Hello everyone. We've been experimenting with a bit of a podcast (a few people were asking for audio versions so they can get Biographics while doing other things)! Fair warning: none of these are new biographies, but rather me having a bit more of a free form chat around the script. I'd love to know what you think, if these are useful, wanted etc :). Thanks, Simon. Links: iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/biographics-history-one-life-at-a-time/id1450405839?mt=2 Sitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/biographics-history-one-life-at-a-time Website: biographics.blubrry.net/ RSS: biographics.blubrry.net/feed/podcast/ Spotify: open.spotify.com/album/6N9PS4QXF1D0OWPk0Sxtb4 Trolled people: open.spotify.com/show/0JzjzwJcRqFZ3BcACtahh8?si=MG5HSm1oT0GTNm_r8_HQcg
I agree that the comparison to O.J. Simpson is not only ridiculous but wildly inappropriate. Tiger Woods took a terrific public fall related to his sexual liaisons...none of them illegal or murderous. I used your work in my (American) English class, but I gave a strong caveat prior to viewing just to address this single line. I would remove it.
Please please please try to pronounce things correctly, if you don't know, ask someone, don't just guess. Cadogan, Bosie et al. Otherwise a good effort. Am I being a pedant?
@Jeff Oliver Yeah, I suppose you're right. I'm British like him so one of us should know how to pronounce things a bit like that old skank from 'The Weakest Link' garbling the words as if they learnt the language from short-wave radio. Still, cheers for the reply. Have a good day.
Tara Ray I think you missed the point of the analogy. He went from being a huge success, loved by the public to then being accused of criminal acts (as you know being gay or engaging in the act of sodomy was a crime) to then convicted and imprisoned and then when he finally got out gone were his friends and money (although OJ didn’t get convicted of the crime he actually committed and went to jail for something petty). But It’s the downturn of events that were similar. As far as the actual PERSON, they have nothing in common. One was a great writer who happened to be gay (and a bit of a pretentious egomaniac) and the other was a football player who actually DID commit the ACTUAL horrible crime he was accused of. OJ still lives but will always be shunned for the murderer we all know him to be and poor Oscar died a sad lonely death. :(
Jeff Oliver I agree. People seem to be obsessed at being outraged on someone else’s behalf, regardless if it’s warranted in its context or if it’s even wanted by the supposed group being “attacked”. If you are going to attack someone’s comments then at the very LEAST ask for clarification before you go on some moral high ground rampage. Oh and news flash, defending homosexuality is not brave. This is 2019. Not even the Pope wants to attack gays anymore. The majority of people in the western world couldn’t care less about someone’s sexual preferences and are all appalled at the treatment homosexuals had to endure and still endure in parts of the world (and nation) run by religious fundamentals. . Save your anger for actual biggots not cool British guys who give me awesome biographies to listen too while I’m on my tread climber!
@Rob Faz Fully aware that as a homosexual, the Catholic church would reject him? If he was baptized Protestant & converted to Catholicism he would have to denounce both his beliefs & sexuality. Or maybe because that's where you find all the aesthetical queer priests? Sorry for the sarcasm. You appear to be an excellent biographer (she said with zero credentials)
I've also thought Wilde and Mark Twain would be brilliant at Twitter. Able to get across witty and profound thoughts in a few characters. Some Twain quotes: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." "Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company." "“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter. ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” Both he and Wilde were ahead of their time. [Good work, Biographics!]
Also remember that a woman screamed at Wilde as he was being arrested "If you were my husband, I'd feed you arsenic!" to which Wilde replied, "If I was your husband, I would drink it." There never was or never will be someone as savage as Oscar Wilde
@@redpanda146 The words are famous and supposedly came out in a verbal duel between Lady Astor (Britain’s first active woman MP) and, from a different wing of the Conservative party, Winston Churchill. Lady Astor: ‘If I were your wife I would put poison in your coffee.’ Churchill: ‘Nancy, if I were your husband I would drink it.’ It is one of several spats that these two are said to have had and regular readers will not be surprised that the conversation is absolutely undocumented. The joke is first found in print in 1899 (sans Churchill); and first associated with Churchill in 1949, and, then, first associated with Churchill and Astor in 1952. From the US .All this has been established by an excellent page that has tracked this exchange back to 1899 and the US press. I’m intrigued above all, by the way that the joke evolved afterward in Britain. I’ve spent a lot of time in the last few years following urban legends, but this is the first time I’ve tracked a simple apocryphal exchange. The first thing to say is that the story crosses the Atlantic in the by early 1900, and the first references note its American origin.
