Oscar Wilde

All photos are adapted from Oscar Wilde—An illustrated anthology published by Aurum Press.

Oscar Wilde(1854~1900)

I was a man who stood in symbolic relations to the art and culture of my age…The godshad given me almost everything. I had genius, a distinguished name, high social position,brilliancy, intellectual daring; I made art a philosophy, and philosophy an art: I altered theminds of men and the colour of things: there was nothing I said or did that did not makepeople wonder…I treated Art as the supreme reality, and life as a mere mode of fiction: Iawoke the imagination of my century so that it created myth and legend around me: Isummed up all systems in a phrase, and all existence in an epigram. De Profundis

I am not English, I am Irish—which is quite another thing.

Oscar at Oxford

The two great things turning points of my life were when my father sent

me to Oxford, and when society sent me to prison.

Wilde’s Esthetics

•

• I’m a very Sunflowery, April showery,• Eastcheapy, Towery man.• • I’m a very aesthetic young man, • A non energetic young man;

Slippity, sloppity over the shoppity, Flippity flop young man.

• I’m a bitter and mildly• Naturely childy,• Oscary Wildy man.• Popular song of the 1880s•

Marriage

• Constance

• Cyril

• Vyvan

Wilde the Man

• Two Oscar Wilde(s)• (Too Wild? Two Wilde(s)):• L’amour de l’impossible• The concept of “moods”• Representations by and of • Wilde.

The definition of Beauty--Salome

•

The Gay, gilt and gracious lad

• Lord Alfred Douglas, the 22-year-old son of the 8th marquess of Queenberry.

De Profundis

•

The Genres of Literature

• Poetry

• Fiction

• Drama

How to evaluate a story?

• Fiction? Story? Novel? Novella?• Author? Narrator? • Point of view• Character• Setting• Tone & Style (Irony…..)• Theme• Symbol

Group Discussion

• Have you read Wilde’s work before?• Which ones? Did Wilde only write for story?• Try to find out the other Wilde’s literature

work in different genre. Name 2 at least each genre.

• Share your own feelings after reading Happy Prince and The Selfish Giant with your classmates.

• Did you feel the difference between Wilde’s work and other stories? What are the differences?

• Try to evaluate The Selfish Giant with those evaluating methods mentioned above.

• What are the characteristics of Victorian Period?

• How’s your opinion about Oscar Wilde’s end?

• Did you pity Oscar Wlide? Why? Or why not?

• Try to discuss the themes of Happy Prince and The Selfish Giant.