manager was alerted ahead of time and arranged for a police guard to keep Queensberry (who was accompanied by a pugilist) out of the building. Foiled for the moment, Queensberry left behind a “gro- tesque bouquet of vegetables” that he had evidently intended to throw at the stage. A few days later, on February 8, Queens- berry showed up at the Albemarle Club, John Sholto Douglas, where Wilde was a member. Angrily scrib- Marquess of Queensberry. bling something on his card, Queensberry handed it to the club porter, with an instruc- With that assurance, Humphreys es- tion to deliver the message to Wilde. “For Os- corted Wilde to the magistrate’s court, where car Wilde,” it read, “posing somdomite [sic].” they applied for a warrant for criminal libel, This was a challenge that Wilde felt he accusing Queensberry of making a “false could not ignore. “Bosie’s father has left a scandalous malicious and derogatory [sic]” card at my club with hideous words on it,” statement about Wilde, the “tenor and effect” Wilde wrote to a friend. “I don’t see anything of which was that “Oscar Fingal O’fflahertie now but a criminal prosecution.” Queensber- Wills Wilde had committed and was in the ry had invaded Wilde’s sanctuary, which was habit of committing the abominable crime of evidently a signal that he would stop at noth- buggery with mankind.” ing. Wilde believed that his only recourse was Queensberry was arrested the next day, to the law and Bosie agreed, anxious to strike and the case was set for hearing. Queensber- back at his abusive and intimidating father. ry retained as his counsel a rising young bar- Wilde’s other friends, including Frank Har- rister named Edward Carson, who had been ris (then editor of the Saturday Review and Wilde’s classmate at Trinity College, Dublin. later publisher of Vanity Fair) and George It would prove to be an excellent choice, and Bernard Shaw, attempted to discourage him, Wilde expressed his sardonic dismay upon but he would not be deterred. He engaged learning that Carson would cross examine a solicitor, Charles Humphreys, to draw up him: “No doubt he will perform his task a charge of criminal libel. A cautious lawyer, with the added bitterness of an old friend.” Humphreys asked Wilde “on his solemn oath” Carson immediately showed that friend- whether there was any truth to the charge of ship would have no part in the case. He sodomy. Wilde assured him there was not. prepared a plea of “justification” on Queens- “If you are innocent,” replied Humphreys, berry’s behalf, asserting that the statement “you should succeed.” was true and, as was then required by Brit- Ar ti cl e s Winter 2005 165 Steven Lubet ish libel law, that it had been made “for the tioning his client: “I can only accept this public benefit and interest.” To support this brief, Mr. Wilde, if you can assure me on claim, Carson stated that “Wilde was a man your honour as an English gentleman that of letters and a dramatist of prominence and there is not and never has been any founda- notoriety and a person who exercised consid- tion for the charges that are made against erable influence over young men,” but whose you.” Wilde did not point out that he was, published works “were calculated to subvert in fact, an Irishman, but he did proceed to morality and to encourage unnatural vice.” declare – falsely – that the charges were “ab- Wilde no doubt embraced the opportu- solutely false and groundless.” nity to defend his writings against charges On the strength of that deception, Clarke of immorality, but Queensberry’s plea con- accepted the case and proceeded to trial.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Verdi Week on Operavore Program Details
    Verdi Week on Operavore Program Details Listen at WQXR.ORG/OPERAVORE Monday, October, 7, 2013 Rigoletto Duke - Luciano Pavarotti, tenor Rigoletto - Leo Nucci, baritone Gilda - June Anderson, soprano Sparafucile - Nicolai Ghiaurov, bass Maddalena – Shirley Verrett, mezzo Giovanna – Vitalba Mosca, mezzo Count of Ceprano – Natale de Carolis, baritone Count of Ceprano – Carlo de Bortoli, bass The Contessa – Anna Caterina Antonacci, mezzo Marullo – Roberto Scaltriti, baritone Borsa – Piero de Palma, tenor Usher - Orazio Mori, bass Page of the duchess – Marilena Laurenza, mezzo Bologna Community Theater Orchestra Bologna Community Theater Chorus Riccardo Chailly, conductor London 425846 Nabucco Nabucco – Tito Gobbi, baritone Ismaele – Bruno Prevedi, tenor Zaccaria – Carlo Cava, bass Abigaille – Elena Souliotis, soprano Fenena – Dora Carral, mezzo Gran Sacerdote – Giovanni Foiani, baritone Abdallo – Walter Krautler, tenor Anna – Anna d’Auria, soprano Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Vienna State Opera Chorus Lamberto Gardelli, conductor London 001615302 Aida Aida – Leontyne Price, soprano Amneris – Grace Bumbry, mezzo Radames – Placido Domingo, tenor Amonasro – Sherrill Milnes, baritone Ramfis – Ruggero Raimondi, bass-baritone The King of Egypt – Hans Sotin, bass Messenger – Bruce Brewer, tenor High Priestess – Joyce Mathis, soprano London Symphony Orchestra The John Alldis Choir Erich Leinsdorf, conductor RCA Victor Red Seal 39498 Simon Boccanegra Simon Boccanegra – Piero Cappuccilli, baritone Jacopo Fiesco - Paul Plishka, bass Paolo Albiani – Carlos Chausson, bass-baritone Pietro – Alfonso Echevarria, bass Amelia – Anna Tomowa-Sintow, soprano Gabriele Adorno – Jaume Aragall, tenor The Maid – Maria Angels Sarroca, soprano Captain of the Crossbowmen – Antonio Comas Symphony Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona Chorus of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona Uwe Mund, conductor Recorded live on May 31, 1990 Falstaff Sir John Falstaff – Bryn Terfel, baritone Pistola – Anatoli Kotscherga, bass Bardolfo – Anthony Mee, tenor Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Modernist Aesthetic in the Case of Lord Alfred Douglas and Marie Carmichael Stopes
    33 The Poetry That Dare Not Speak Its Name: Modernist Aesthetic in the Case of Lord Alfred Douglas and Marie Carmichael Stopes Christina Hauck Kansas State University An improbable friendship sprang up in 1938 when one “Mrs Carmi- chael,” representing herself as a young mother, wrote Lord Alfred Douglas to show him a sonnet and ask his advice about publishing it. Little realizing that he was entering into correspondence with the notorious birth control advocate, Marie Carmichael Stopes, the staunchly Catholic Douglas wrote back kindly, calling Mrs. Carmichael a “pleasant poet” and lamenting his own difficulties publishing (Hall 282). If Douglas didn’t understand quite whom he was writing to, Stopes herself, rabidly homophobic and anti-Catholic, must have: Douglas’s claim to fame lay less in his poetry, whose quality critics debated fiercely when they bothered to read it at all, but in his having been a central actor in the events leading up to Oscar Wilde’s trial and imprisonment.1 By the time the correspondence had be- gun, Douglas had long converted to Catholicism and was admitting only to limited homosexual activities over a limited period, with Wilde or any- one else; Stopes apparently believed him.2 After several months, Stopes revealed her “true” identity. Douglas, understandably, was nervous. In a letter to George Bernard Shaw, he writes: I am fated to make friends with my enemies. For the last three months I have been corresponding with a lady who wrote about my poetry and poetry in general. She expressed great admira- tion for me as a poet.
    [Show full text]
  • University of Birmingham Oscar Wilde, Photography, and Cultures Of
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Birmingham Research Portal University of Birmingham Oscar Wilde, photography, and cultures of spiritualism Dobson, Eleanor License: None: All rights reserved Document Version Peer reviewed version Citation for published version (Harvard): Dobson, E 2020, 'Oscar Wilde, photography, and cultures of spiritualism: ''The most magical of mirrors''', English Literature in Transition 1880-1920, vol. 63, no. 2, pp. 139-161. Link to publication on Research at Birmingham portal Publisher Rights Statement: Checked for eligibility 12/02/2019 Published in English Literature in Transition 1880-1920 http://www.eltpress.org/index.html General rights Unless a licence is specified above, all rights (including copyright and moral rights) in this document are retained by the authors and/or the copyright holders. The express permission of the copyright holder must be obtained for any use of this material other than for purposes permitted by law. •Users may freely distribute the URL that is used to identify this publication. •Users may download and/or print one copy of the publication from the University of Birmingham research portal for the purpose of private study or non-commercial research. •User may use extracts from the document in line with the concept of ‘fair dealing’ under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (?) •Users may not further distribute the material nor use it for the purposes of commercial gain. Where a licence is displayed above, please note the terms and conditions of the licence govern your use of this document.
