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The Decay of Lying and Other Essays
In The Decay of Lying Oscar Wilde uses his decadent ideology in an attempt to reverse and therefore reject his audiences' 'normal' conceptualizations of nature, art and morality. Wilde's views of life and art are illustrated through the use of Platonic dialogue where the character Vivian takes on the persona of Wilde. Wilde's goal is to subvert the norm by reversing its values. Wilde suggests to us that society is wrong, not him. Calling on diverse examples – from Ancient Greek sculpture to contemporary paintings – Oscar Wilde’s brilliant essay creates a witty, paradoxical world in which the only Art worth loving is that built on complete untruths.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1891
73 people are currently reading
1651 people want to read
About the author
Oscar Wilde
4,276 books38.9k followersOscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, and his criminal conviction for gross indecency for homosexual acts.
Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. In his youth, Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, he read Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles.
Wilde tried his hand at various literary activities: he wrote a play, published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on "The English Renaissance" in art and interior decoration, and then returned to London where he lectured on his American travels and wrote reviews for various periodicals. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into what would be his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). Wilde returned to drama, writing Salome (1891) in French while in Paris, but it was refused a licence for England due to an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Undiscouraged, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London.
At the height of his fame and success, while An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) were still being performed in London, Wilde issued a civil writ against John Sholto Douglas, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel hearings unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and criminal prosecution for gross indecency with other males. The jury was unable to reach a verdict and so a retrial was ordered. In the second trial Wilde was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labour, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. During his last year in prison he wrote De Profundis (published posthumously in abridged form in 1905), a long letter that discusses his spiritual journey through his trials and is a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. On the day of his release, he caught the overnight steamer to France, never to return to Britain or Ireland. In France and Italy, he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life.
Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. In his youth, Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, he read Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles.
Wilde tried his hand at various literary activities: he wrote a play, published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on "The English Renaissance" in art and interior decoration, and then returned to London where he lectured on his American travels and wrote reviews for various periodicals. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into what would be his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). Wilde returned to drama, writing Salome (1891) in French while in Paris, but it was refused a licence for England due to an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Undiscouraged, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London.
At the height of his fame and success, while An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) were still being performed in London, Wilde issued a civil writ against John Sholto Douglas, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel hearings unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and criminal prosecution for gross indecency with other males. The jury was unable to reach a verdict and so a retrial was ordered. In the second trial Wilde was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labour, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. During his last year in prison he wrote De Profundis (published posthumously in abridged form in 1905), a long letter that discusses his spiritual journey through his trials and is a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. On the day of his release, he caught the overnight steamer to France, never to return to Britain or Ireland. In France and Italy, he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
September 7, 2021
3.8 stars.
RTC
RTC
May 19, 2019
A fascinating insight into Wilde's absurdity and aestheticism in the late Victorian era - what a bloke.
August 31, 2019
oscar wilde: i'm gonna write an essay on this one specific subject!
also oscar wilde: *deviates into yet another 40 page long digression on art*
this collection can be alternately titled 'philistines get pegged: a manifesto'. also, i am now referring to my best friends as my "bosom cronies"
also oscar wilde: *deviates into yet another 40 page long digression on art*
this collection can be alternately titled 'philistines get pegged: a manifesto'.
March 7, 2019
The Decay of Lying - an essay in a Socratic dialogue in which Vivian and Cyril pit Romanticism against Realism (4 stars)
The Critic as Artist - an essay on Wilde's aesthetic philosophy in the form of a dialogue in two parts between Gilbert and Ernest (4 stars)
The Truth of Masks - an essay on the importance of costume in Shakespeare plays (3 stars)
The Portrait of Mr. W. H. - (4 stars)
The Soul of Man under Socialism - a political essay in which Oscar Wilde expounds a libertarian socialist worldview (3 stars)
Pen, Pencil and Poison - bibliography of the life and work of Thomas Griffiths Wainewright artist, author, art critic and suspected serial killer; I like how he only manages to mention that towards the end (3 stars)
The Relation of Dress to Art - the title says it all, but this could've been longer (3 stars)
A Sentimental Journey through Literature - a review of a poetry critic's book (kind of useless without the original book) (2 stars)
In Defence of Dorian Grey - while I don't agree that "sphere of art and the sphere of ethics are absolutely distinct and separate", I'm glad this did not impede the novels publication (3 stars)
The Critic as Artist - an essay on Wilde's aesthetic philosophy in the form of a dialogue in two parts between Gilbert and Ernest (4 stars)
The Truth of Masks - an essay on the importance of costume in Shakespeare plays (3 stars)
The Portrait of Mr. W. H. - (4 stars)
The Soul of Man under Socialism - a political essay in which Oscar Wilde expounds a libertarian socialist worldview (3 stars)
Pen, Pencil and Poison - bibliography of the life and work of Thomas Griffiths Wainewright artist, author, art critic and suspected serial killer; I like how he only manages to mention that towards the end (3 stars)
The Relation of Dress to Art - the title says it all, but this could've been longer (3 stars)
A Sentimental Journey through Literature - a review of a poetry critic's book (kind of useless without the original book) (2 stars)
In Defence of Dorian Grey - while I don't agree that "sphere of art and the sphere of ethics are absolutely distinct and separate", I'm glad this did not impede the novels publication (3 stars)
Want to read
April 6, 2023a review for each respective essay will come as i read them
the decay of lying: 4,5 stars
this was possibly one of the most interesting things i've ever read. i really appreciated the discussion on art, life, beauty, and other such things that i have been longing to read about for a long time. though i must say, i felt a little bit called out when wilde said admiring sunsets was provincial, because who doesn't love a good pink sky? i felt i learned something while reading this, which, to me, really is the ultimate goal of reading things like this in the first place. going out of this, i am left with a changed perspective on my surroundings, and i'm always up for that.
