The Importance of Being Oscar (Wilde)

Outrageous History!

"There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about," proclaimed Oscar Wilde. The writer and playwright died in 1900, but like other deceased celebrities, he's become his own enterprise. But, as a once living person, where does he stand? Is he an influential literary figure, an important gay icon? What about someone who became a pioneering celebrity/personality who exploited the existing social platforms of the late 1800s? Join Ernest Granson as he chats with Heather Marcovitch, a professor at Red Deer College, in Red Deer, Alberta. Heather, who teaches Victorian Literature, Children’s Literature, and Literary Theory and is author of "The Art of the Pose; Oscar Wilde's Performance Theory," says that Wilde could be considered one of the original influencers as a result of his literary contributions, his very public life as a gay man, and his extraordinary impact on Victorian culture.