The Cambridge Companion to Oscar Wilde

by Edited by Peter Raby

• ISBN13: 9780521479875
• ISBN10: 0521479878
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-11-13
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The Cambridge Companion to Oscar Wilde offers an essential introduction to one of the theatre's most important and enigmatic writers. Although a general overview, the volume also offers some of the latest thinking on the dramatist and his impact on the twentieth century. Part One places Wilde's work within the cultural and historical context of his time and includes an opening essay by Wilde's grandson, Merlin Holland. Further chapters also examine Wilde and the Victorians and his image as a Dandy. Part Two looks at Wilde's essential work as playwright and general writer, including his poetry, critiques, and fiction, and provides detailed analysis of such key works as Salome and The Importance of Being Earnest among others. The third group of essays examines the themes and factors which shaped Wilde's work and includes Wilde and his view of the Victorian woman, Wilde's sexual identities, and interpreting Wilde on stage. The volume also contains a detailed chronology of Wilde's work, a guide to further reading, and illustrations from important productions.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	ix
Notes on contributors	xi
Preface	xv
Acknowledgements	xvii
Note on references	xviii
Chronology	xix
Part I: Context
Biography and the art of lying	3	(15)
Merlin Holland
Wilde and the Victorians	18	(16)
Regenia Gagnier
Wilde and the Dandyism of the Senses	34	(23)
Stephen Calloway
Part II: Wilde's works
Wilde as poet	57	(12)
Karl Beckson
Bobby Fong
Wilde the Journalist	69	(11)
John Stokes
Wilde as critic and theorist	80	(16)
Lawrence Danson
Wilde's fiction(s)	96	(22)
Jerusha Mccormack
Distance, death and desire in Salome	118	(25)
Joseph Donohue
Wilde's comedies of Society	143	(18)
Peter Raby
The Importance of Being Earnest	161	(20)
Russell Jackson
Part III: Themes and influences
A verdict of death: Oscar Wilde, actresses and Victorian women	181	(14)
Kerry Powell
`A complex multiform creature' -- Wilde's sexual identities	195	(24)
Joseph Bristow
Wilde's plays: some lines of influence	219	(30)
Richard Allen Cave
Wilde on the stage	249	(27)
Joel Kaplan
Oscar Wilde: the resurgence of lying	276	(19)
Declan Kiberd
Select bibliography	295	(4)
General index	299	(7)
Index of works	306
Oscar Wilde