    [Show full text]
  • 1661 Vll3d0 3H.L .LV .LNVA3'l
    1661 ·~upds 06v :l!snw 1un woN ~u-e r .A.rnw Vll3d0 3H.L .LV .LNVA3'l liV~SO Oscar Levant is known for his songs in the area of popular music, but his operas are virtually unknown. Obtaining and studying any one of his three operas should be important for establishing him as more than a popular-music composer. Levant's opera Carnival, from the 20th Century Fox movie Charlie Chan at the Opera, is especially worthy of consideration. Through careful analysis of this work, much can be learned about the style and interests of Oscar Levant. While comparisons to other composers and their works may be too extensive for this specific paper, some comparisons to Levant's own popular tunes of the same time period as Carnival may reveal remarkable similarities and/or differences. Along with an analysis of the score, observation of the opera as it is presented in the movie will provide information about the basis for its content and reveal its incorporation into the movie's plot. In addition, seeing the movie will give aural information, such as the types of instruments used. The interest in this topic stems from Oscar Levant's own books­ A Smattering of Ignorance, The Unimportance of Being Oscar, and The Memoirs of an Amnesiac. He refers to this opera in A Smattering of Ignorance. but his references to his musical acquaintances in The Memoirs of an Amnesiac may supply additional facts to help in understanding his musical style. Examining c 'arnival will contribute to showing the significance of Oscar Levant's style of composition.
    [Show full text]
  • Ebook Download De Profundis and Other Prison Writings
    DE PROFUNDIS AND OTHER PRISON WRITINGS PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Oscar Wilde,Colm Toibin | 304 pages | 30 Apr 2013 | Penguin Books Ltd | 9780140439908 | English | London, United Kingdom De Profundis and Other Prison Writings PDF Book View all newsletter. Contact us Contact us Offices Media contacts Catalogues. Merlin Holland concludes that "what Queensberry almost certainly wrote was "posing somdomite [ sic ]", Holland Wilde decided to write a letter to Douglas, and in it discuss the last five years they had spent together, creating an autobiography of sorts. Cookies are used to provide, analyse and improve our services; provide chat tools; and show you relevant content on advertising. Oct 04, Ingrid Elin Stokke added it. Mar 03, Regina rated it it was amazing Shelves: my-cannon. Essential We use cookies to provide our services , for example, to keep track of items stored in your shopping basket, prevent fraudulent activity, improve the security of our services, keep track of your specific preferences e. Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin. An abridged version was set for speaking pianist by composer Frederic Rzewski. Contact had lapsed between Douglas and Wilde and the latter had suffered from his close supervision, physical labour, and emotional isolation. Wilde loses his charm and a portion of his literary brilliance with the passage of brutal time in prison. His love for Bosie Douglas is painted patiently, paragraph by paragraph. Wilde was granted official permission to have writing materials in early , but even then under strict control: he could write to his friends and his solicitor, but only one page at a time.
    [Show full text]
  • The Life of Oscar Wilde
    Dixon 1 The late 19 th century was an exceptional time for literature in both Europe and the Americas. Arguably, some of the greatest minds in the history of Western literature actively published during this period. Twain, Melville, Dickens, Verne, Wilde and many others were widely circulated among both literary factions and laypersons. Through their fiction, their collective reach was enormous. For most of these writers, their fictive works have eclipsed their personal lives. Until recently, historians have focused only on these writers’ contributions to literature, rather than their intriguing personal histories as a whole. With the emergence of new types of historical inquiry, the study of literary figures has begun a paradigm shift toward examining the impact of their entire lives, rather than simply their works. In following that trend, this study will shine a unique light on not only the works, but also the life of one of the 19 th century’s most controversial authors: Oscar Wilde. Wilde saw himself as a brilliant Aesthetic artist, proclaiming during his 1882 American book tour, “I have nothing to declare but my genius.” 1 Early in his career the Victorian public viewed Wilde as an eccentric Aesthete whose plays delighted but often left the public feeling somewhat left out. Later, as Wilde’s now infamous trial approached, the public formed new ideas about homosexuality and began to develop tropes out of the mannerisms and dress of the Aesthetic movement to which Wilde belonged. The ways in which Oscar Wilde envisioned himself ran counter to the expectations of Victorian England; the mantle of homosexuality was thrust upon Wilde based on the narrow ideas of the society in which he lived – the public was simply ill- 1 Wilde, Oscar.
