The Importance of Truth, According to Oscar Wilde

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Recommended: Oscar Wilde and the Victorian Society

Mirroring his own life, Oscar Wilde’s witty plays explore the concept of truth and its role in shaping Victorian society. A vague question faced by readers is whether Wilde believed in untruth or supported the importance of truth. Oscar Wilde examines themes of truthfulness through the use of character deception in his social comedies The Importance of Being Ernest and Lady Windermere’s Fan. Both plays exploit situations shaped through secrecy and ultimately seeds a statement on social life, albeit a satirical one. Wilde’s plays hold greater meaning with knowledge of Wilde’s own personal life.

Oscar Wilde was born in Dubin, Ireland in 1854 and after a successful a stint in a local college Wilde enrolled at Oxford in 1877 (Gale, 1998). Wilde’s academic success may be a product of his social environment; his mother also being a poet, under a pseudonym, exposed Wilde to numerous other writers, undoubtedly shaping his future writing aspirations (Gale, 1998 and Edwards, 2004). The death of Wilde’s sister in 1867 also may have developed a personal 'template for his frequent portrayal of young innocent females in his works. Oscar Wilde was able to amass a moderate fan club while in Oxford and gradually grew as he published several poems until 1882 where he ventured to America for a year. Wilde married in1884 and produce two children. According to Edward’s article (2004), financial problems resulted in abstinence with his wife to prevent more children. Wilde, at this point, then turned to homosexual activities to relieve his building sexual frustrations. Wilde’s most successful works, probably inspired by his active homosexual double life, were released during this period in the early 1890’s; ironically plots revolved around secrecy ...

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... twists, and objects to scrutinize the morals of Victorian society. Nevertheless, he refrains from noticeably injecting his own philosophical point of view to pollute the overall quality of his work.

Works Cited

Edwards, Dudley Owen, “Wilde, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills (1854–1900).” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2010. Web. 5 Nov. 2011.

Wilde, Oscar, “The Importance of Being Ernest” The Importance of Being Ernest and Other Plays. London, England: Penguin Books Ltd. 2000. 295-358. Print.

Wilde, Oscar, “Lady Windermere’s Fan” The Importance of Being Ernest and Other Plays. London, England: Penguin Books Ltd. 2000. 5-64. Print.

“Wilde, Oscar Fingall O'Flahertie Wills (1854-1900).” Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Gale World History In Context. Web. 14 Nov. 2011.

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