i did feel that some of the discussion was a bit dragged out, that wilde included more examples and scenarios than he really needed to. it still made for an interesting read, though i could have done with about half of the examples of the way life imitates art and still gotten the point just fine. but, having read the picture of dorian gray, i guess i've experienced wilde's rambling before, and it seems to just be what he does. i appreciate it for what it is.
the decay of lying: 4,5 stars
this was possibly one of the most interesting things i've ever read. i really appreciated the discussion on art, life, beauty, and other such things that i have been longing to read about for a long time. though i must say, i felt a little bit called out when wilde said admiring sunsets was provincial, because who doesn't love a good pink sky? i felt i learned something while reading this, which, to me, really is the ultimate goal of reading things like this in the first place. going out of this, i am left with a changed perspective on my surroundings, and i'm always up for that.
i did feel that some of the discussion was a bit dragged out, that wilde included more examples and scenarios than he really needed to. it still made for an interesting read, though i could have done with about half of the examples of the way life imitates art and still gotten the point just fine. but, having read the picture of dorian gray, i guess i've experienced wilde's rambling before, and it seems to just be what he does. i appreciate it for what it is.
July 19, 2025
Entertaining essays on art/aestheticism styled with his wit and contrarianism, but sometimes i felt they would just derail into distant soliloquys for his own pleasure. I found the first two essays, ‘The Decay of Lying’ and ‘The Critic as Artist’ the most compelling.
November 26, 2020
"There is nothing sane about the worship of beauty", and there can be no thinker whose body of work is more underlined than Oscar Wilde - in the literal sense. There is no point in deciding whether to believe his notions on art and life, or merely appreciate them as delightfully creative exaggerations. Suffice to say that you can trust his pen, if not his views, as he himself prioritises literature over philosophy, let alone all the other arts. Therefore, once you start underlining something in his text, you often do so though you may have not yet reached the end of the sentence. You are compelled.
August 21, 2020
4 stars
Whether you agree or not with Wilde’s statements, his writing is nevertheless thoroughly entertaining. This collection includes nine essays, so I will comment on some themes that I really enjoyed.
“For the aim of the liar is simply to charm, to delight, to give pleasure.”
Wilde perceives Art in a similar way- it should not serve a moral purpose, but an aesthetic one. It should charm us and make Life more beautiful. His witty response to a critique of The Picture of Dorian Gray emphasises this point, as he states that “The sphere of art and the sphere of ethics are absolutely distinct and separate.” He revels in the freedom of artistic expression and argues that Art occupies a space above societal law and convention.
Art therefore should not mirror reality. He condemns Art that reproduces Life’s “vulgarity down to the smallest detail”, since this should not be Art’s purpose. Art is our freedom from the coarseness of reality, and so lets us experience emotion that is more pure and intense. “There is no passion that we cannot feel, no pleasure that we may not gratify”- and this can be felt without the pain or grief that accompanies human experience. We must go to Art for everything, “Because Art does not hurt us.”
Wilde also promotes the opinion that humanity should be individualistic and removed from common Life. “From the high tower of Thought we can look out at the world”, detached from other lives and sympathies. While this perspective suggests a privilege that allows him to become apathetic to the struggles of other people, his essay ‘The Soul of Man under Socialism’ develops his position more. He expresses his belief that charity is not a solution to social problems, and that society should instead improve their intellectual faculties in order to “reconstruct society”. Wilde perhaps maintains a balance between individual apathy and societal upheaval.
