Is Wilde “Wild”

For this Blog Post, write a small rhetorical commentary about Wilde’s “wildness.” Who is Oscar Wilde? What literary period/genre did he belong? How was he received back then and how is reception now? Why was/is he a controversial figure? Do you think he is a “wild” writer? Why/why not? You are also expected to select ONE poem or story from Wilde (other than “The Sphinx”) and draw on that (using quotes) to further fortify your argument.

Oscar Wild, born in 1854, was a famed Irish poet and playwright who became very popular throughout London in the late 1880s through 1890s. His reception back then was definitely mixed at first but became much more negative once he was set to prison for “Gross Indecency” and a multitude of homosexual acts. Although seemingly normal now back them, since homosexuality was not accepted, even though his were conceptual, he was sentenced to prison where he spent his later years. His perception now has definitely been more open, with some seeing him as a leader for expressing who he truly was. I definitely do believe that Oscar Wilde was indeed “wild” due to him doing what he wanted to do and not letting anyone stop him. What he was charged for was something that was not taken well by most people because of how unexplored that area of sexuality was explored, hence his “wildness,” he was doing what others would not do because of the consequences put in place. When looking at the The Ballad of Reading Gaol which he wrote in prison, Wilde talks about how individuals choose their fate. “each man kills the thing he loves, Yet each man does not die.” I think here Wilde refers to his situation because as much he was homosexual and was open about it, he knew that the government would not except it and he would be sent to trial. So for expressing what he loved he himself killed it by getting sent to prison. That sacrifice was what made Wilde so “wild,” to share the love he had for someone even though it was not expectable, but to him its all that mattered.