Oscar Wilde

This seminar is designed to give students an overview of the work and critical legacy of Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), one of the most notorious figures in British literary history, who because of his condemnation in an English court for homosexual behaviour is known even better for his life than his art. This course aims to redress the balance, although it will not (and cannot) wholly neglect Wilde’s biography. Although he is usually regarded as the key representative of late-Victorian decadent literature and aestheticist thought, Wilde’s oeuvre is as multi-faceted as his personality – in style, aesthetic purpose and choice of genre. We will deal with Wilde the poet, essayist, novelist and dramatist and analyse his use of the literary tendencies and aesthetic thinking of his time as well as his innovations, which have contributed to his revaluation as a forefather of postmodernism. Texts to be analysed include Wilde’s only novel The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest, one of the funniest plays in the English language. However, we will start with a look at Wilde’s poetry and two of his essays, ‘The Decay of Lying’ and ‘The Soul of Man under Socialism’. Please note that even though many of the texts we will read in this seminar are relatively short individually, you should not underestimate the overall reading workload for primary literature for this class. Required Reading: Unfortunately, there still is no good and affordable annotated edition of Wilde’s complete works in paperback. You should therefore buy the following edition: Isobel Murray, ed. Oscar Wilde – The Major Works. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008. (Oxford World’s Classics) Texts covered in the seminar not contained in this collection will be made available on Stud.IP. Recommended Reading: John Sloan, Authors in Context: Oscar Wilde. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. (Oxford World’s Classics). Peter Raby, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Oscar Wilde. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1997. Gasthörendenstudium Assessment Tasks – will be specified Registration – StudIP 1.3.2015 - 31.3.2015 Size restriction – 25 Prerequisites – SL and PL from AcadF and AmerBritF1 Further Information – lucia.kraemer@engsem.~ BritF4 Universität Hannover SoSe 2015 Englisch, Master LA Gymnasium Prof. Dr. phil. Krämer Lucia phil