@eric Derek, one's soul is saved through the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, not through the changing of denominations. Being Catholic doesn't save anyone, only Jesus can.
That's my favorite too! I read it about 30 years ago in a newspaper, I was flashed and amused, I wanted to know who was that guy saying such a paradoxical and therefore wise thing (deep truth mostly seem paradoxical to the mind). That's how I became a fan of Oscar Wilde. I use this quote also for my channel 😊 Greetings from Vienna!
@@M-20-100 "And the sentimentalist is one who puts an absurd value on everything and doesn't know the a market price of anything single thing." (from my memory so probably not accurate word for word)
Oscar Wilde is one of my all time favorite authors, and as a teenager and young woman, he was also an obsession. I thought I knew the major events of his life and death. However, as terrible as death is, I was not aware that he received medical treatment so close to the end. I read somewhere that he died of a respiratory infection, but he obviously had so much more going on than pneumonia. His death sounded horrific. I cherish Oscar Wilde because he was a man of modern thought. He attempted to be what society expected, but he couldn't forsake his true self. In many different ways, he forged the way for many alternative and artistic lifestyles, while enriching the world with his literature.
His niece is also a treasure, especially in feminist movements. However, this video is very poor in historical accuracy - Robbie was with him till the end and it was his jail time that ended him, there was no cure outside a better society. Not too different from today.
Yes! Fry really was wonderful That was inspired casting. I got the opportunity years a go to see Liam Neeson playing Wilde in the Judas Kiss on Broadway. Neeson also played a wonderful Wilde.
Mr Lesir No, because he is a polymath, like Wilde was, also quick witted, hysterically funny , able to play a wide range of characters believably, and gives back to the world more than he takes. Actually, although he wrote plays I don't think that Wilde ever acted professionally.
You are wrong. First off, Wilde unfortunately had but one life, not lives. Second, no one called him gay, unless they were referring to his carefree, untroubled manner. No one called homosexuals gay at the time, use of the word "gay" to signify a person's sexual orientation was popularized many years later by Cary Grant in the film "Bringing up Baby."
@@NamTran-bq3tc To quote a song: “If you don’t know I ain’t gonna tell you. From now on it’s up to you fella. Words don’t count at a time like this.” You had better start living, friend.
I only recently came across it, and it made an impression partly because I just turned 40, and while I am far from 'old', I know that 20-year-olds view me as ancient. But in my own mind, of course, part of me is still my own 20-year-old self :)
I'd like to add an interesting story regarding a link between "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Sign of Four". In 1889 the publisher of Lippincott's Monthly was touring Europe recruiting and commissioning authors for future works to appear in the magazine. One evening, he entertained two guests at the Langham Hotel in London. Those guests were Oscar Wilde and Conan Doyle, who became friends. Some argue that Sherlock Holmes' personality quirks were inspired by Oscar Wilde.
You implied that dressing a very young boy as a girl was unusual. Young boys were dressed as girls until they were approximately 7 year old. This was not considered unusual then as it would be now
correct. as far as it goes. we as a society still have a long way to go in this area. what does it mean to "dress as a girl"? or as a boy? clothes are for style and function. assigning male or female attributes to garments seems kinda silly.
I sew, and I can testify that making a tiny shirt and pants is much more time consuming and difficult than making a little dress. Given how hard kids are on clothes and how quickly they grow, before mass produced clothes were the norm I cab see the reason to just make dresses.
Oscar Wilde is as skilled a writer as any of us can hope to read. His word choices in stories, poems, even when simply speaking to others, are iconic, creative, and evocative. There hasn't been a single thing he ever did that was unmemorable.
He may have declared it himself but he was a genius. The Importance of Being Ernest is a masterpiece - its continued production should indicate this. I feel he was bisexual but that is always categorized as gay for some reason. I believe at one time he was in love with Lily Langtry the famous actress - furthering her career and even camping on her doorstep.
@BROOKE VAN GELDEREN true. this is why it's hard to catagorize who was bi and who was gay at the time. also since so many lgbt had to hide that at the time that makes it even harder to tell who was what. added on top of that the fact that historians in the past, maybe even some now often actively tried to gloss over this stuff. Wilde is kind of a rare case where his interest in guys couldn't be glossed over because of his trial being so public. hope that makes sense.