    [Show full text]
  • On the Rejection of Oscar Wilde's the Picture of Dorian Gray by W. H. Smith
    humanities Article On the Rejection of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray by W. H. Smith Satoru Fukamachi Faculty of Humanities, Doho University, Nagoya 453-8540, Japan; [email protected] Received: 1 September 2020; Accepted: 26 October 2020; Published: 29 October 2020 Abstract: Wilde’s only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, is widely said to have been rejected by W. H. Smith, but there is no doubt that this did not happen. The letter sent to Wilde by the publisher strongly indicates that W. H. Smith contemplated removing the July issue of Lippincott’s Magazine, but does not go so far as to say that the bookstore did. This letter is the only evidence, however, that this is not absolute. The refusal to sell is mere speculation. The fact that none of Wilde’s contemporaries mentioned the incident of The Picture of Dorian Gray that supposedly happened, while the boycott of George Moore’s Esther Waters, which was much less topical than this one, was widely reported and discussed, provides further evidence that Wilde’s work was not rejected. Given that the censorship of literary works by private enterprises was still topical in the 1890s, it is unbelievable that the rejection of Wilde’s novel would not have been covered by any newspaper. It makes no sense, except to think that such a thing did not exist at all. It is also clear that this was not the case in the 1895 Wilde trial. Wilde’s lawyer argued that the piece was not a social evil because it was sold uninterruptedly, and the other side, which would have liked to take advantage of it in any way, never once touched on the boycott.
    [Show full text]
  • Planetary Patterns of Thought in De Profundis
    INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF DECADENCE STUDIES Volume 2, Issue 2 Winter 2019 Elliptical Thinking: Planetary Patterns of Thought in De Profundis Amelia Hall ISSN: 2515-0073 Date of Acceptance: 1 December 2019 Date of Publication: 21 December 2019 Citation: Amelia Hall, ‘Elliptical Thinking: Planetary Patterns of Thought in De Profundis’, Volupté: Interdisciplinary Journal of Decadence Studies, 2.2 (2019), 247–59. DOI: 10.25602/GOLD.v.v2i2.1349.g1468 volupte.gold.ac.uk This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Elliptical Thinking: Planetary Patterns of Thought in De Profundis Amelia Hall Cornell University In an 1881 letter asking a friend to meet his mother, Oscar Wilde writes: ‘all brilliant people should cross each other’s cycles, like some of the nicest planets’.1 In comparing the people in his social circle to celestial bodies in orbit, Wilde sets forth an idea that will soon become literalized in images within and surrounding his works. An illustration in Salomé (1894) renders Wilde the actual ‘(wo)man in the moon’, through placing his distinguishing physiognomy – slightly drooping eyes and thick full lips – on a white circle [fig. 1], while many cartoons satirizing Wilde’s American lecture tour put his head at the centre of a plant that seems to be more sun than flower. An 1881 Punch cartoon by Edward Sambourne, ‘O.W.’, features Wilde’s head as the only visible centre of a sunflower, with crisp triangular petals extending outward so rigidly that they appear to emanate from his body [fig. 2]. Another cartoon appearing in Judge magazine, entitled ‘A Thing of Beauty Not a Joy Forever’, features a sunflower-adorned Wilde standing with his head and torso in the centre of an enormous shape of ambiguous identification [fig.
    [Show full text]
  • Modernist Vintages: the Significance of Wine in Wilde, Richardson, Joyce
    Modernist Vintages: The Significance of Wine in Wilde, Richardson, Joyce and Waugh by Laura Waugh A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Approved March 2013 by the Graduate Supervisory Committee: Mark Lussier, Chair Daniel Bivona Patrick Bixby ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY May 2013 ABSTRACT “Modernist Vintages” considers the significance of wine in a selection of modernist texts that includes Oscar Wilde’s Salomé (1891), Dorothy Richardson’s Honeycomb (1917), James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922), and Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder (1945). The representations of wine in these fictions respond to the creative and destructive depictions of Wine that have imbued the narratives of myth, religion, and philosophy for thousands of years; simultaneously, these WorKs recreate and reflect on numerous Wine-related events and movements that shaped European discourse in the nineteenth and tWentieth centuries. The modernists use Wine’s conventional associations to diverse and innovative ends: as the playWright August Strindberg Writes, “NeW forms have not been found for the neW content, so that the neW Wine has burst the old bottles.” Wine in these works alternately, and often concurrently, evoKes themes that Were important to the modernists, including notions of indulgence and Waste, pleasure and addiction, experimentation and ritual, tradition and nostalgia, regional distinction and global expansion, wanton intoxication and artistic clarity.
