Artist as Critic: Critical Writings of Oscar Wilde

by Richard Ellmann (Contributor)

Oscar Wilde, although most commonly known as a playright, was also a critic. The Artist as Critic is a wide selection of Wilde's book reviews as well as famous longer works such as "The Portrait of Mr. W.H.," "The Soul Man under Socialism," and the four essays which make up Intentions .

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Literary Criticism, Criticism, 19th Century, Philosophy

Hardcover

First published February 1, 1969

About the author

Richard David Ellmann was an American literary critic and biographer of the Irish writers James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, and William Butler Yeats. He won the U.S. National Book Award for Nonfiction for James Joyce (1959), one of the most acclaimed literary biographies of the 20th century. Its 1982 revised edition won James Tait Black Memorial Prize. Ellmann was a liberal humanist, and his academic work focuses on the major modernist writers of the 20th century.

Reviews

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a compilation made by Richard Ellis of all Wilde's literary criticism, and the best pieces remain the most familiar, i.e., "The Decay of Lying," "The Critic as Artist" and The Soul of Man Under Socialism -- essential reading for anyone interested in Wilde the artist or the man. I also found notable the review of Walter Pater's Appreciations with this moving defense of bias:

It is possible, of course, that I may exaggerate about them [i.e., Pater's books]. I certainly hope that I do; for where there is no exaggeration there is no love, and where there is no love there is no understanding. It is only about things that do not interest one, that one can give a really unbiassed opinion; and this is no doubt the reason why an unbiassed opinion is always absolutely valueless.

This bit of wisdom is, I believe, the key to the validity of faith and belief, whether in a person, a country or a religion.

In his excellent introduction, which is a succinct biographical essay, Ellis points out that Wilde, like Macbeth and Milton's Satan, saw merit in evil. It was a turning point in his life as an artist, as well as a man, when he ceased to flirt with crime as an esthetic pose and became a promiscuous lover of boys. And far from making excuses for his obsession, he identified it as evil, and accepted his suffering as fit punishment. The theme of The Picture of Dorian Gray can be seen as a precursor to his self-judgment.

The value of the earlier reviews and essays collected in this volume, in spite of their relative blandness, is the glimpse they afford of a very different Oscar Wilde before he crossed the line discussed above; a man who, behind his poses, was dedicated to goodness and nobility. Of course, as with all of us, the seeds of the future were present, and the following poem, "Helas!", written in 1881 was uncannily prophetic:

To drift with every passion till my soul
Is a stringed lute on which all winds can play,
Is it for this that I have given away
Mine ancient wisdom, and austere control?
Methinks my life is a twice-written scroll
Scrawled over on some boyish holiday
With idle songs for pipe and virelay
Which do but mar the secret of the whole.
Surely there was a time I might have trod
The sunlit heights, and from life's dissonance
Struck one clear chord to reach the ears of God:
Is that time dead? lo! with a little rod
I did but touch the honey of romance--
And must I lose a soul's inheritance?

[Julieta · Rating 5 out of 5]

shaking, crying, throwing up, gasping for air, punching a wall and swallowing every single page down my throat. hope this helps!

[tmc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect way to get me out of a reading funk… wishfully convinced we would’ve been friends in the same lifetime

[Adam Bregman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once you've read Oscar Wilde's plays, The Picture of Dorian Gray and his short stories, pick up a copy of The Artist as Critic, a collection of his critical writings assembled by Wilde biographer Richard Ellmann. Readers will discover in this volume some of Wilde's wittiest and most quotable writing. This book was an inspiration to me when I was a journalist and occasionally disparaging music critic and affirmed to me the importance of art criticism, be it music, literature or visual art, and whether blurb-worthy or scathing. Easily and often dismissed by both artist and layman, critical writing can be just as relevant and even more so than the subject being reviewed. Few, though, could pen opinions and metaphors that were as lively as Wilde's, for he was the champion smarty pants.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to add this old time favorite. In "The Soul of Man Under Socialism", Wilde shows his theoretical power, and delineates his vision for a world free of unjustifiable labor and of the degradation of human beings as individuals in a productive society. His criticism of free market systems which exploit people, includes a much notable statement about how such conditions would turn art into a farce, and how they would ultimately debilitate the respectability and autonomy of artists and other creative individuals. He was truly ahead of his time. I am so glad I reread this with newer insights. I cannot wait to read it again!

[a.d. nox · Rating 2 out of 5]

he's a rambler for sure

[Vaish · Rating 5 out of 5]

An insightful study of the nature of criticism - the play-like style makes it more engaging and the main message (that criticism is as much an art as creation) is well articulated and particularly profound.

[Tim Vander Meulen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The views of Oscar Wilde are valuable only insofar as they correspond to a confused generation that loves art more than truth. His essays are valuable to the scholar who seeks an origin to modern literary thought. The time of the Romance was very strange, and although it produced many great novels that contain beauty, it was not without its flaws, and Wilde is no exception. I am keeping this book, but only as an object for my own criticism.

[Elsie · Rating 4 out of 5]

How can this have an average rating of 5.2?? I really like Oscar Wilde, but I never know if he means what he says (I know that's the point). This reminds me of my brother that way. I can definitely give .5 stars more for saying in the last paragraph that he disagrees with almost everything in the book. And I do think that socialism is the only way to really protect the individual. So.

[Negar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wilde's letters to St James's Gazette are hilarious!

[G.B. Gabbler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gabbler Recommends.