Like Napoleon, he was ambitious and keenly aware of his own brilliance, but the arrogance that comes with that helped lead to both their downfalls. Trying to sue someone for defamation when the allegations can be proven true was an incredibly foolish move. He thought he could charm and snark his way out of it, as he did for so many things before, but unfortunately a courtroom is not one of his plays. He took the bait and got both caught AND cooked.
A man born to soon. If he would have been born 1954 and not 1854. It would seem his life would have been much different. I was born in 66 and a heterosexual. I have never understood homophobia. You love who you love. Fine video.
The numerous young men whom he had sexual encounters with, do you call that love? Is it love to marry a person for their money, then have sex with numerous other people while still married? Wilde was not a bad man because he was bisexual, he was just a bad man. He used people and didn't care how his pursuit of personal gratification hurt the ones he got his pleasure from. There is an old fashioned value called 'self denial', it means a person does not take things if doing so would hurt other people.
SupaL33tKillar Honestly, at the end to hear his wife took him back enough for him to feel comfortable, only to use that feeling to abandon his ailing wife and family is really pathetic. I felt more for his poor wife.
He reminds me of my grandfather if he had chosen to write instead of being a professor. He and I were both fans of Wilde's work. He was a troubled but fascinating man; eccentricity in all the right ways, peppered by genius and haunted by pride and a specter of vice. I'm gonna stop writing all pretentiously now 》_》
Yeah, my granddad was a dirty ol' sod too. Belted the whores around when grandma slept, knew every drinking song in history and didn't leave behind one fucking penny... I miss him dearly.
Fun fact I’m currently at the same school as Wilde was and if you look at the boards on display for academic achievement you’ll notice that Wilde’s name looks a lot newer that’s because it was originally scrapped because he was gay.
It's only pretense if you're pretending! Genuine insight can be 'pompous' however, and I wasn't really thinking that but technically it's probably what you meant. 'Pretentious' is one of the most-frequently misused words in the modern era; I had been misusing it for a long time myself until a few years ago. But what you said was pretty fascinating, so I wouldn't call it pompous or pretentious.
Comparing a great writer whose crime was being gay with a vicious murderer who got away with his crime is a bit inappropriate, don’t you think? Wilde gave much to the world by saying what others would not dare to. During his tour of North America, he described Niagara Falls as “the second great disappointment of married life.”
My feeling about Wilde is that he was the greatest writer who ever lived. His stories The Happy Prince and The Selfish Giant are guaranteed tear jerkers.
corn: Ah, but did he live a wildlife? The life of a staunch Catholic, amateur linguist, and prolific writer of fantasy literature simply might not have the click appeal. I have the feeling that he was one of those writers whose drama was mainly confined to his writings, not his life.
@@milascave2 Erm. He was Catholic. And a professional linguist. But I do agree with your central point. His outward, professional life, was, I believe, pretty humdrum. There again, he saw active service in World War One, which partially inspired the Lord Of The Rings. And his mother was cut off by her family for marrying a Catholic man, which provoked Tolkien's relationship with that faith. So maybe not as boring as all that.
Very well done! I’ve watched both biographical movies on Wilde’s life, The Trials of Oscar Wilde from 1960 starring Peter Finch, and the more recent (and more graphic) Wilde in 1997, where he was portrayed by Stephen Fry. Although both movies summed up his life pretty well, neither one showed any of the part after his imprisonment, the final years, which you covered in great detail. Thank you very much!
The Happy Prince is a wonderful movie, imo, about Oscar's years after prison, and his death. He is portrayed by Rupert Everett. I think Rupert did a fantastic job of acting (and producing) along with Colin Morgan, Colin Firth, and the actor that played Robbie was excellent
Whenever I think of Oscar Wilde, it reminds me of Stephen Fry and I am sure that they would have been great friends and perhaps intellectual equals? It's a shame the way he was treated, but times have changed for the better.
annette fournier+ The fact an aristocrat can get away with something doesn't make it admirable or praiseworthy. He was a very talented writer, but an utter failure as a human being. He over-did everything, and in the end, by the writings of friends present, repented in the only way he knew how.
@@bonzodog67lizardking15 I think she meant this ironically because this is something he mentioned a few times in his work about how each social demographic was obsessive and possessive about their own particular sins?
