Oscar Wilde was my first literary love and still, to this day, he remains an important talisman in my life. I’ve been to his birthplace in Dublin and his grave in Paris…
‘My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One of us has got to go’ (His last words when dying in a cheap hotel room)
If asked to name a piece of writing that has had the greatest affect on me I would probably say ‘De Profundis’ – a letter – written by Wilde in prison. I used to carry it around with me in my bag; now I carry it with me in spirit.
If you are new to Wilde, I urge you to read Richard Ellmann’s masterful biography. His great contribution to literature and life is too vast to even hint at here. But what better way to introduce you to this most humane and wise writer than the beautiful quote:
‘We are all of us in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars’*
(* For my readers for whom English is a second language, ‘the gutter’ is the dirty edge of the street – where a drunk might fall.)
On an interesting side note, whoever shot the video of Massive Attack’s song ‘Live With Me’, must also love this quote. Depicting a woman descending into alcoholism the bleak video ends with her lying in the street only, in the final shot, to look up to the stars. Just one small example of Wilde’s continuing relevance and reach.
This speech, given by Stephen Fry (a famous comedian and actor, who played Wilde in a film of his life) is as funny and charming as its subject – detailing Wilde’s continuing legacy with a humour and panache reminiscent of the great man himself.
