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labingiI was actually reading Wilde a few months ago, so apologies if my memory is dim. RL busy-ness and chronic pain have pushed updating DW to a back burner. In any case, I had somehow managed to get through life without reading either of these works and am glad I now have. Spoilers for those living in a cave for the past 130-odd years.
Salome
This tale of John the Baptist and Salome is a one act play. It is highly abbreviated and operates at a high level of symbolic removal from realism, which is a nice way of saying I found the characters one dimensional and uninteresting. I'm sure it all depends on how a specific performance handles it. It is also translated into English from French, so kudos to Wilde for being able to write drama in a foreign language, but this might explain why the voice doesn't sound all that much like "Wilde" to me.
I confess I didn't realize that Wilde's play is apparently the genesis of the idea that Salome was in love with John. I grew up with that story as the standard pop cultural narrative, popularized no doubt by Strauss, but it seems Strauss got it from Wilde. So I have to give him credit for rewriting the Bible in a way that, at least to some extent, has superseded the biblical account in cultural prominence. I give it 10/10 for cultural influence and 3/10 for execution.
The Picture of Dorian Grey
Honestly, I had expected to be a bit bored. I somehow had it in my head that this was a slight story made famous because it had a resonant core concept (like Salome?). I was pleasantly surprised to find it a very well written short novel. But what surprised me most was the realization--having just watched season 2 of Rings of Power--that Wilde's moral orientation in this story is much the same as Tolkien's. Who'd have thought?
Lord Henry is pretty much in the position of a Second Age Sauron here, filling the role of tempter and purveyor of bad advice. Of course, Lord Henry is a much more human-feeling character than Sauron, dealing with his own disillusion and--interestingly--the one to voice a lot of classic Wildean aphorisms. But both advocate a self-centered approach of what is metaphorically "shiny," power, beauty, etc. Both are radically divorced from basic human empathy (though Lord Henry has some for Dorian and enough vestiges of it left to sometimes understand well how others think). Both lead those who listen to them into misery and tragedy by prescribing selfishness at the expense of care of one's fellow people.
I was surprised a while ago to learn that Wilde was quite a devout Catholic convert, though I can only imagine in a somewhat non-dogmatic way. I wonder if there is an underlying Catholic orientation I'm sensing in this similarity to Tolkien. In any case, it's not what I expected to unearth.
Salome
This tale of John the Baptist and Salome is a one act play. It is highly abbreviated and operates at a high level of symbolic removal from realism, which is a nice way of saying I found the characters one dimensional and uninteresting. I'm sure it all depends on how a specific performance handles it. It is also translated into English from French, so kudos to Wilde for being able to write drama in a foreign language, but this might explain why the voice doesn't sound all that much like "Wilde" to me.
I confess I didn't realize that Wilde's play is apparently the genesis of the idea that Salome was in love with John. I grew up with that story as the standard pop cultural narrative, popularized no doubt by Strauss, but it seems Strauss got it from Wilde. So I have to give him credit for rewriting the Bible in a way that, at least to some extent, has superseded the biblical account in cultural prominence. I give it 10/10 for cultural influence and 3/10 for execution.
The Picture of Dorian Grey
Honestly, I had expected to be a bit bored. I somehow had it in my head that this was a slight story made famous because it had a resonant core concept (like Salome?). I was pleasantly surprised to find it a very well written short novel. But what surprised me most was the realization--having just watched season 2 of Rings of Power--that Wilde's moral orientation in this story is much the same as Tolkien's. Who'd have thought?
Lord Henry is pretty much in the position of a Second Age Sauron here, filling the role of tempter and purveyor of bad advice. Of course, Lord Henry is a much more human-feeling character than Sauron, dealing with his own disillusion and--interestingly--the one to voice a lot of classic Wildean aphorisms. But both advocate a self-centered approach of what is metaphorically "shiny," power, beauty, etc. Both are radically divorced from basic human empathy (though Lord Henry has some for Dorian and enough vestiges of it left to sometimes understand well how others think). Both lead those who listen to them into misery and tragedy by prescribing selfishness at the expense of care of one's fellow people.
I was surprised a while ago to learn that Wilde was quite a devout Catholic convert, though I can only imagine in a somewhat non-dogmatic way. I wonder if there is an underlying Catholic orientation I'm sensing in this similarity to Tolkien. In any case, it's not what I expected to unearth.
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Date: 2024-12-15 08:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-12-17 04:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-12-17 02:01 am (UTC)I also recall being surprised by how moral his fiction often was, considering his reputation of believing in art for art's sake. Likewise, his choice of Lord Henry as the delivery vehicle for his Wildean aphorisms raised a few questions. I thought there was a sense of tension in his writings, between the man and the persona he cultivated, and it resonated with me at that time in my life.
no subject
Date: 2024-12-17 04:01 am (UTC)