Pride
The Victorian Era is marked by Queen Victoria’s reign in England from 1837-1901 (Eras of Elegance). It is known for its attention to high morals, modesty, and proper decorum, which was inspired by the Queen and her husband, Prince Albert. Importance was placed on civic consciousness and social responsibility, including equality towards all. Science, technology and Christianity thrived. Humanitarian and religious organizations, such as the Salvation Army, reflected the Victorian concern for the poor and needy. The Church was wealthy and powerful. Only the rich could afford education, so most were left uneducated, unable to think critically. The people believed the word of the Bible and that was all that mattered. However, growing industrialization led to numerous challenges to Christianity. Education became available to all, so they had the ability to form opinions. Urbanization took effect. Problems included growing trends on materialism, nationalism, communism and higher criticism of the Bible (Eras of Elegance).
Playwright, novelist, poet, and short story writer, Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was born on October 16, 1854 in Dublin, Ireland (Wright 54). He was the son of two very talented parents. His father, Sir William Ralph Wills Wilde, was a leading eye and ear surgeon, scholar, and noted archeologist. His mother, Jean Francesca Elgee, wrote passionate nationalistic articles for the radical newspaper, The Nation (Wright 54). Although Wilde did not do well in school, he loved the classics and found a passion for writing. He began writing plays, essays, a novel, and many short stories, becoming
famous for everything he wrote. “I’ll be a poet, a writer, a dramatist. Somehow or other I’ll be famous...
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...an society did not accept his radical ideas. In the end, he did end up like the characters he had created. Like the Star Child and the Rocket he too was prideful to notice that his behavior would cost him his freedom.
Perhaps, like many artists, Oscar Wilde was ahead of his time. Today, his flamboyant ways, pride, and homosexuality would be seen as part of his creative outlet and as eccentric, not as something to fear as Victorian society did. Like Ellen DeGeneres’ homosexuality and Lady GaGa’s bizarre way of dressing, many artists today find their outward appearance to be part of their persona and society today is more likely to embrace the differences in artists and praise them for their creativity. However he was perceived in his time, today Oscar Wilde is considered one of the most gifted and most often quoted users of the English language (Wright 54).
writer who gave so much of himself in his belief that "writing was his duty on earth."
...e made enough money he decided to write for a living. Despite all of his experiences in life he manage to become one the bestselling authors of modern British literature and provided historical true events in his books.
Today, deaths from influenza, cholera, and tuberculosis are rare in England; however, in Victorian England, these diseases and many more health problems were widespread. Victorian England was a time of great change, socially, economically, and politically. From the rise of factories to increased urbanization, the lives of many Britons changed during the Victorian era. Ultimately, many facets of change led to the transformation – both positive and negative – of one aspect of every citizen’s life: health. Deadly epidemics became widespread, and workers and average citizens died from disease caused by increased environmental pollution. Yet, health reforms and advances in medicine occurred as well.
Enjoying the cultured and privileged life at home, Oscar first attended Portora Royal School in Enniskillen, Ireland at the age of nine. At the age of thirteen, Oscar suffered through his sister’s death ,and dedicated one of his early poems to his dear sister. Oscar, sixteen years old, was enrolled at Trinity College in Dublin and became skilled in the Greek language. With a scholarship, Oscar matriculated at Oxford in 1874, where he studied alongside the Slade Professor of Fine Art, John Ruskin and Walter Pater.
"Oscar Wilde." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 6 Nov. 2013.
On October 16, 1854, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland (Merriman Wilde 1). Wilde had two biological siblings and his mother was a poet who influenced him (Merriman Wilde 1). His father was a facial surgeon, philanthropist, and a knight (Merriman Wilde 1). Wilde was home schooled for about ten years before leaving for Trinity College in Dublin for thre...
Oscar Wilde was born October 16, 1854 in Dublin, Ireland. His father, Sir William Wilde, was an eye and ear surgeon. He also wrote many books about medicine as well as historical books about Ireland. His mother, Jane Elgee, was an Irish poet. She wrote under the name “Speranza”, which means “hope” in Italian, and wrote mostly about Irish folktales. It is said that his mother had the largest impact on Wilde’s decision to become a writer. She would frequently read poetry to him and his brother, William Wilde, which caused her sons to love poetry as much as she did. While it is debated when Wilde originally began writing and publishing works, many agree that it started around when his younger sister, Isola, died. He was twelve years old at the
In Dublin, Ireland in 1854 a future figure to in aesthetic writing was born to a famous surgeon Sir Robert Wills Wilde who earned his nonheritable title through his medical service. His mother, Jane Francesca Wilde supported Irish Nationalism. From a very young age, he excelled in his education, and was gifted in many languages. His early schooling took place in Enniskillen Portora Royal School, he attended Trinity College in 1873 as well as Magdalen College in Oxford, from 1874-1879. While he was in College he began his reputation as a poet, his early work did get him some success, he won the Newdigate prize for his poetry. From this point on he started making himself stand out from the society’s expectations by wearing his hair long and dressing flamboyantly.
