The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-12-21
AN AUTHOR UNDER A CLOUD


The cloud under which Oscar Wilde
died still affects his literary reputation
While this attitude is in some respects
unfair to man who produced some note
worthy verse, several of the smartes'
plays written during his time and fairy
tales as exquisite as any in the language
his moral obliquity unquestionably ap-
pears in some of his work. Were 1T not
for this fact, more progress would have
been made ere now by friends and ad-
mirers of Oscar Wilde in perpetuating his
fame and in widening the circle OF MS
readers.
The old-fashioned notion that the
works of Wilde are not for the decent
person should have been exploded long
ago. If it still exists anywhere, the PROB
able reason is an unfamiliarity with the
writings of Wilde, or inability to dis
tinguish between genius and the mlre
from which it springs. AS the foremost
"esthete" of his day, Wilde earned per-
haps a deserved share of ridicule. His
affectations of manner and dress, satl-
rized by Gilbert and Sullivan in their
comic opera, patience" made him one
of the most talked about and written
about personalities on two continents
but they did not help his literary repu-
tation. Yet, even in his college days,
at Oxford, he won literary distinction
and the Newdigate prize, in 1878, Tor
his poem, "Ravenna." This poem still
ranks as one of his best, although the
celebrated ballad of Reading Gaol,' IS
more familiar to the average reader.
AS a figure in London society, as a
master of brilliant and witty paradox
great talents were still to be given the
sanction of wide approval In 1883 ne
published "The Happy Prince and other
Tales" A volume of poems pubhsheo
seven years before won the applause OF
a limited circle, but in the following
wear, 1882, he had become prominent
enough to make a lecture tour of the
United States. A reading of "The Happy
Prince and Other Tales" as we'll as a
second book of fairy stories, "The House
of Pomegranates," published in 1892,
will give one glimpse Of an Oscar Wilde
who can be praised without stint. or reser-
walton, and without thought of the
errors of his life. Here are the most
delightful fancy and sentiment, and put
into words with rare literary skill and
charm. Also, there is much of Wilde's
verse that is rated high by critics and
contains no suggestion of faint. But there
are a few pieces that arouse disgust and
desire for fresh air, as is true OF certain
of his prose works, including The PIC
ture of Dorian Gray" and "What Never
Dies" the latter signed Sebastian Mel
moth" the name Wilde adoped during
his exile on the Continent.
In 1892 Wilde succeeded in reaching
a larger public than had been his before
in the first of several successful plays
Lady Windemere's Fam" produced at
the st. James theater, London. This was
followed by "a Woman of No Import
ance," "An Ideal Husband" and 1.-The
Importance of Being Earnest" These
four plays, written in brilliant style, with
the smart dialogue of which Wilde was
a past master, will no doubt hold per-
manent place in English drama. They
have been acted many times and are still
revived occasionally. Other plays, "Sa-
lome," produced by Sarah Bernhard, and
"The Duchess of Padua," written for
Mary Anderson, but never acted by her,
rank among his lesser dramatic works.
"Salome," however, was the sort of play
that Wilde, in his worst manifestation,
delighted in. 1t is just as we'll that ne
did not write another.
How shall we appraise this man who
rose so high in the world and fell like
a meteor, never to rise again? Who
stepped from the pinnacle of London
society to prison, and became an outcast
until his death? Wilde's admirers praise
his literary work extravagantly, and some
even try to defend his private life. There
is a happy mean that most of us who
care to read Wilde may take. Though
not a towering literary figure, he was
in his way unique, and deserves to have
his best work remembered. His gifts
were extraordinary and, for the most
part, he put them to good use.
A WEEK OF VIOLENCE