Overview

This book focuses on the role that the Oxford classical curriculum has had in shaping Oscar Wilde’s aestheticism. It positions Wilde as a classically trained intellectual and outlines the path he took to gain recognition as a writer and promoter of the aesthetic movement. This narrative is conveyed through a broad range of literary sources, including Wilde’s travel poetry, American lectures, and canonical works like ‘The Critic as Artist’, The Soul of Man, The Picture of Dorian Gray and De Profundis. This study proposes that Wilde approached aestheticism as a personalised, self-directed learning experience – a mode of self-culture – which could be used to maintain an intellectual life outside of the university. It also explores Wilde’s thoughts on education and considers the significance of male friendship at Oxford, and in Wilde’s life and literature.

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9783030143732

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Grech's volume helpfully builds on existing accounts of Wilde's aesthetic vision. ... This complex book is likely to play an important role in future discussions of Wilde's relationship to intellectual culture. (Kimberly J. Stern, Review19, nbol-19.org, July 21, 2020)

Author Information

Leanne Grech is an interdisciplinary researcher who is interested nineteenth-century culture and classical reception. She completed a PhD at the University of Melbourne in 2016 and is currently teaching history at Trinity College, Melbourne. Her work on Wilde has been published in Oscar Wilde and Classical Antiquity (2017). 

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