Read&Travel!: COVID-19 Time!

Tuesday 12 January 2021

COVID-19 Time!

OSCAR WILDE part 1

Let's intoduce one of my favourite writers, the brilliant Oscar Wilde. In 1882, at the Customs Control in the USA, he said simply

"I have nothing to declare but my genius"

Session 1) His life and "The Picture of Dorian Gray", his novel

Videos : 15 minutes ; Reading and notes : 1 hour

Step 1. Take notes from the video and then read from your textbook Prformer Heitage, 2, pg124-125,

Step 2: The following video is taken from the movie Wilde, starring Stephen Fye (1997). It shows up the famous monologue on "Love that dare not speak its name", he spoke during the trial when he was sentenced and condamned to two years' hard labour (lavori forzati) for his love affair with Bosie

"The Love that dare not speak its name in this century is such a great affection of an elder for a younger man as there was between David and Jonathan, such as Plato made the very basis of his philosophy, and such as you find in the sonnets of Michelangelo and Shakespeare.It is as deep, spiritual affection that is as pure as it is perfect. It didctates and pervades great works of ast like those of Shakespeare and Michelangelo and those two letters of mine, such as they are. It is in this century mi sunderstood, so much misunderstood that it may be described as the "Love that dare no speak its name", and on account of it I am placed where I am now. It is beautiful, it is fine, it is the noblest form of affection. There is nothing unnatural about it. It is intellectual, and it repeatedly exists between an elder and a younger man, when the elder man has intellect and the younger man has all the joy, hope and glamour of life before him. That it should be so, the world does not understand. The world mocks at it and sometimes puts one in the pillory (alla gogna) for it"

If you have ever been in Dublin, this video shows the actor Rupert Everett visiting Wilde's house in Merrion Square.