Witty, Wacky, and Wilde

“Either that wallpaper goes, or I do.” ~Last words of Oscar Wilde

When I was thinking about something to write about for my blog, Oscar Wilde just came to mind.  Perhaps it’s because I used to teach Wilde around this time of year when I taught senior English.  Maybe it’s because my tenth graders have been talking about identity in our literary unit and self-realization.  Either way, looking at Wilde’s final words, you know that this guy is certainly blog worthy.

When we think of the late 1800s, which is Wilde’s era, we think of formalities, tea parties, and top hats.  We think of manners and formalities, fancy dinner parties and ballroom music.  All of this is true . . .except when you’re talking about Oscar Fingal O’ Flahertie Wills Wilde (Even his name says: I’m my own person!).

Amidst all of the black clothing and etiquette, Wilde himself admits that he was quite flamboyant.  Wearing bright colors, a flower in his buttonhole, and even a cape from time to time, Wilde knew how to draw attention.  He was known for being witty and an individual, which is something I love about him.  I love his quote, “Be yourself.  Everyone else is already taken.” He is noted for always standing out in the crowd and for being really humorous in a sea of stoic people.

Wilde certainly was ahead of his times, though, and the people of his era didn’t appreciate him. He actually went to Reading Gaol prison for “immoral behavior,” and his famous works including The Picture of Dorian Gray were used as evidence against him.  It is believed that he had an affair with another man, a well-known Lord of the time.  This would have been a crime in Wilde’s day; he was sentenced and sent to prison, his reputation ruined by the “scandal.”

He tried to make the best of it, writing “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” shortly after his release.  He writes, seemingly in self-reflection:

He walked amongst the Trial Men

In a suit of shabby grey;

A cricket cap was on his head,

And his step seemed light and gay;

But I never saw a man who looked

So wistfully at the day.

I never saw a man who looked

With such a wistful eye

Upon that little tent of blue

Which prisoners call the sky,

And at every drifting cloud that went

With sails of silver by.

I’d like to say that Wilde’s “be yourself” philosophy worked out well for him.  Obviously, it didn’t. After his prison sentence, he was broke and in exile. He never recovered his reputation, and his writing wasn’t really appreciated until long after his death.

Nonetheless, Wilde lived in a very different time than our own. He reminds us that we must strive to be our own true selves and not let others’ judgment get the best of us.

We all face judgment. We are persecuted for our clothes, our values, and our homes. We worry what others will think about us because our house is in a state of disarray or because our hair is graying. Others tell us we’re living wrong or we’re making a mistake with every choice we make.

We can never escape ridicule and others’ opinions about how we should be living our lives. Wilde reminds us, though, that we have to do what makes us happy, even if it means facing persecution.  He shows us through the character of Dorian Gray that ignoring your true self can have detrimental and devastating consequences. We must fulfill our internal desires and goals before we worry about the person we want the world to see.

Perhaps Wilde said it best when he noted, “”Yes: I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” Even though it may be hard sometimes, we have to strive to be dreamers, too.  We must follow our own dreams and desires, even if it means the world won’t appreciate our genuineness until long after we’re gone.

~Lindsay Detwiler, Voice of Innocence