Wilde

Wilde
   , WILDEAN, OSCARIZING
   Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854-1900) was an Irish poet, playwright, and intriguing personality. Wilde had such a sharp tongue that many believed he out-Shawed Shaw.
   Wilde's life, however, was colored by his libel suit and imprisonment because of his altercation with the Marquis of Queensberry. Wilde was known for his homosexuality. In British slang, Wilde's first name, Oscar, came to mean a homosexual, and Oscarizing and Oscar-Wilding meant active homosexuality.
   Wilde's lover was the son of the Marquis of Queensberry. When the Marquis accused Wilde of sodomy, Wilde brought a libel suit against him. The government then instituted criminal charges against Wilde based on "immoral conduct"; Wilde lost both suits. For the criminal act, Wilde was sentenced to prison, where he wrote De Profundis and The Ballad of Reading Gaol, works well appreciated by Wilde's army of aficionados.
   Wilde's tongue was razor-edged. When a minor poet complained to Wilde that his poetry was receiving no reviews, that there was a "conspiracy of silence against him," and that he didn't know what to do, Wilde replied, "Join it." To a chamber of commerce he remarked, "Niagara Falls would be more spectacular if it flowed the other way." James Whistler, the famous painter whose Mother is a classic, engaged in a lively exchange with Wilde, who mentioned a certain clever remark and said, "I wish I had said it." Whistler, not to be outdone, replied, "You will, Oscar, you will." But Wilde's incisive wit would not rest, for which we now have the word Wildean. "As for borrowing Mr. Whistler's ideas," he wrote, "the only thoroughly original ideas I have ever heard him express have had reference to his own superiority as a painter over painters greater than himself."

Dictionary of eponyms. . 2013.

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  • Wilde — heißen die Gewässer Wilde (Fulda) Wilde (Twiste) Wilde (Eder) Wilde bezeichnet folgende Stadt Wilde (Provinz Buenos Aires) in Argentinien Wilde bzw. De Wilde ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Albert Wilde (1854 1919), Jurist, Bürgermeister …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • WILDE (O.) — La célébrité d’Oscar Wilde tient à son destin. Prodigieusement doué, d’un esprit étincelant qui subjugua la société londonienne, fin lettré, nourri de Swinburne, de Ruskin, de Walter Pater, il a surtout été considéré comme un esthète décadent et… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Wilde Aa — (Aar, Ogge, Wilde Ah, Wilde Aar)Vorlage:Infobox Fluss/GKZ fehlt Lage Rothaargebirge; Hochsauerlandkreis und Landkreis Waldeck Frankenberg, Nordrhein Westfalen und Hessen, Deutschland Flusssystem …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Wilde — puede hacer referencia a: el escritor irlandés Oscar Wilde (1854 – 1900); la ciudad argentina de Wilde, en el partido de Avellaneda, provincia de Buenos Aires; el político y literato argentino Eduardo Wilde; la película Wilde, que trata sobre la… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Wilde [1] — Wilde (Wilde Menschen), s.u. Wildheit …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Wilde [2] — Wilde, Thomas, seit 1850 Lord Fruro, geb. 1782 in London, war früher Advocat u. hatte eine ausgedehnte Praxis, wurde 1841 Attorney General, 1846 Oberrichter u. 1850 Lordkanzler mit Verleihung der Peerswürde; er schied im Febr. 1852 aus dem Amte u …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Wilde — Wilde, in der Studentensprache so v.w. Kameele, s.d. (in den Nachträgen) …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Wilde [1] — Wilde, im parlamentarischen Sprachgebrauch die keiner Fraktion angehörigen Mitglieder einer Volksvertretung; s. Fraktion …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Wilde [2] — Wilde (spr. ŭaild), Oscar, engl. Dichter, geb. 16. Okt. 1856 in Dublin, gest. 30. Nov. 1900 in Paris, Sohn des berühmten Augen und Ohrenarztes Sir William Rob. Wills W. (1815–76) und der Dichterin und nationalirischen Pamphletistin Jane Francesca …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Wilde — (spr. weild), Oskar O Flahertie Wills, engl. Dichter, geb. 15. Okt. 1856 in Dublin, 1895 wegen Vergehens gegen die Sittlichkeit zu 2 Jahren Gefängnis verurteilt, gest. 30. Nov. 1900 in Paris; schrieb die satir. Erzählungen »The happy prince and… …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Wilde — (Oscar Fingal O Flahertie Wills) (1854 1900) écrivain britannique. Théoricien de l art pour l art , il affiche son amoralisme d esthète: le Portrait de Dorian Gray (roman, 1891), l éventail de lady Windermere (drame, 1892), Salomé (drame écrit en …   Encyclopédie Universelle

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