Wilde’s writing style is always so entertaining, and his theories on Art, Life and Beauty are enjoyable to read. However, I will end my review here, since Wilde complained that “I am tired to death of being advertised.”
Whether you agree or not with Wilde’s statements, his writing is nevertheless thoroughly entertaining. This collection includes nine essays, so I will comment on some themes that I really enjoyed.
“For the aim of the liar is simply to charm, to delight, to give pleasure.”
Wilde perceives Art in a similar way- it should not serve a moral purpose, but an aesthetic one. It should charm us and make Life more beautiful. His witty response to a critique of The Picture of Dorian Gray emphasises this point, as he states that “The sphere of art and the sphere of ethics are absolutely distinct and separate.” He revels in the freedom of artistic expression and argues that Art occupies a space above societal law and convention.
Art therefore should not mirror reality. He condemns Art that reproduces Life’s “vulgarity down to the smallest detail”, since this should not be Art’s purpose. Art is our freedom from the coarseness of reality, and so lets us experience emotion that is more pure and intense. “There is no passion that we cannot feel, no pleasure that we may not gratify”- and this can be felt without the pain or grief that accompanies human experience. We must go to Art for everything, “Because Art does not hurt us.”
Wilde also promotes the opinion that humanity should be individualistic and removed from common Life. “From the high tower of Thought we can look out at the world”, detached from other lives and sympathies. While this perspective suggests a privilege that allows him to become apathetic to the struggles of other people, his essay ‘The Soul of Man under Socialism’ develops his position more. He expresses his belief that charity is not a solution to social problems, and that society should instead improve their intellectual faculties in order to “reconstruct society”. Wilde perhaps maintains a balance between individual apathy and societal upheaval.
Wilde’s writing style is always so entertaining, and his theories on Art, Life and Beauty are enjoyable to read. However, I will end my review here, since Wilde complained that “I am tired to death of being advertised.”
July 29, 2023
Perhaps first a bit on my current concept of beauty and reality; we will see how this changes over the course of this review!
It is impossible to achieve objectivity. Truly, the world is only what we want it to be. Our visions are plagued and blessed by selection to the extent that our blindspots are innumerable. Alas, our perceptions are sculpted by the hands of literature and of media and our worldviews are but the produced brainchild of an amalgamation of selected beams that we have allowed to structure the house of our minds. Since this is so, I endeavor to make my worldview as beautiful as possible through literature! For beauty only exists because we have decided so; everything is a social construct built by decades, centuries, and millennia of selective human thought. Nature is beautiful because we feel overwhelmed by the dynamic clouds of the sunset and the precision of the streams which run like veins through the mountains. Beauty exists because we appreciate it.
Ok lol done
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and art exists solely because we as humans see and create. In the case, is the world itself art?
> Art…keeps between herself and reality the impenetrable barrier of beautiful style, of decorative or ideal treatment.
>
> Truth is entirely and absolutely a matter of style.
>
> The Nihilist, that strange martyr who has no faith, who goes to the stake for something he does not believe in, is a purely literary product.
>
the critic as an artist
> To give an accurate description of what has never occurred is not merely the proper occupation of the historian, but the inalienable privilege of any of parts and culture.
>
> Literature [is] the perfect expression of life
>
> By its curiosity Sin increases the experience of the race. Through its intensified assertion of individualism, it saves us from the monotony of type.
>
> What is action? It dies at the moment of its energy.
>
> The statue is concentrated to one moment of perfection. The image stained upon the canvas possesses no spiritual element of growth or change. If they know nothing of death, it is because they know little of life, for the secrets of life and death belong to those, and those only, whom the sequence of time affects, who who posses s not merely the present but the future, and can rise or fall from a past of glory or of shame. Movement, the problem of the visible arts, can be truly realized by Literature alone.
>
> [on the critic[: His sole aim is to chronicle his own impressions. It is for him that pictures are painted, books written, and marble hewn into form… For the Highest Criticism deals with art not as expressive but as impressive purely.
>
> And so the picture becomes more wonderful to us than it really is, and reveals to us a secret of which, in truth, it knows nothing, and the music of the mystical prose is as sweet in our ears.”
>
> For when the ideal is realized, it is robbed of its wonder and its mystery, and becomes simply a new starting point for an ideal that is other than itself. This is the reason why music is the perfect type of art. Music can never reveal its ultimate secret.
