LITERATURE - Oscar Wilde

The story of how Oscar Wilde went from celebrity playwright to prisoner, in such a short space of time, has much to teach us about disgrace and infamy.

FURTHER READING

“On Valentine’s Day in 1895, the most famous playwright in the English speaking world, Oscar Wilde, presented his new play, The Importance of Being Earnest, in London at St. James Theatre. The audience was packed with celebrities, aristocrats and famous politicians, eagerly awaiting another triumph from a man universally heralded as a genius. At the end of the performance, there was a standing ovation. Critics adored the play and so did audiences, making it Wilde’s fourth major success in only three years…”

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CREDITS

Produced in collaboration with:

Mike Booth

Title animation produced in collaboration with

Vale Productions

[wanderingsoul]

To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.
~ Oscar Wilde

[TEAforMIND]

“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.”
Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man under Socialism (1891).

[simantmann]

It’s insulting when a government claims to pardon people posthumously who in retrospect didn’t do wrong. Shouldn’t it express regret and offer apologies for moral judgment of their predecessors instead?

[bineramin]

I'm very glad that Mr. Alain de botton is back again, we missed his divinely voice so much.

[chavesa]

"Many of us would -- across the ages -- want to comfort and befriend Oscar Wilde. It's a touching hope but one that would be best employed in extending understanding to all those less talented and less witty figures who are right now facing grave difficulties and still, deserve compassion."

True wisdom

[sphinxtheeminx]

It's Oscar's birthday on Saturday, 16th, so let us all reflect with love and admiration on that dear fellow. Remember, we are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars.

[escapistreader]

It was not his downfall. It was the downfall of humanity. It pains me to think that a genius like Wilde had to suffer such a terrible end!
Anyway, loved the message you gave in the end. We, as a society, indeed need to be more empathetic.

[DemetriPanici]

*“Reduce the complexity of life by eliminating the needless wants of life, and the labors of life reduce themselves.” - Edwin Way Teale*

[raghavkumar]

We should appreciate where we are and how much freedom we have compare to others.

[ASAMB]

your conclusion was absolutely beautiful. Just like Oscar Wilde was persecuted for some completely arbitrary ideal, many people still judge and look down upon people who are for whatever reason ill-equipped at fulfilling our societies' arbitrary ideals. We credit them with every sort of condemnable trait in order to justify their misfortune. True compassion is a rare virtue amongst us humans.

[velocitygirl]

Him living his true life wasn’t a downfall of his …

[enzoma]

What an absolute disgrace the way he was treated.

[halloween]

"I have pleasures and passions but the joy of life is gone." Wow :")

[oscillatewildly]

It is important to note that one reason for Wilde's aggressive pursuit was that he had relationships with young male prostitutes as young as 16 when he was nearly 40. He thought of male relationships as one muse and one intellect. Bosie too was 22 when Wilde was 38

[IsmaelKenig]

I have been missing these kind of videos. Well done!

[sultanam.]

I literally started reading the picture of Dorian gray yesterday, what a coincidence!!!!

[ReynaSingh]

This just shows the arbitrary nature of good and bad throughout history. What was once a crime is normal now and vice versa

[Robert-ycql]

Nicely done.
Excellent message... there are no doubt other "Oscars" in the world today who need support.

[zalexanna]

Thank you for this beautiful and painful episode

[JanamGurung-zs]

R.I.P Oscar Wilde 🕊️🕊️🕊️and happy birthday 🎂