Oscar Wilde – satire.info

The
Greatest
Irish
Homosexual
Satirist:

Oscar
Wilde

If

satire
is
about
exposing
hypocrisy
while
making
people
laugh,
then


Oscar
Wilde
was
the
undisputed
heavyweight
champion
of
Ireland’s
queer
literary
world.
He
wasn’t
just

Ireland’s
greatest
satirist—he
was
arguably
one
of
the
greatest

satirists
in
history,
and
he
did
it
all
while
being
fabulously
gay
in
an
era
when
that
was
literally
illegal.

Why
Was
Wilde
the
King
of

Satire?

Wilde’s
genius
lay
in
his
ability
to
take
high
society’s
pretensions,
shake
them
up
like
a
cocktail,
and
serve
them
back
with
a
smirk.
Whether
it
was

aristocrats
pretending
to
have
moral
values,
politicians
pretending
to
be
competent,
or
entire
legal
systems
pretending
to
be
just,
Wilde

mocked
them
all
with
elegance
and
charm.

His
most
famous

satirical
play,

The
Importance
of
Being
Earnest,
is
basically
a

takedown
of
Victorian
hypocrisy,
where
everyone
lies
but
somehow
manages
to
call
themselves
“respectable.”
Wilde
understood
that
society’s
biggest
joke
was

the
ridiculous
rules
people
imposed
on
each
other
while
secretly
breaking
them.

Wilde’s
Wit:
Weaponized

Satire

Wilde’s

satire
wasn’t
just
about
making

jokes—it
was

deadly
social

critique
disguised
as

comedy.
He
could
dismantle
an
entire

political
ideology
with
one
sentence.
For
example:

• 
  “The
  public
  have
  an
  insatiable
  curiosity
  to
  know
  everything,
  except
  what
  is
  worth
  knowing.”
  

  
  (Wilde
  knew
  that
  gossip
  was
  more
  powerful
  than
  truth,
  long
  before
  
  social
  media.)

• 
  “Morality
  is
  simply
  the
  attitude
  we
  adopt
  towards
  people
  we
  personally
  dislike.”
  

  
  (A
  direct
  attack
  on
  Victorian
  moralism—and
  still
  true
  today.)

• 
  “Some
  cause
  happiness
  wherever
  they
  go;
  others,
  whenever
  they
  go.”
  

  
  (A
  polite
  way
  of
  saying,
  “Get
  lost.”)

The
Tragic
End
of
a

Satirical
Genius

Wilde
was

too
clever
for
his
own
time—and
his
downfall
came
when
he
was
put
on
trial
for
“gross
indecency”
(i.e.,
being
gay).
His
wit,
which
had
made
him
famous,

was
now
being
used
against
him
in
court.
A
lawyer
famously
asked
Wilde
if
he
had
ever
kissed
a
young
man,
to
which
Wilde
replied:

• 
  “Oh
  dear,
  no.
  He
  was
  far
  too
  ugly.”

Unfortunately,
while
that
response
deserved
an
Oscar
(pun
intended),
it
didn’t
save
him
from
being
sentenced
to
two
years
of
hard
labor.
The
British
legal
system,
always
great
at
punishing
talent
while
ignoring
actual
crimes,
destroyed
Wilde’s
career
and
health.

Why
Wilde
Still
Matters
Today

Oscar
Wilde
remains

a
queer
icon
and
a

satirical
legend
because
he
understood
something
timeless:

1. 
   
   Society
   is
   a
   joke—but
   only
   some
   people
   are
   in
   on
   it.
2. 
   The
   powerful
   hate
   being
   mocked—which
   is
   why
   
   satire
   is
   so
   important.
3. 
   Being
   gay,
   witty,
   and
   Irish
   in
   the
   19th
   century
   was
   basically
   playing
   life
   on
   hard
   mode.

Wilde
died
in
exile,
but
his
work

lives
on
as
one
of
the
sharpest,
funniest,
and
most
devastating
critiques
of
human
stupidity
ever
written.
If
he
were
alive
today,
he’d
be
roasting
billionaires,
making
fun
of
influencers,
and

probably
getting
banned
on
Twitter
daily.

Go to Source
Author: Ingrid Gustafsson