>
It is not difficult to see beauty but it is harder to appreciate it, to taste the flavor of each petal it has to offer and to touch the myriad emotions its form imparts. One may see the ruins of Rome and allow its grandeur to fade into the obscurity of daily life. It is different to contemplate the vastness of Roman beauty in the form of architecture, to understand the vivacity of Roman society within those layered stones of past. Life gives us material but you must spin the wool yourself to create the tapestry.. It is not enough to see; for everyone may live, it is after all not so a difficult task, but to be a critic of life, that requires sharpened skill.
Emotion may remain pure emotion in reality, it is not necessary to take action for happiness, sadness, anger, jealousy. It can be a catalyst, but it is ****not**** a necessity.
What does ******modern****** mean?
> But the artist, who accepts the facts of life and yet transforms them into shapes of beauty, and makes them vehicles of pity or of awe, and shows their colour-element, and their wonder, and their true ethical import also, and builds out of them a world more real. than reality itself, and of loftier and more noble import—who shall set limits to him?
>
i copy and pasted this from my notion and i dont feel like editing it
It is impossible to achieve objectivity. Truly, the world is only what we want it to be. Our visions are plagued and blessed by selection to the extent that our blindspots are innumerable. Alas, our perceptions are sculpted by the hands of literature and of media and our worldviews are but the produced brainchild of an amalgamation of selected beams that we have allowed to structure the house of our minds. Since this is so, I endeavor to make my worldview as beautiful as possible through literature! For beauty only exists because we have decided so; everything is a social construct built by decades, centuries, and millennia of selective human thought. Nature is beautiful because we feel overwhelmed by the dynamic clouds of the sunset and the precision of the streams which run like veins through the mountains. Beauty exists because we appreciate it.
Ok lol done
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and art exists solely because we as humans see and create. In the case, is the world itself art?
> Art…keeps between herself and reality the impenetrable barrier of beautiful style, of decorative or ideal treatment.
>
> Truth is entirely and absolutely a matter of style.
>
> The Nihilist, that strange martyr who has no faith, who goes to the stake for something he does not believe in, is a purely literary product.
>
the critic as an artist
> To give an accurate description of what has never occurred is not merely the proper occupation of the historian, but the inalienable privilege of any of parts and culture.
>
> Literature [is] the perfect expression of life
>
> By its curiosity Sin increases the experience of the race. Through its intensified assertion of individualism, it saves us from the monotony of type.
>
> What is action? It dies at the moment of its energy.
>
> The statue is concentrated to one moment of perfection. The image stained upon the canvas possesses no spiritual element of growth or change. If they know nothing of death, it is because they know little of life, for the secrets of life and death belong to those, and those only, whom the sequence of time affects, who who posses s not merely the present but the future, and can rise or fall from a past of glory or of shame. Movement, the problem of the visible arts, can be truly realized by Literature alone.
>
> [on the critic[: His sole aim is to chronicle his own impressions. It is for him that pictures are painted, books written, and marble hewn into form… For the Highest Criticism deals with art not as expressive but as impressive purely.
>
> And so the picture becomes more wonderful to us than it really is, and reveals to us a secret of which, in truth, it knows nothing, and the music of the mystical prose is as sweet in our ears.”
>
> For when the ideal is realized, it is robbed of its wonder and its mystery, and becomes simply a new starting point for an ideal that is other than itself. This is the reason why music is the perfect type of art. Music can never reveal its ultimate secret.
>
It is not difficult to see beauty but it is harder to appreciate it, to taste the flavor of each petal it has to offer and to touch the myriad emotions its form imparts. One may see the ruins of Rome and allow its grandeur to fade into the obscurity of daily life. It is different to contemplate the vastness of Roman beauty in the form of architecture, to understand the vivacity of Roman society within those layered stones of past. Life gives us material but you must spin the wool yourself to create the tapestry.. It is not enough to see; for everyone may live, it is after all not so a difficult task, but to be a critic of life, that requires sharpened skill.
Emotion may remain pure emotion in reality, it is not necessary to take action for happiness, sadness, anger, jealousy. It can be a catalyst, but it is ****not**** a necessity.
What does ******modern****** mean?
> But the artist, who accepts the facts of life and yet transforms them into shapes of beauty, and makes them vehicles of pity or of awe, and shows their colour-element, and their wonder, and their true ethical import also, and builds out of them a world more real. than reality itself, and of loftier and more noble import—who shall set limits to him?
>
i copy and pasted this from my notion and i dont feel like editing it
September 13, 2015
This compact, affordable collection comprises some (if not all) of Oscar Wilde’s best known and best loved essays. See “The Decay of Lying”, “The Critic as Artist” and “The Soul of Man Under Socialism” for example. Unlike Dorian Gray, these essays hardly call for defense, and they have each made for lovely, separate editions. However, I find that the value of this new collection lies elsewhere, namely in those other, perhaps more forgetful and certainly less enthusiastic essays that even college students usually skip.
