Oscar Wilde, a Critical Study

Arthur RansomeProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.7

Word count: 260K words
Chapters: 26

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Oscar Wilde, a Critical Study by Arthur RansomeAuthor: Ransome, Arthur, 1884-1967,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: May 2, 2011

Editor's review

This critical study of Oscar Wilde was written by the British author Arthur Ransome and is one of the early systematic assessments of Wilde's life and work from the early twentieth century. Ransome is better known as a writer of children's literature, but here he appears as a critic, attempting to trace Wilde's aestheticist ideas and his achievements in drama and fiction, and to judge the relationship between his life and his writing. As a public-domain ebook, it preserves the critical tone and concerns of its time; for today's researchers its value lies more in the history of criticism and as historical material than in cutting-edge contemporary scholarship. Readers can see how the British literary world absorbed this controversial figure shortly after his death, and can test early evaluations against later research. The book is short and suits readers interested in Wilde's life and late nineteenth-century British criticism as supplementary material, though it should not be taken as a sole introduction.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary readers who already know Wilde's life and work and want an early critical perspective
Students and researchers of late nineteenth-century English literature or the Aesthetic movement who need material on the history of criticism
English learners who enjoy public-domain essays and like to judge arguments against the original text
Readers interested in Arthur Ransome's critical writing beyond his children's books

Not a good fit for

Beginners with no grounding in Wilde who want an accessible introduction first
Specialists expecting contemporary methods or the latest research findings
General readers who only want Wilde's own works and have little interest in criticism by others

Reading tips

Read Wilde's major plays and The Picture of Dorian Gray first, then return to this study to judge whether Ransome's praise and blame hold up.
Note the book's judgments on Aestheticism as you read and compare them with later criticism to build your own map of the critical tradition.
Read this alongside Ransome's children's books to observe how the same author's language differs across genres.
The English original is short; read it in two or three sittings and briefly restate each chapter's argument so you absorb rather than skim it.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a biography of Wilde?

No. It is a critical study focused on evaluating Wilde's writing and literary ideas rather than narrating his life chronologically. His experiences are mentioned, but only to support critical judgments; readers who want a detailed biography should look elsewhere.

How difficult is the English? Is it suitable for learners?

As an early twentieth-century essay, it has long sentences and fairly formal diction, but it is not especially difficult overall. Readers at university English level can finish it with a dictionary and build vocabulary in literary criticism; it is not suitable as beginner material.

Are its views still reliable today?

It reflects early critical positions shortly after Wilde's death and has value for the history of criticism, but its methods are distant from twenty-first-century scholarship. Read it as one voice and as historical material rather than a final verdict, and use it alongside modern studies.

Why read Wilde's works before this book?

The book assumes some knowledge of Wilde's plays, fiction, and aestheticist ideas, and often refers to works without retelling their plots. Reading the originals first keeps you from losing the thread and helps you judge independently whether Ransome's assessments are fair.

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About the author

Arthur Ransome Author · English · 1884–1967

Arthur Ransome (1884–1967) was a British author. He worked as a journalist early in his career and reported on the revolution in Russia during the First World War, where he met several Bolshevik leaders; his observations appeared in books such as Russia in 1919 and The Crisis in Russia. He also wrote Oscar Wilde, a Critical Study and retold Russian folk tales in Old Peter's Russian Tales. After returning to Britain in 1924, he settled in the Lake District, and from the 1930s he became known for the Swallows and Amazons series of children's novels, which established a tradition of holiday adventure stories; Pigeon Post won the first Carnegie Medal for children's literature. Seven of his works are held in the collection, including The Soldier and Death, The Child's Book of the Seasons and Pond and Stream, ranging from reportage and criticism to nature writing and children's adventure, all in clear, observant prose.