The Stranger Wilde: Interpreting Oscar

by Gary Schmidgall

A provocative look at the life and work of the flamboyant Oscar Wilde maintains that Wilde's homosexuality serves as a key to understanding his art and his continuing appeal

Genres: Biography, LGBT, Nonfiction

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Gary Schmidgall is a professor of English at Hunter College, the City University of New York, and the editor of Intimate with Walt: Selections from Whitman's Conversations with Horace Traubel, 1888-1892 (Iowa, 2001). His other Whitman books are Walt Whitman: A Gay Life and Walt Whitman: Selected Poems 1855-1892. He has also published books on Shakespeare and on the relation between literature and opera, as well as a biography of Oscar Wilde.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the title would suggest, this is more an interpretation of all things Wilde than a straightforward biography. It assumes the reader has some general knowledge of Wilde's life and career. This is helpful b/c the author doesn't stick strictly to a chronological structure. I liked his kaleidoscopic approach to the material and his familiar tone (he occasionally throws in an "I think" or "in my opininon"). This reminds you that much of what your reading is subjective, but the plethora of reference material, quotes, footnotes and illustartions keep the reading interesting though occasionally it becomes overwhelming. I also liked how the author interprets not only Wilde's writing and character in his own time but also the long shadows he and his work cast into our own time. He uses much of Wilde's work to illustrate his points and it made me hungry to go back and read the originals. The author also devotes much time discussing Sodomy laws and the gay rights movement then and now and compares/contrasts in detail Wilde to contempories whom he met (Shaw) and didn't meet (Neitczhe). The last 40 or so pages felt unnecessary to me (when the author compare/contrasts Wilde to some of Shakespeare's characters) and at times the chapters feel overlong. But all in all, it's an interesting read and a good companion book to the Wilde's work and a solid (if there is one) biography.

[Caeru · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but a bit rambling. The writer makes a lot of unsubstantiated claims. I'd recommend "The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde" by Neil McKenna instead.

[Sarah Giffen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, had some nice tidbits here and there, but rather disorganized. Not the best biography out there.

[Emilia Pacurar]

Nowadays the heros are not canonize but are condemned.