Take “Pen, Pencil and Poison” for instance, a small and witty account on Sir Thomas Griffiths Wainewright, a dandy, an art critic and a murderer. In many respects, this essay prefigures the “Picture” in its rendering of the hedonistic lifestyle and brings forth challenging insight into the wildean debate on crime, forgery and the creation of character.
“The Portrait of Mr. H. W.” is a marvelous tale on its own. It hardly reads like an essay, even though, then again, almost none of Wilde’s writings do. It is fiction and then it is not quite that, in its convincing tone and appalling solutions. While forging Shakespeare’s doting sponsor’s hidden identity, Wilde takes his readers on a journey of mystery and passion that will ultimately lead us to his fundamental question: should truth and fact prevail over art and character?
An interesting collection; a reunion of Oscar Wilde’s witty, uncomfortable, paradoxical, satirical vision in essay-form.
Take “Pen, Pencil and Poison” for instance, a small and witty account on Sir Thomas Griffiths Wainewright, a dandy, an art critic and a murderer. In many respects, this essay prefigures the “Picture” in its rendering of the hedonistic lifestyle and brings forth challenging insight into the wildean debate on crime, forgery and the creation of character.
“The Portrait of Mr. H. W.” is a marvelous tale on its own. It hardly reads like an essay, even though, then again, almost none of Wilde’s writings do. It is fiction and then it is not quite that, in its convincing tone and appalling solutions. While forging Shakespeare’s doting sponsor’s hidden identity, Wilde takes his readers on a journey of mystery and passion that will ultimately lead us to his fundamental question: should truth and fact prevail over art and character?
An interesting collection; a reunion of Oscar Wilde’s witty, uncomfortable, paradoxical, satirical vision in essay-form.
November 7, 2010
I have mixed feelings about this book, and it's because I found half of the essays largely uninteresting.
Still, "The Critic as Artist" and particularly "The Decay of Lying" and "The Soul of Man Under Socialism" are so amazing that they make the book a worthwhile buy. Passionate and witty, they show Oscar Wilde at his best. A must read.
Still, "The Critic as Artist" and particularly "The Decay of Lying" and "The Soul of Man Under Socialism" are so amazing that they make the book a worthwhile buy. Passionate and witty, they show Oscar Wilde at his best. A must read.
May 29, 2021
The first essay in this collection, ‘The Decay of Lying’ was incredible, and easily the most entertaining and gratifying way of consuming criticism which I have ever come across. I think Wilde excels as a playwright and this comes across strongly in ‘The Decay of Lying’, which is as witty as it is informative and intriguing. The rest of the collection, while good, did tend to drag a little for me & I found myself not really wanting to read through all of them. ‘The Portrait of W.H.’ was a really interesting read and reminded me somewhat of Dorian Gray. Overall I really enjoyed this collection, but it definitely took up a lot of my time and I found it to dip off slightly in the middle.
February 28, 2024
Oscar Wilde my intimate friend
February 1, 2022
This is a collection of essays, written by Oscar Wilde. In these essays Wilde discusses art, literature with a huge focus on Shakespeare, and politics. All these essays simultaneously a social commentary and gives an interesting insight into the norms and virtues of the period of Fin de siècle.
August 6, 2024
picked this up after an hour of deliberation at a bookstore in milan and im so extremely happy that i did!!
this book touches on so many dichotomies that have racked my brain over the last few years: objectivity/subjectivity, truth/illusion, science/art, reason/feeling, practicality/beauty. reciprocal dialogue is the perfect form for these essays. through presenting his ideas in the form of a conversation with no clear 'winner', wilde is able to avoid bestowing universal truths and leaves the final messages as ambivalent as possible.
favourite quotes:
"to have a capacity for passion and not to realize it, is to make oneself incomplete and limited."
"no great artist ever sees things as they really are. if he did, he would cease to be an artist."
"paradox though it may seem - and paradoxes are always dangerous things - it is none the less true that life imitates art far more than art imitates life."
"facts are not merely finding a footing-place in history, but they are usurping the domain of fancy, and have invaded the kingdom of romance."
"for when one looks back upon the life that was so vivid in its emotional intensity, and filled with such fervent moments of ecstasy or of joy, it it all seems to be a dream and an illusion."
"'what are you thinking?' is the only question that any single civilized being should ever be allowed to whisper to another."
"to know anything about oneself one must know all about others. there must be no mood with which one cannot sympathize."
