We are all in the gutter . . .
Oscar Wilde on aesthetics. (The Commonplace Book Project)
“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” — Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere’s Fan
Today was one of those days where I went searching for a quote for this series that gave me something I needed.
I guess what I really needed was something to make me think. This quote is pretty on its surface. I think it’s pretty common for tattoos. Which is interesting to me, because Wilde was a big proponent of the idea of art for art’s sake.
I think, in fact, that his quote reflects his love of beauty.
But when you really think beyond it’s surface pretty, it’s kind of problematic.
Not everyone is in the same gutter. I think Wilde knew that. Maybe it was even the point of putting it into Lady Windermere’s Fan, a play about a high society woman’s close call with a fall from grace.
You can get Lady Windermere’s Fan free for Kindle.
But, today, I needed to remember that the direction I look matters. In fact, sometimes, all that matters is whether or not you can remember that if you turn around things might look different.
If you’d like to learn more about Oscar Wilde, here’s a link to his official website. Not bad for a guy who’s been dead for more than a hundred years.
Near the end of his life, Wilde went to prison, convicted of being homosexual. Last year, he was pardoned (very) posthumously as a result of the Alan Turing Law. The same law saw 50,000 men pardoned, including 15,000 that were still alive.
The Annotated Prison Writings of Oscar Wilde is a collection of work Wilde completed in prison. He never recovered from the decline in his fortunes. He died within a few years of his release, destitute. But he did some of his most powerful writing while he was in prison.
Here’s a fun video that gives some of Wilde’s history.
Wilde was a big believer in aestheticism. He believed in beauty for beauty’s sake. I had a really interesting conversation with my daughter, Adrienne, who is in graduate school studying critical theory and has an undergraduate degree in art theory. She’s officially my go to about aestheticism.
After I talked to Adrienne, I found this essay about aestheticism that I really enjoyed.
Interestingly, this obsession with beauty for beauty’s sake lead Wilde to becoming one of the first people to seek fame for the sake of fame. I found this article fascinating.
Another soiree he attended honored Louisa May Alcott, the best-selling female writer in the US at the time on the strength of “Little Women.” Wilde stole her thunder, arriving fashionably late and, as reported in the Tribune, “immediately [drawing] off part of the crowd which had formed around Miss Alcott.”
I’ve added The Picture of Dorian Gray to my reading list. It’s one of those books that I’m a little surprised I’ve never read.
Here’s my secret weapon for sticking with whatever your thing is.
Shaunta Grimes is a writer and teacher. She is an out-of-place Nevadan living in Northwestern PA with her husband, three superstar kids, two dementia patients, a good friend, Alfred the cat, and a yellow rescue dog named Maybelline Scout. She’s on Twitter @shauntagrimes and is the author of Viral Nation and Rebel Nation and the upcoming novel The Astonishing Maybe. She is the original Ninja Writer.