Oscar Wilde was born in 1854 and led a normal childhood. After high school, Wilde attended Oxford College and received a B.A. in 1878. During this time, he wrote Vera and The Importance of Being Earnest. In addition, "for two years Wilde had dressed in outlandish outfits, courted famous people and built his public image" (Stayley 317). Doing so earned Wilde a job with Rich...
The era of dandies are what some people call the Victorian Era when thinking about the fashion in Victorian, England at the time. Corsets and crinolines were big in fashion for women during the time. Women wanted to have an hourglass figure where the torso had to be as small as your age. “Victorian clothes were very much a symbol of who you were, what you did for a living, and how much money was in your bank account” (Rose, Tudor. “Victorian Clothes.”). Fashion is forever changing from how it was made, and the style of men’s fashion as well as women’s fashion in the Victorian Era.
Oscar Wilde was born in October 16, 1854, in the mid era of the Victorian period—which was when Queen Victoria ruled. Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 to 1901.While she ruined Britain, the nation rise than never before, and no one thought that she was capable of doing that. “The Victorian era was both good and bad due to the rise and fall of the empires and many pointless wars were fought. During that time, culture and technology improved greatly” (Anne Shepherd, “Overview of the Victorian Era”). During this time period of English, England was facing countless major changes, in the way people lived and thought during this era. Today, Victorian society is mostly known as practicing strict religious or moral behavior, authoritarian, preoccupied with the way they look and being respectable. They were extremely harsh in discipline and order at all times. Determination became a usual Victorian quality, and was part of Victorian lifestyle such as religion, literature and human behavior. However, Victorian has its perks, for example they were biased, contradictory, pretense, they cared a lot of about what economic or social rank a person is, and people were not allowed to express their sexuality. Oscar Wilde was seen as an icon of the Victorian age. In his plays and writings, he uses wit, intelligence and humor. Because of his sexuality he suffered substantially the humiliation and embarrassment of imprisonment. He was married and had an affair with a man, which back then was an act of vulgarity and grossness. But, that was not what Oscar Wilde was only known for; he is remembered for criticizing the social life of the Victorian era, his wit and his amazing skills of writing. Oscar Wilde poem “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” typifies the Vi...
Without the challenges, roadblocks, and hardships that Oscar Wilde faced, some of his writings may have never even been written. Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Willis Wilde was born on October 16, 1854 in Dublin, Ireland to William and Jane Wilde. While growing up, Oscar lived a childhood under his “indulgent and loving” parents who were “happy and carefree” (Cavendish, 54). An individual who lives in such cheerful infancy, and an intimate relationship with his family would be expected to live the most unadulterated of lives. While enduring a satisfactory early life at home, he also excelled in school and showed early signs of future success as a scholar and a writer.
Woodcock, George. The Paradox of Oscar Wilde. London-New York: T.V. Boardman and Co., Ltd., 1950.
The Victorian age and the Modern Literature era are two very different times for the literature world. Each era had a big impact through literature, politics, and economics. The Victorian era was a time of change during the reign of Queen Victoria between 1837 to 1901. The Modern Literature era also known as the Twentieth Century and After increased popularity in literature due to the rise of industrialization and globalization from roughly about the 1910 's to the 1990 's. Even though, both of these eras made an impact towards the way people see literature, their literature work is very different in terms of themes, subjects, purposes, and techniques.
The Victorian age was an age where many changes occurred socially, economically, and industrially. People began to explore into areas such as the earth, the human body, and how to benefit the daily lives of individuals. English literature was also something that was beginning to be developed. People's thoughts and ideas also changed with the development of the country. The peoples' ideas became more free and they accepted change more easily, yet not everybody wanted to admit to change. People began to ask more questions about life, which prompted the development of science and many people began to question the bible. The change caused a great deal of confusion and alarm, which prompted English writers to accept responsibility and write about new thoughts, beliefs, and feelings.