"all artistic creation is absolutely subjective. for out of ourselves we can never pass, nor can there be in creation what in the creator was not."
"we are never more true to ourselves than when we are inconsistent."
"the necessity for a career forces everyone to take sides. we live in the age of the overworked, and the undereducated; the age in which people are so industrious that they become absolutely stupid. and, harsh though it may sound, i cannot help saying that such people deserve their doom. the sure way of knowing nothing about life is to try to make oneself useful."
this book touches on so many dichotomies that have racked my brain over the last few years: objectivity/subjectivity, truth/illusion, science/art, reason/feeling, practicality/beauty. reciprocal dialogue is the perfect form for these essays. through presenting his ideas in the form of a conversation with no clear 'winner', wilde is able to avoid bestowing universal truths and leaves the final messages as ambivalent as possible.
favourite quotes:
"to have a capacity for passion and not to realize it, is to make oneself incomplete and limited."
"no great artist ever sees things as they really are. if he did, he would cease to be an artist."
"paradox though it may seem - and paradoxes are always dangerous things - it is none the less true that life imitates art far more than art imitates life."
"facts are not merely finding a footing-place in history, but they are usurping the domain of fancy, and have invaded the kingdom of romance."
"for when one looks back upon the life that was so vivid in its emotional intensity, and filled with such fervent moments of ecstasy or of joy, it it all seems to be a dream and an illusion."
"'what are you thinking?' is the only question that any single civilized being should ever be allowed to whisper to another."
"to know anything about oneself one must know all about others. there must be no mood with which one cannot sympathize."
"all artistic creation is absolutely subjective. for out of ourselves we can never pass, nor can there be in creation what in the creator was not."
"we are never more true to ourselves than when we are inconsistent."
"the necessity for a career forces everyone to take sides. we live in the age of the overworked, and the undereducated; the age in which people are so industrious that they become absolutely stupid. and, harsh though it may sound, i cannot help saying that such people deserve their doom. the sure way of knowing nothing about life is to try to make oneself useful."
September 25, 2025
Achei o livro chato. São ensaios sobre a arte, a literatura, a beleza, a natureza, a criatividade e suas relações. Tem algumas ideias profundamente inteligentes que são incríveis, bem como é o Oscar Wilde. Mas como os ensaios são construídos em diálogos, acho que me criou uma expectativa e fiquei decepcionado. É verdade que a construção é morosa e grandes ideias não precisavam de tanta base, ou construção que faz ser tão lento.
Frente a essa decepção, resolvi reler meu livro favorito (ao menos o que atualmente detém o posto): o Retrato de Dorian Gray, justamente de Oscar Wilde. Ora, ele não poderia fazer um livro chato desses e ter escrito o que eu julgo mais gostar de todos! Será que eu estou enganado, foi o que pensei. E estou na metade do Retrado de Dorian Gray hoje, quando escrevo esta review. E digo que hoje, já comecei a achar "A Decadência da Mentira e Outros Ensaios" um pouco melhor. Ernesto (um dos interlocutores do livro) não é Lord Henry (do "Retrato"), mas a interlocução tem seus momentos que poderiam ser tanto de um livro como do outro. Só acho que falta o enredo, o carisma de um livro ao outro. Ainda assim, a verdade é que admito que a palavra "ensaios" não deveria ter sido negligenciada por mim.
Seja como for, é inteligente, mas não acredito que valha a pena, mas (além do Retrato de Dorian Gray) ainda lerei mais do autor para saber se ele é de um livro ou um grande autor.
Frente a essa decepção, resolvi reler meu livro favorito (ao menos o que atualmente detém o posto): o Retrato de Dorian Gray, justamente de Oscar Wilde. Ora, ele não poderia fazer um livro chato desses e ter escrito o que eu julgo mais gostar de todos! Será que eu estou enganado, foi o que pensei. E estou na metade do Retrado de Dorian Gray hoje, quando escrevo esta review. E digo que hoje, já comecei a achar "A Decadência da Mentira e Outros Ensaios" um pouco melhor. Ernesto (um dos interlocutores do livro) não é Lord Henry (do "Retrato"), mas a interlocução tem seus momentos que poderiam ser tanto de um livro como do outro. Só acho que falta o enredo, o carisma de um livro ao outro. Ainda assim, a verdade é que admito que a palavra "ensaios" não deveria ter sido negligenciada por mim.
Seja como for, é inteligente, mas não acredito que valha a pena, mas (além do Retrato de Dorian Gray) ainda lerei mais do autor para saber se ele é de um livro ou um grande autor.
