Everyone who's anyone is a fan of his work, it seems, be it as a novelist, poet, playwright, or from having something in every single quip and quotation collection possible. Most people don't realize that Oscar's first claim to fame was on the lecture circuit, where he expounded upon his aestheticism. Right now, I'm reading a collection of his essays and speeches, and one essay in particular stuck me as oddly topical. It seems like the entire thing is talking about gay bloggers.
I mean, wouldn't that be marvelous? Oscar Wilde, greatest gay writer of all time, with his own blog? I don't use the word marvelous very often, but I think this qualifies as a need, not a want, to use the word.
I've taken my favourite epigrams and quips from that essay (Phrases And Philosophies For The Use Of The Young), and compiled a list of the ones I think have an eerie resonance with today's blogging scene. Even though I'm not in the 'scene,' per se, but I think if I were on the list with the rest of the in-crowd, these would be pertinent.
The first duty in life is to be as artificial as possible. What the second duty is no one has as yet discovered.
Wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others.
Dullness is the coming of age of seriousness.
In all unimportant matters, style, not sincerity, is the essential. In all important matters, style, not sincerity, is the essential.
Nothing that actually occurs is of the smallest importance.
Only the shallow know themselves.
One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.
It is only the superficial qualities that last. Man's deeper nature is soon found out.
The condition of perfection is idleness: the aim of perfection is youth.
To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.
All right. So maybe some have to do with just being gay and fabulous than with being gay with a fabulous blog, but still you've got to admit that Oscar was ahead of his time with a lot of these. Or maybe we're still just trying to catch up to his ideals on life. Point to ponder.
::edit:: Apparently he was a true fag to the end, despite claims of a 11th hour conversion. His alleged last words were "Either that wallpaper goes, or I do."