@@rochestersmonkey5627 I agree that this is reprehensible by today's standards and I'm not defending him but you have to acknowledge that 17 at that time was more than adult and pairings with one party being what we now judge as underage was more often the case than not. As for the assault allegations that is very much debatable and unproven. Still doesn't excuse his adultery and abandonment of his children tho...
I think it's a little inappropriate to compare Oscar Wilde, a man imprisoned for being gay, and OJ Simpson, a vicious murderer... I get that they were both famous people who had scandalous trials but still, doesn't seem right
Yes he was. He was also Wolfe's in doing. And his joy. Love is complex. Bosie did love Wilde but as you noted was selfish. To his creditafter he destroyed the man he loved he went to be with him in Paris.
Enjoyable and informative, as always!However, my sister, who knows a bit about Wilde, remarked that often the photos referenced were not in the chronological order of events. Also, it would have been nice to highlight that Wilde had two friends that stayed with him to the end. In addition, Wilde and his wife were truly in love with each other, and there is no evidence that he had any gay relationships until well into his marriage. Even Bosie described the devoted love that Wilde and Constance had for each other. Furthermore, there are numerous discussions regarding the ear infection...one saying that it started from a fall in prison, another that it was a chronic condition since childhood, and another that it was syphillis related. Additionally, Bosie was a complete asshole. He was really a piece of work. He hated his father and pushed him to sue the father. Speaking of the father, and the Queensbury family, mental illness ran in said family, and his father was a schmuck who couldn't even spell "sodomite" correctly. :) Otherwise, it was great. Seriously. We love Top Tenz as well. Thank you!
Fascinating! I’d heard of Oscar Wilde but knew nothing about him. What a brilliant man but tortured soul. How cruel we are to anyone we deem “different “. Rest peacefully, Mr. Wilde!
@Jeffrey Mill while suffering from Parkinson's he somehow stood for 11 rounds against larry Holmes and he defeated 2 people who could not be beaten, what more do you need?
So many key details were left out, hopefully unintentionally. For starters, while younger, Wilde heavily flirted with Catholicism, and was even baptized on his deathbed. In regards to the bad press for The Picture Of Dorian Grey, the religious press at that time actually gave it glowing reviews, seeing it as a moral tale.
he ws of protesant stock and got his revenge on english lords on turning caholic he died with a large ammount money from loyalitys fron hi books where the french loved him but they where not backward like english
I'm glad someone brought that up. If I read correctly, the papal blessing cured him of the food poisoning. He wrote, “the Vicar of Christ made me whole.” Then later said, "My position is curious: I am not a Catholic: I am simply a violent Papist.”
Yes! Only it seemed to me that he played him a little bit too "victim-like". I think the real Oscar Wilde was very cool and strong and much more brilliant, at least before he got to prison.
I watched the 1923 film Salome for the first time a few days ago and I was astounded by the screenplay, and the Beardsly inspired sets and costume. I understand that the artist and Wilde were very good friends and think of how truly revolutionary and courageous they were
All good. Some minor inaccuracies. 1. Wilde lived at Tite Street not Tithe Street. 2. Queensbury’s note was written “.....posing as a somdomite (sic)”. 3. Berkeley is pronounced in the English style to rhyme with “darkly” 4. It’s “Bosie” not “Boisie”...
With regard to the plays, the presenter did not mention the play Lady Windermere's Fan (1892). The Importance of being Earnest is an old fashioned comedy and his most famous play, written to make money. But Lady Windermere's Fan is the one that contains most of the statements that would be remembered in quotes after his death which made him immortal.
What are you talking about? Utter nonsense! The Importance of being Earnest is his masterpiece, one of the handful of great comedies in the history of the English stage. Lady Windermere's Fan is an inferior play - with an entirely conventional Victorian plot. Wilde's contemporary and sometime friend Max Beerbohm compared Earnest favourably to Wilde's earlier plays, calling it his 'finest', most undeniably his own'; and pointing out that in the earlier plays the plot was divorced from the theme, whilst in Earnest the story is 'dissolved' into the form of the play. The almost complete absence of social commentary from the play was a genuine novelty on the late Victorian stage. Whilst the contemporary critical reaction to the play was positive, this departure from convention drew negative comment, most notably from George Bernard Shaw. Your assertion that Lady Windermere's Fan contains more notable Wilde quotes is shown to be nonsensical with a cursory glance at the Oxford Book of Quotations. Lady Windermere's Fan has only six entries, Earnest has thirteen. Mark Lawson has state that Earnest is the second most widely known and quoted English dramatic work after Hamlet. From your comment, I can only conclude either that you haven't seen both plays performed, or that you are incapable of judging the quality of a play. Either that, or you're some kind of literary hipster, picking an inferior, lesser known play as your favourite over the superior, more popular play. Earnest is more popular for a good reason: it is far and away a better play.