December 14, 2025
I read this essay for a course I recently took in my second year of English; the course was Literary Theory. Oscar Wilde himself is a whole different commentary that I won’t get into for this review, but this essay was definitely a good start to aesthetics over morality, which is what Wilde focuses on a lot, i.e., The Portrait of Dorian Gray. This essay itself was passionate and a bit satirical in the way Vivian and Cyril’s relationship is portrayed. Through Vivian’s character, Wilde shows quotes and facts that he believes strengthen his point that art should not focus on realism; no one wants to read about their everyday lives because, at the end of the day, we all wear masks, and life imitates art, not the other way around.
I can confidently say, his belief on whether art imitates life or life imitates art does conflict me… and it’s kinda like the chicken and the egg theory: What came first?
If you know anything about Plato’s Republic and his commentary on mimesis, Wilde’s The Decay of Lying is a great place to start to see the other side of this view.
I can confidently say, his belief on whether art imitates life or life imitates art does conflict me… and it’s kinda like the chicken and the egg theory: What came first?
If you know anything about Plato’s Republic and his commentary on mimesis, Wilde’s The Decay of Lying is a great place to start to see the other side of this view.
May 8, 2018
Уайльд, як завжди, гарно пише. Декадентський роздум про мистецтво.
"Красивая ложь есть не что иное, как доказательство в себе. Если у человека настолько отсутствует воображение, что он подкрепляет ложь доказательствами, то он с тем же успехом мог бы сказать и правду."
"Единственные настоящие люди – это те, кого никогда не было, и если писатель опускается до того, чтобы брать своих персонажей из жизни, то следует, по крайней мере, сделать вид, что они придуманы, а не хвастаться тем, что они списаны. "
"Шопенгауэр провел анализ пессимизма..., но придумал его Гамлет. Мир впал в уныние, потому что у театральной куклы однажды сделался приступ меланхолии... Робеспьер сошел со страниц Руссо точно так же, как и Дворец народа вырос из литературных произведений. Литература всегда предвосхищает жизнь. Она не копирует ее, а лепит, как потребуется. Девятнадцатый век, как мы его себе представляем, в существенной степени придуман Бальзаком"
"Красивая ложь есть не что иное, как доказательство в себе. Если у человека настолько отсутствует воображение, что он подкрепляет ложь доказательствами, то он с тем же успехом мог бы сказать и правду."
"Единственные настоящие люди – это те, кого никогда не было, и если писатель опускается до того, чтобы брать своих персонажей из жизни, то следует, по крайней мере, сделать вид, что они придуманы, а не хвастаться тем, что они списаны. "
"Шопенгауэр провел анализ пессимизма..., но придумал его Гамлет. Мир впал в уныние, потому что у театральной куклы однажды сделался приступ меланхолии... Робеспьер сошел со страниц Руссо точно так же, как и Дворец народа вырос из литературных произведений. Литература всегда предвосхищает жизнь. Она не копирует ее, а лепит, как потребуется. Девятнадцатый век, как мы его себе представляем, в существенной степени придуман Бальзаком"
December 8, 2021
⭐️ 4.5 ⭐️
“Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.”
Admito que estuve un poco perdida en algunas referencias ya que no estoy tan metida en los clásicos pero aún así lo disfruté mucho. Pero me causo mucha gracia que cuando por fin escogía una postura llegaba un personaje a darme una cachetada para cambiarla 🥲
“Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.”
Admito que estuve un poco perdida en algunas referencias ya que no estoy tan metida en los clásicos pero aún así lo disfruté mucho. Pero me causo mucha gracia que cuando por fin escogía una postura llegaba un personaje a darme una cachetada para cambiarla 🥲
February 13, 2025
3,75*
Especially "The Decay of Lying" and "The Critic as Artist" are fascinating, well-written essays.
"For when a work is finished it has, as it were, an independent life of its own, and may deliver a message far other than that which was put into its lips to say."
Especially "The Decay of Lying" and "The Critic as Artist" are fascinating, well-written essays.
"For when a work is finished it has, as it were, an independent life of its own, and may deliver a message far other than that which was put into its lips to say."
January 1, 2026
I agree with the general consensus that the latter few essays were tedious and often lost the plot. The high rating is of course because essays such as The Decay of Lying, The Critic as Artist, and a few others more than make up for the duller ones.
April 26, 2019
My love for Oscar Wilde will lasts forever! Outstanding collection of essays!
November 27, 2021
3.5! Read this for my class on Practical Criticism. More of a conversation than an essay, this piece provides a humours insight into Wilde’s aesthetic and anti-mimetic theory of literature.
January 20, 2023
Not my favourite read as it was quite hard to follow. But very well written and there is lots of extensive vocabulary that keeps you engaged even if your a bit confused!!
