Oscar Wilde, Moralist ; Playwright Had Deep Faith, Values Beneath His Many Masks
The Washington Times › June 28, 2004
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Summary
Over a century after his death amid poverty and great notoriety in a shabby Parisian hotel in 1900, Oscar Wilde is world-famous, which would probably have delighted him, but perhaps not for long. Look, for example, at the prices now paid for mementoes, however insignificant they might be, which have some connection with Wilde, however tenuous. Recently an otherwise unimpressive questionnaire filled out by the future author of "The Importance of Being Earnest" while still a student at Oxford sold for over $40,000.
Would not the flamboyant Wilde - who basked in the fame and wealth his talents brought him in the early 1890s - relish the glory that is now his? No, or at least not without great qualification, answers Joseph Pearce in his groundbreaking biography "The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde" (published four years ago in Britain and now appearing in the United States).See the full content of this document
Extract
Oscar Wilde, Moralist ; Playwright Had Deep Faith, Values Beneath His Many Masks
On many occasions, Wilde let friends and admirers know that he wanted to be remembered for the quality and scope of his art, which he called "the real passion of my life; the love to which all other loves [are] as marsh-water to red wine."
Instead of his art, his current fame rests largely on his great wit - everyone who loves Wilde has his favorite saying ("To love oneself is the...See the full content of this document
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