Wilde's Writings on Trial

In his cross-examination of Oscar Wilde, Defense Attorney Edward Carson asked Wilde about the meaning of two of his more controversial writings (the writings below).  This literary part of the trial was far less incriminating than the witnesses Carson planned to produce,  and suggests that Carson enjoyed toying with Wilde.  For his part, Wilde did his best to turn the proceedings into a joke, often supplying flippant answers to Carson's questions.  Still, Wilde's answers were often very revealing of his philosophy of life.  Wilde's radical individualism, hedonism, and "camp" sensibility became apparent in his answers to Carson's questions about his writings (See transcript page).

Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young

 The first duty in life is to be as artifical as possible.
What the second duty is no one has as yet discovered.
Wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attraciveness of others.
Those who see any difference between soul and body have neither.
Nothing that actually occurs is of the smallest importance.
Dullness is the coming of age of seriousness.
Only the shallow know themselves.
Time is a waste of money.
One should always be a little improbable.
To be premature is to be perfect.
Ambition is the last refuge of the failure.
In examinations the foolish ask questions that the wise cannot answer.
Industry is the root of all ugliness.
The ages live in history through their anachronisms.
      Nero and Narcissus are always with us.
Only the great masters of style ever succeed in being obscure.

The Preface to the Picture of Dorian Gray

The artist is the creator of beautiful things.
To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim.
They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only Beauty.
          use of an  imperfect medium. Noartist desires to prove anything. Even things that are true can be proved.
          No artist is ever morbid. The artist can express everything.
Thought and language are to the artist instruments of an art.
         Vice and virtue are to the artist materials for an art.
         the actor's craft is the type.
         All art is at once surface and symbol.
Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril.
         Those who read the symbol do so at their peril.
         When critics disagree the artist is in accord with himself.
          a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.
All art is quite useless.

Wilde Trials Homepage