BOOK CLUB 7 PM 22th APRIL
Written by Nemanja Stanković, English language and literature teacher
Edgar Allan Poe and Oscar Wilde represent such cornerstones in the world of literature today that it is almost hard to imagine that their works had failed to garner little more than trifles of attention at the time that they were creating. Although Poe did not win any critical acclaim in his country of birth, thanks to the translations of Charles Baudelaire he was not only able to acquire renowned fame across the pond, but influence a plethora of writers among whom was an up-and-coming Irish literary prodigy, Oscar Wilde.
Both writers were atypical individualists whose lives as well as works were shaped by their unfavourable positions in the judgmental and conventional societies of their day. Poe was unsuccessfully pursuing literary praise and fame in a period of rapidly expanding economy, scientific achievements and expansion of American society in which it was painstakingly difficult to make a living as a writer. His turn to European Romanticism, which maintained that the writer was a privileged genius, enabled him to create a world of his own – the world of death and insanity infused with utter beauty of composition which was to bring him renowned fame in the later years to come he had been deprived of during his time. Much like Edgar Allan Poe, Oscar Wilde had been criticised by his highly pretentious Victorian society not only for his eccentric lifestyle and dandy nature, but for the controversial themes of decadence, same-sex love, open sexuality and the criticism of society which he employed in the majority of his works. However, unlike Poe, in addition to being able to acquire a certain level of notoriety, he was also able to achieve great literary success during his lifetime. Yet, this critical acclaim was to be short-lived as his fall from grace was to herald the loss of all his prestige and ultimately bring about his sentence – he was publicly disgraced and accused of being a sodomite and an advocate of homosexual love. As such, both writers, therefore, represent unique examples of two literary misfits whose talents and the majority of works had remained eclipsed by the conservative societies of their day. In an attempt to shed some light and hopefully re-kindle people’s interest in these illustrious literary connoisseurs, in this blog post I have opted to write about two of their, perchance, less known short stories.
“The Oval Portrait” was first written and published in 1842 under the title “Life in Death”. It was not until 1845 that the story was to undergo a revision and consequently be re-named into “The Oval Portrait” and under that title be published in the Broadway Journal that same year. The short narrative depicts a traveller and his man servant’s sojourn in derelict château. After establishing themselves in one of the vacant rooms, with the window panes drawn and the candelabra enkindled, the two men decide to spend the night, whereupon the traveller discovers a portrait of a young girl whose life-like quality renders him utterly enthralled. Captivated by the picture’s apparent genuineness, the visitor embarks upon a quest to uncover the origins of the portrait.
“The Happy Prince”, on the other hand, represents just one out of five of Wilde’s short narratives which he had primarily written for the entertainment of his two sons stating that “It is the duty of every father to write fairy tales for his children.” Subsequently, these compositions were published as a collection of short children’s stories under the name The Happy Prince and Other Tales in 1888. In the fairy tale we are introduced to the eponymous main character who used to rule his city from the vicinity of his palace, safely sequestered from the plight of his subjects. Yet, in spite of their liege’s palpable apathy, he was held in high esteem inasmuch so that a gilded statue, adorned with a ruby and sapphires, was erected high above the city in his honour after his sudden passing. It was only in death, when he became this statue looking down on the city and its inhabitants, that we find out just how happy our Prince truly is, for has he come to realise just how many people suffer and struggle. In an attempt to rectify his wrong, he employs the help of, and finds an unlikely allay in, the swallow that had by chance decided to take shelter and momentary respite in the shadow of his colossal statue.
As such, both works represent not only the epitomes of their writers’ nonconformist natures but masterpieces with which they had endeavored to establish texts which centered around the theme of artistic creation. Furthermore, in relying on the fact that both writers shared a common artistic principle that art should be employed for its own sake it can be inferred that both Poe and Wilde emerge as artisans who in spite of implementing and dealing with corruption and degradation in their works, ultimately strived to create something which will have some quality of beauty.
