We are a patchwork of influences, to be sure. And we have an original spark – or maybe it's just that nobody has quite been our style of patchwork before. As we mature, we metabolize all those the influences and find our own singular voice. If we're not afraid. If we have the support. If we believe in ourselves. It's a tall order, but how glorious when we find out way there.
Reading your post and his words brought tears to my eyes. I’m not sure how I’d get through the book itself without more tears, but part of me wants to know more of what he wrote anyway.
Ooof. This hits so hard. That anyone should endure so much sorrow and still find beauty in the flowers he remembered and knew would be blooming. His writing makes my heart ache. Thank you for the reminder today.
Thank you 4 this lovely tribute to Oscar Wilde. I loved his ballad of reading gaol as a young teen before I knew any of the story of his unjust & cruel imprisonment. That may be due to the homophobia that still exists esp. In the fundamentalist culture I grew up in.
How sad and wrong that such a talented, tender ❤️ and sensitive soul should have endured such a grueling ordeal. I ❤️ the quote at the end the best! I think it is still relevant.
"He realizes he can’t allow himself to feel a victim. That he must find a way to come to terms with everything that happened to him. To shape his pain into something. But to do that, he can’t deny any of it. He has to look at it."
I just read a really interesting article on Medium about the disability paradox - where able-bodied people assume that anyone who is disabled has a net negative life. (ie "if you don't have your health, you don't have anything" b.s.) and this article brought it to mind. How many people assumed Oscar Wilde had such an tragic life because of all the traumatic events he'd endured, yet how rich and spiritual his life actually was thanks to his willingness to look directly at everything and find a way to mold it to good/art.
Resilient, adaptable people will take whatever they are given and will find a way to shape it into something positive. And unfortunately most people don't realize how resilient they are until they are forced into difficult situations. So before they've hit those obstacles they incorrectly assume a lot. Love these quotes from De Profundis that show the complexity and multitudes embedded in all of that.
During England's greatest age, when the profits of empire and slavery were at their peak, these lords of the universe were persecuting gays & women with a hatred bordering on obsession. A few too many criminalizes? How does one bisect one's conscience like that?
It's a bit of a stretch to call it ripping off though, I think. Maturin's book was about a scholar who made a deal with the devil for 150 more years of life. Wilde was very probably inspired by the story but he took it in an entirely different direction. No devil, no deal. Just a man making a wish and horrified when it came true. To call it a ripoff would be like saying C.S. Lewis ripped off Hans Christian Andersen because both stories had a snow queen.
I love Oscar Wilde’s wit, and knew about his horribly unjust imprisonment, and now you have opened a beautiful window to his soul. Thank you for this post!
What a life... I only came to understand what my dad went through after reading The Picture of Dorian Gray — the book he read over and over again when I was a child. Thank you for sharing his quotes alongside details of his profound life.
So courageous and moving, his striving to make meaning from his prison stay after such a painful ordeal...thanks, Linda. I recently saw the London National Theater filmed production of The Importance of Being Earnest and it's fabulous and very campy. All Wilde fans, go see it if you can!
We are a patchwork of influences, to be sure. And we have an original spark – or maybe it's just that nobody has quite been our style of patchwork before. As we mature, we metabolize all those the influences and find our own singular voice. If we're not afraid. If we have the support. If we believe in ourselves. It's a tall order, but how glorious when we find out way there.
I so agree. It's truly glorious when we find our way there.
Reading your post and his words brought tears to my eyes. I’m not sure how I’d get through the book itself without more tears, but part of me wants to know more of what he wrote anyway.
His words hit me, too. A lot of them are really profound and beautiful too, not just sad. Small bites lol :)
Ooof. This hits so hard. That anyone should endure so much sorrow and still find beauty in the flowers he remembered and knew would be blooming. His writing makes my heart ache. Thank you for the reminder today.
Right? So much of it is just beautiful. There are sad bits. And also boring political bits. But some real nice parts, too. Thanks, Jen :)
Thank you 4 this lovely tribute to Oscar Wilde. I loved his ballad of reading gaol as a young teen before I knew any of the story of his unjust & cruel imprisonment. That may be due to the homophobia that still exists esp. In the fundamentalist culture I grew up in.
How sad and wrong that such a talented, tender ❤️ and sensitive soul should have endured such a grueling ordeal. I ❤️ the quote at the end the best! I think it is still relevant.
I love that quote at the end too, Raney. I think that one sentence made me about as emotional as some of his entire paragraphs. :)
"He realizes he can’t allow himself to feel a victim. That he must find a way to come to terms with everything that happened to him. To shape his pain into something. But to do that, he can’t deny any of it. He has to look at it."
I just read a really interesting article on Medium about the disability paradox - where able-bodied people assume that anyone who is disabled has a net negative life. (ie "if you don't have your health, you don't have anything" b.s.) and this article brought it to mind. How many people assumed Oscar Wilde had such an tragic life because of all the traumatic events he'd endured, yet how rich and spiritual his life actually was thanks to his willingness to look directly at everything and find a way to mold it to good/art.
Resilient, adaptable people will take whatever they are given and will find a way to shape it into something positive. And unfortunately most people don't realize how resilient they are until they are forced into difficult situations. So before they've hit those obstacles they incorrectly assume a lot. Love these quotes from De Profundis that show the complexity and multitudes embedded in all of that.
During England's greatest age, when the profits of empire and slavery were at their peak, these lords of the universe were persecuting gays & women with a hatred bordering on obsession. A few too many criminalizes? How does one bisect one's conscience like that?
He was okay, but ripping off his great uncle Chuck to come up with Dorian Gray? P'shaw I say.
It's a bit of a stretch to call it ripping off though, I think. Maturin's book was about a scholar who made a deal with the devil for 150 more years of life. Wilde was very probably inspired by the story but he took it in an entirely different direction. No devil, no deal. Just a man making a wish and horrified when it came true. To call it a ripoff would be like saying C.S. Lewis ripped off Hans Christian Andersen because both stories had a snow queen.
Aaand a double p'shaw!
:)
Beautiful. Thank you for this. Right on time for me.
I love Oscar Wilde’s wit, and knew about his horribly unjust imprisonment, and now you have opened a beautiful window to his soul. Thank you for this post!
Excellent! Thank you so much.
Beautiful. This has stirred my call to writing once more.
Where were you when Oscar Wilde whispered, "Linda, you must write me in 2025! You must allow my voice to 'come out' again!" Thank you for listening!
What a life... I only came to understand what my dad went through after reading The Picture of Dorian Gray — the book he read over and over again when I was a child. Thank you for sharing his quotes alongside details of his profound life.
I worked in an office in Reading many years ago, and behind my desk there was a window overlooking Reading prison.
I often thought of Oscar Wilde when I looked out of that window.
The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of my ask time favorite books! The movie is great too! 😂
So courageous and moving, his striving to make meaning from his prison stay after such a painful ordeal...thanks, Linda. I recently saw the London National Theater filmed production of The Importance of Being Earnest and it's fabulous and very campy. All Wilde fans, go see it if you can!