Boys Gone Wilde

Wilde’s writing is humorous. It also shows the double life men of that era (or today for that matter and women as well) could lead if they were monetarily able. Wilde himself had to lead a double life: married but had a liking for young men (or boys) that he lived with on and off his throughout his adult life. I did some biographical readings of Wilde and he considered himself “Socratic” and agreed with Greek pederastic traditions.

So the life of the author is the common thread with his characters: secret identities and double lives. The sophomoric pun, “bunburying”, is witty, literary critic’s opinions notwithstanding. Mix Wilde’s personal life with that of his characters, add a dash of Plato and you get Maurice.

Have we come full circle? Wilde writes, “Life and Literature, life and the perfect expression of life.” These “perfect expressions of life” we examine give us pause to consider our own human experience. Plato writes in a time where much thought is openly given to such matters as the motives for relationships. Wilde writes in a period where he must cloak his personal life in the grand metaphors of his characters. Today we have first amendment rights to say what we think. Or do we? Why must a homosexual “come out of the closet” if our society is so open?

Yet we still look for the motives in the characters we study. In this we are on a pursuit of enlightenment. Regardless of motives, we see wonderful expressions of life through the author’s eyes. To examine these characters and authors is to turn the microscope upon ourselves. That is good literature. That is art.