Personally I think that Wilde threw his life away for a not very admirable person--Bosey actually went on to marry himself, wrote on religious topics and produced one son who died in an insane asylum. Bosey was pretty much a spoiled brat IMO.
GazB85. The great hero Alan Turing! He was one of the 300.000 who was uselessly persecuted under corrupt morals and laws, he was given no choice, which resulted in his death. The queen "pardoned" him, albeit he had committed no crime whatsoever. This brilliant man who served his country and Europe with dedication should have been made a baron with a life size bronze statue in front of the Houses of Parliament.
Robbie Ross arrived on 29 November, sent for a priest, and Wilde was conditionally baptised into the Catholic Church by Fr Cuthbert Dunne, a Passionist priest from Dublin - it is the next life that matters
Great video. There's a story about Wilde's last days. I've no idea as to whether it's true or just some accretion, the sort of legend which tends to surround a famous person, but here it is: As he lay dying in his Paris hotel room, he said to someone, "My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One of us has got to go!" Anyone care to enlighten me?
Bart Atwood-Ebi it was a week before he died, in a parisian cafe with friends.... not his final words, but still fitting of his life and death..... a wit and brilliance beyond most, but he lost a battle with wall paper.....
Bart Atwood-Ebi, I have read his biography by H. Montgomery Hyde. It took him 20 year's to write due to the research he did for the book, and yes that is true what he said. He ended up in a very poor mans hotel, his friends came to be with him and reported that those were his words at some point. There is even a picture of him in the room with the wall paper after he died.
That was an excellent overview of Oscar's life. Thanks very much. I chuckled at your advice "Don't try that nowadays" about Oscar's declaration of genius to the customs official.
It is Bosie , not Boise. Maybe this criticism sounds trivial, but really, anyone who knows much about Wilde knows Bosie. This is one of several rather major errors in facts among the BIO series. Giving it up for the last time!
There is actually a wax recording of Oscar Wilde reciting some of the poetry that was in his last book Reading Gaol here on You Tube, just type it into the search box . It's interesting to actually get to hear the mans actual voice . Good video , though I was hoping to hear a bit about Wilde's dabbleing in the esoteric in the bio .
What options did they have? His imprisonment was in line with the law of the time. If you want to say that the law was shameful or immoral, that’s another question.
@NPC Homie No, it really doesn't. The person being referred to is the Marquess of Queensbury. Obviously a related word, but he was an English marquess, not a french marquis.
You lost me in the first 30 seconds. How the hell can you even begin to compare Oscar Wilde and O.J. Simpson?? That is really stumbling badly out the gate.
Cassie Oz OJ was hugely famous and was in films and tv, that’s not the point. There are enough people IN the US for him to be quite well known. The point is that Wilde wasnt a murderer.
@グールにも愛が必要 just REMINDING content makers and commenters that this is an international platform and their use of local cultural references isnt always helpful. There IS a world beyond USA
if girls/ boys slept with anyone for money/better future, then its not a harassment; its a transaction of needs. one must keeps their dignity and choose the priority. But its should not applied on the case when 1% population control 95% money. thats a tragedy.
Well tell the government to create a pay cap. Alas I doubt such things suggested by Senator Long would be liked by either party of the government. In the mean time you could: tell the companies to put money into charities (which Apple and Gates are doing perfectly well on that front), cap stock prices, stop companies from creating new things and creating wealth, increase the mandatory wage which decreases employment. Among many other things that would destroy all the capitalist institutions in the US. Oh and get the US into a massive depression where no one makes a dime so that the rest of the world can catch up.
My mother introduced me to Oscar, the character and his works. I read ravenously all good literature, my grandfather was a dean and I used the university to access the old newspaper articles on Wilde when I was 13. I exhausted everything I could find by the time I was 14. Still, one photo in all of this video, I've never seen before. I havent picked anything of his up in two decades. It's so much fun to see this.