    [Show full text]
  • An Ideal Husband Department of Theatre, Florida International University
    Florida International University FIU Digital Commons Department of Theatre Production Programs Department of Theatre Fall 9-26-2014 An Ideal Husband Department of Theatre, Florida International University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/theatre_programs Part of the Theatre and Performance Studies Commons Recommended Citation Department of Theatre, Florida International University, "An Ideal Husband" (2014). Department of Theatre Production Programs. 77. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/theatre_programs/77 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Theatre at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Department of Theatre Production Programs by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Theatre u • lllul llFAR lllrt1 IUIU 1111 RH theatre.fiu.edu TO ALL OUR PATRONS An Ideal Husband Students, faculty, staff and community WELCOME TO THE 2014-2015 SEASON! By Oscar Wilde On behalf of the Department of Theatre at Florida International Cast (In order of appearance) University allow me to thank you for attending this performance. We truly appreciate your interest and continuing support. Viscount Goring- Allyn Anthony (BFA Performance) 2014 - 2015 is ,roised to be a crackerjack of a season! First up is Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband", and for those familiar with Sir Robert Chiltern - Danny Leonard (BFA Performance) Phillip M. Church his hilarious comedy , "The Importance of Being Earnest" there Lady Chiltern - Pia Isabell Vicioso-Vila (BA) Chairperson is an interesting surprise in store. In a move to disengage from Mrs. Cheveley - Chachi Colon (BFA Performance) the world of melodrama, Wilde developed "a new play about Vicomte De Nanjac - Lovanni Gomez (BFA Performance) modem life" in which he contrasted the worlds of social opinion Lady Markby - Madeleine Escarne (BFA Performance) against the dark interior of the human condition.
    [Show full text]
  • Reflection of Upper Class in an Ideal Husband and the Importance of Being Earnest
    Devasi M. Chandravadiya [Subject: Social Science] International Vol. 1, Issue: 7, September 2013 Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences ISSN:(P) 2347-5404 ISSN:(O)2320-771X Reflection of Upper Class in an Ideal Husband and the Importance of Being Earnest DEVASI M. CHANDRAVADIYA Assistant Teacher, Shri Arablush Primary School, Lalpur Dist. Jamnagar Gujarat (India) Abstract: Oscar Wilde is a greatest Anglo Irish play writer. He was born on 16th October, 1854, in Dublin into a protestant Anglo Irish family. He left Ireland in 1878 and spent some time in London, Paris and United States where he traveled with intent to deliver his lecture. He was not only greatest play writer but also he contributed on fiction, child literature, fairy tale and poem such various literary fields. His marvelous dramas are Salome (1891), An Ideal Husband (1895), A Woman of No Importance (1893), Importance of Being Earnest (1898) and Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892): he presented very smart way like that satire, comic, tragedy, fashion and realism. He was fabulous master of drawing the realistic sketch of the character. He unmasked the social evils and weakness of the society. Keywords: Being earnest, Society, Upper class 1. Introduction In the time of Victorian era so many social evils spread in the society and upper class of human mind. Oscar Wilde took the responsibility to expose these evils and intrigue by his splendid plays. He reveals reality through his greatest plays with his unique writing skill. 2. Luxurious life Style Oscar Wilde’s play An Ideal Husband (1895) starts with big high profile culture party.
    [Show full text]
  • Oscar Wilde and His Literary Circle Collection: Wildeiana MS.Wildeiana
    http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt867nf36t No online items Finding Aid for the Oscar Wilde and his Literary Circle Collection: Wildeiana MS.Wildeiana Finding aid created by Rebecca Fenning Marschall William Andrews Clark Memorial Library © 2017 2520 Cimarron Street Los Angeles 90018 [email protected] URL: http://www.clarklibrary.ucla.edu/ Finding Aid for the Oscar Wilde MS.Wildeiana 1 and his Literary Circle Collection: Wildeiana MS.Wildeia... Contributing Institution: William Andrews Clark Memorial Library Title: Oscar Wilde and his Literary Circle Collection: Wildeiana Creator: William Andrews Clark Memorial Library Identifier/Call Number: MS.Wildeiana Physical Description: 19 Linear Feet27 boxes Date (inclusive): 1858-1998 Abstract: This finding aid describes a wide-ranging collection of material relating to Oscar Wilde and to his literary and artistic circle in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Great Britain. Clark Library. Language of Material: English . Provenance William Andrews Clark, Jr. acquired the nucleus of the Clark Library's Oscar Wilde collection from Dulau and Company, London, in 1929. Most of the Dulau material had been in the possession of Robert B. Ross (Oscar Wilde's literary executor), Christopher S. Millard (a.k.a. Stuart Mason, the Wilde bibliographer), and Vyvyan B. Holland (Wilde's only surviving son). Since 1929, the Clark Library has steadily purchased important new material and in the year 2000, the collection was estimated to contain over 65,000 items. It appears that large segments of the Wildeiana collection were likely originally part of the collection assembled by Wilde bibliographer Christopher Millard. The actual date the Clark acquired these materials is unknown and any documentation about the source of these items has been lost.
    [Show full text]