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December 18, 2024It's a no from me babes
September 23, 2025
wciśnij twinka w teorie spiskową i od razu mega łatwo ją łyknąć prawdziwe zagrożenie dla społeczeństwa
September 30, 2022
The Decay of Lying = (4.5 stars)
The Critic as Artist = (4.5 stars)
The Truth of Masks = (2 stars)
The Portrait of Mr. W. H. = (3.5 stars)
The Soul of Man under Socialism = (4.5 stars)
Pen, Pencil and Poison = (2 stars)
The Relation of Dress to Art = (2 stars)
A Sentimental Journey through Literature = (2 stars)
In Defense of Dorian Grey = (4 stars)
The Critic as Artist = (4.5 stars)
The Truth of Masks = (2 stars)
The Portrait of Mr. W. H. = (3.5 stars)
The Soul of Man under Socialism = (4.5 stars)
Pen, Pencil and Poison = (2 stars)
The Relation of Dress to Art = (2 stars)
A Sentimental Journey through Literature = (2 stars)
In Defense of Dorian Grey = (4 stars)
January 16, 2013
Oscar Wilde was the master of the epigram, the biting riposte. Though best known for his plays and novels, Wilde’s essays demonstrate some of his sharpest zingers.
“The Decay of Lying” is a perfect example. In this short, Platonic-style dialogue between two upper-class aesthetes of the late nineteenth-century English garden variety (picture Daniel Day Lewis in “A Room with a View”), Wilde pitches his own critical theory of Aestheticism, or “Art for Art’s Sake.” The brilliance comes from his adept twists of logic, the way he inverts accepted ideas in order to subvert them. Even his main argument that lying, really good lying, is the essence of art is a wonderful inversion of the notion then in vogue that art reveals truth.
Here are a few quotes that made me smile:
On England: “Our splendid physique as a people is entirely due to our national stupidity.”
On politicians’ lies: “If a man is sufficiently unimaginative to produce evidence in support of a lie, he might just as well speak the truth.”
On fiction: “The ancient historians gave us delightful fiction in the form of fact; the modern novelist presents us with dull facts in the guise of fiction.”
On a contemporary novelist (poor guy!): “Mr. James Payn is an adept in the art of concealing what is not worth finding. He hunts down the obvious with the enthusiasm of a short-sighted detective. As one turns over the pages, the suspense of the author becomes almost unbearable.”
On the literary school of the day, Naturalism: “The difference between such a book as M. Zola’s L’Assommoir and Balzac’s Illusions Perdues is the difference between unimaginative realism and imaginative reality.”
At essence, Wilde argues that the imagination of the true liar trumps the bald truth: “For the aim of the liar is simply to charm, to delight, to give pleasure.” The sole purpose of art, he says, is the same. It’s an argument that has become somewhat dated, still it’s thought provoking, and it’s always entertaining to let the intrinsically subversive imagination of Wilde carry you along.
“The Decay of Lying” is a perfect example. In this short, Platonic-style dialogue between two upper-class aesthetes of the late nineteenth-century English garden variety (picture Daniel Day Lewis in “A Room with a View”), Wilde pitches his own critical theory of Aestheticism, or “Art for Art’s Sake.” The brilliance comes from his adept twists of logic, the way he inverts accepted ideas in order to subvert them. Even his main argument that lying, really good lying, is the essence of art is a wonderful inversion of the notion then in vogue that art reveals truth.
Here are a few quotes that made me smile:
On England: “Our splendid physique as a people is entirely due to our national stupidity.”
On politicians’ lies: “If a man is sufficiently unimaginative to produce evidence in support of a lie, he might just as well speak the truth.”
On fiction: “The ancient historians gave us delightful fiction in the form of fact; the modern novelist presents us with dull facts in the guise of fiction.”
On a contemporary novelist (poor guy!): “Mr. James Payn is an adept in the art of concealing what is not worth finding. He hunts down the obvious with the enthusiasm of a short-sighted detective. As one turns over the pages, the suspense of the author becomes almost unbearable.”
On the literary school of the day, Naturalism: “The difference between such a book as M. Zola’s L’Assommoir and Balzac’s Illusions Perdues is the difference between unimaginative realism and imaginative reality.”
At essence, Wilde argues that the imagination of the true liar trumps the bald truth: “For the aim of the liar is simply to charm, to delight, to give pleasure.” The sole purpose of art, he says, is the same. It’s an argument that has become somewhat dated, still it’s thought provoking, and it’s always entertaining to let the intrinsically subversive imagination of Wilde carry you along.
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