Oscar Wilde Art

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Oscar Wilde Art

We begin another chapter in the life of Oscar Wilde, the year 1888, many things have taken place, Oscar has been married and bore two children, Vyvyan and Cyril and his touring of the United States and other countries have brought forth success to the literary giant. Some of his successful writings are "The Picture of Dorian Gray"(1891), "A Woman of No Importance"(1894) and his most resent essay known "The Decay of Lying".

Is it true that lying has fallen to its deepest shadow of shame? In the words of Wilde it is shamefully true. How could this type of atrocity take place, it seems that the Victorian society is still under the belief that the Romanticism of life is still coursing through their veins, dead veins as Wilde might best put it. Oscar views romanticism as crude and childlike, and something that should remain in the past. Wilde has criticized the likes of Wordsworth and other writers of the Romantic Era, if they had their way they would continue to send us into nature and recommend the following advice: "The solutions to societies problems can best be remedied here, within the confines of nature, this is where you should be. Walking, talking, and embracing the great outdoors and receiving all that nature has to offer. Here is where you can find yourself." Wilde's view of this remedy is outlandish, extreme and insane.

It was Wilde’s observation that the literary works of the day no longer offered the reader a source of delightful fiction, there was a cry out for a change and it was, Wilde who answered that call in the form of an essay called "The Decay of Lying". This essay was a wake up call to the present day writers about their failure in their Art. There needs to be a clear explanation of ...

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... his fellow writers to will follow in his path, this form which is to see art for the simple purpose of being art.

Works Cited Page

Abrams, Donaldson, David, Smith, Lewalski, Adams, Logan, Monk, Lipking, Stillinger, Ford, Christ, Daiches, Stallyworthy. Norton Anthology of English Literature, New York and London Published 1993.

Laver, James. Oscar Wilde, Great Britain, Published in 1954

Sullivan, Kevin. Columbia Essays on Modern Writers, Ocsar Wilde

New York & London Published 1972

The Victorian Web. Oscar Wilde ,<http://landow.stg.brown.edu/victorian/victov.html> 10/28/99, <www.google.com><Internet Explorer Browser>

<http://www.nyu.edu.library/bobst/research/fales/exhibits/Wilde/00main.htm>

<http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/genlinfo.htm> www.google.com 10/28/99

Wilde, Oscar. Poems and Essays, Great Britain Published in 1956

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