Oliver Wilde, Essay Example

The Victorian period in England was noted for its intense formalization and restriction of social interaction.  Rules of etiquette were taken to their extreme.  The Victorian people created a world of privacy that was only open to others at formal teas or parties.  Even then, the personal life of the host was hidden.  One consequence of this increasing privacy was a stigmatization of sexuality.  The culture discouraged discussion of sexuality and anything that might be sexual in nature.  Because the Victorians judged sexuality so harshly, the personal history of the Victorian writer Oscar Wilde was one fraught with attacks on his character and sexuality. As a result of his experiences and persecutions, he became an anti-Victorian writer.

Wilde’s early life was marked by a belief in Aestheticism.  In his life, in his speeches, and in his writings, he espoused the movement.  Aestheticism focuses on the beauty of art instead of its social or political message.  As such, the movement is also marked by hedonism and enjoying the pleasure of life.  This belief set Wilde apart from the bulk of Victorian society.  Aesthetes lived a more public life and exhibited their decadence.  To them, life was not merely something to cordon off and show only on formal occasions.  Life was an experiment in beauty and nature.  Though Wilde’s works during this early period were few, mainly just the book Poems, this period was crucial to his development as an anti-Victorian writer.

Following his early years, Wilde embarked on a tour of America, lecturing on aesthetics (“Biography of Oscar Wilde”).  He returned to England and began his most prolific period.  During this time, he wrote his comedies, all of which satirized the conventions of Victorian society.  During this period, he continued to live a very decadent lifestyle.  He married Constance Lloyd, but it was well-known that he also engaged in homosexual relationships outside of his marriage (“Biography of Oscar Wilde”).  The criticism and treatment he received of his lifestyle likely led to his satirical comedies.  All of these comedies expose Victorian society as one that hides its peccadilloes behind closed doors and is populated by people who are no different than those who live a more public, decadent lifestyle.

The late period of Oscar Wilde’s life and writing is highly colored by his imprisonment for homosexuality.  After suing his lover’s father for libel for proclaiming Wilde a homosexual, the lawsuit reversed on him, and he was tried for homosexuality.  He was found guilty and imprisoned.  Following his imprisonment, he did not produce any further comedies.  His only major work is a long poem, The Ballad of Gaol, published before his death detailing his life in prison.

Based on all of his experiences in Victorian society, Wilde could not help but rail against the social conventions that led to his persecution and isolation.  While he never compromised in his lifestyle, the eventual judgment against him both by society and the law destroyed his artistic and physical life.  In the modern world, Wilde would be an icon similar to Truman Capote, unfortunately he was born in the Victorian period.

Work Cited

“Oscar Wilde Biography.” Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2012.