This book is an updated version of my doctoral dissertation, “The Role of the Reader in Oscar Wilde’s Narrative and Dramatic Works”, for which I was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Philology and was granted the distinction "summa cum laude" (University of La Rioja, 2002). In celebration of the 160th anniversary of Oscar Wilde’s birth, I have extended my PhD dissertation in order to include an analysis of the main critical works on Wilde written in the first years of the twenty-first century with a double purpose, namely, to complement the lines of investigation explored on my previous study with the latest contributions on the subject and to set it on an up-to-date framework so as to strengthen the conclusions reached in it in the light of the most recent Wildean research.
The present study explores Oscar Wilde's creative writings from the hypothesis that they called upon the active participation of the reader in the construction of their meaning. It has a twofold objective: first, to show that Wilde's emphasis on the creative role of the reader in his critical writings makes him conceive him as a co-creator in the production of meaning; second, to explore the literary strategies which Wilde employs to impel the reader to participate dynamically in the production of the meaning of his works as well as to cast light upon the social criticism which is derived from them.
The examination of Oscar Wilde's works is divided up into chapters devoted to specific literary genres in order to show how he gradually developed a remarkable ability to combine more sophisticated techniques that encourage the reader's active role with the progressive incorporation of elements that allow the “commercial” Oscar to make his works successful among the public without betraying the “literary” Wilde’s artistic principles.
The analysis of the role of the reader in Oscar Wilde's works permits to revaluate Wilde as a critic and as a writer. Furthermore, it demonstrates that, apart from the fact that Wilde the “myth” went ahead of his age in a wide range of aspects, there exists Wilde the “ARTIST”, who anticipated various themes in his aesthetic theory which concern contemporary literary theoreticians. This opens the possibility to a vast number of research writings about Oscar Wilde that may contribute to understand the origins of current literary interests and give him the status he rightly deserves in the history of literature.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Introduction
- The Works of Oscar Wilde
- 1. The Critical Reception of Oscar Wilde and His Works
- 1.1. Oscar Wilde: The Origins of the Myth
- 1.2. The Popularisation of the Myth in the Critical Studies of Wilde
- 1.3. New Directions in Wilde Research and Objective of My Study
- 2. Methodological Discussion
- 2.1. The Concept of the Reader Within Reader-Response Theory
- 2.1.1. The Reader as an Element of the Text
- 2.1.2. The Reader as a Decoder of Textual Meaning
- 2.1.3. The Reader as a Co-Producer of Meaning
- 2.1.4. The Reader as the Only Source of Meaning
- 2.2. The Concept of the Reader Within Reception Theory
- 2.2.1. The Historical Reader
- 2.2.2. The Implied Reader
- 2.3. Justification of the Method Within the Framework of Oscar Wilde's Criticism
- 2.1. The Concept of the Reader Within Reader-Response Theory
- 3. The Process of Building and Breaking the Reader's Expectations in Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories
- 3.1. The Teamwork Between Narrator and Reader in "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime"
- 3.2. The Two-Fold Function of the Repertoire in "The Canterville Ghost"
- 3.3. Surprise as Key Element in the Endings of "The Sphinx Without a Secret" and "The Model Millionaire"
- 4. The Subversive Potential of The Happy Prince and Other Tales and A House of Pomegranates
- 4.1. Emphasis on the Transformational Process of the Characters' Patterns of Behaviour
- 4.1.1. "The Happy Prince"
- 4.1.2. "The Young King"
- 4.1.3. "The Star-Child"
- 4.2. The Reversal of the Conventional Happy Ending of Classical Fairy Tales
- 4.2.1. "The Nightingale and the Rose"
- 4.2.2. "The Devoted Friend"
- 4.2.3. "The Birthday of the Infanta"
- 4.1. Emphasis on the Transformational Process of the Characters' Patterns of Behaviour
- 5. The Complexities of the Interaction Between the Reader and the Text in The Picture of Dorian Gray
- 5.1. Origins and Composition of DG: Two Versions, Two Audiences
- 5.2. Presentation of the Characters: The Act of Image-Building
- 5.2.1. Image-Building from Indirect Presentation
- 5.2.2. Image-Building from a Combination of Direct and Indirect Presentation
- 5.3. The Oppositional Arrangement of Perspectives: Puritanism Versus Aestheticism
- 5.4. Trapping the Reader into an Illusory Sense of Superiority
- 5.4.1. Increase of the Reader's Feeling of Superiority
- 5.4.2. The Reader's Fall from the Position of Superiority
- 5.5. The Conflict of the Contrasting Schemata Within Dorian Gray
- 5.5.1. The Reader's Actual Engagement in the Construction of the Conflict
- 5.5.2. Implications of the Reader's Direct Experience in the Resolution of the Conflict
- 6. The Double Attitude Towards the Audience in the Plays
- 6.1. Turning to the Stage: A First Approach to the Society Comedies
- 6.2. Stratagems to Simultaneously Attract and Criticise the Audience in LWF, WNI, and IH
- 6.2.1. The Use of Stage Images as Misleading Fetishes for the Audience
- 6.2.1.1. Setting
- 6.2.1.2. Life Style
- 6.2.1.3. Costume
- 6.2.2. Manipulation of Popular Theatrical Mechanics
- 6.2.3. Exploitation of the Synchronic Use of the Overt and the Covert in the Dandy's Dialogue
- 6.2.1. The Use of Stage Images as Misleading Fetishes for the Audience
- 6.3. Evolution Towards a Modern Form of Drama: The Provocation of the Audience in IBE
- 6.3.1. The Interplay Between the Trivial and the Serious
- 6.3.2. IBE as a Precursor of Modernist Theatre for a Contemporary Audience
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This study aims to analyze the role of the reader in Oscar Wilde's works, examining how Wilde constructs and manipulates reader expectations and engagement across various genres. It investigates the dynamic interplay between the text and the reader, exploring the different ways Wilde challenges and subverts conventional reader responses.
- The construction and subversion of reader expectations
- The interplay between narrator and reader
- The use of irony and paradox to engage the reader
- The reader's role in constructing meaning
- The evolution of Wilde's approach to the reader across his different works
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
1. The Critical Reception of Oscar Wilde and His Works: This chapter explores the evolution of critical perspectives on Oscar Wilde and his works, tracing the development of the "Wilde myth" and identifying new trends in Wilde scholarship. It sets the stage for the study by highlighting the existing critical landscape and outlining the author's unique contribution to Wilde studies, focusing on the role of the reader in shaping meaning and interpretation. The chapter contextualizes the study within the larger field of Wilde scholarship, making a case for its significance and originality.
2. Methodological Discussion: This chapter lays out the theoretical framework of the study, focusing on reader-response and reception theories. It examines different conceptions of the reader – as an element within the text, a decoder of meaning, a co-producer of meaning, and the sole source of meaning – providing a nuanced understanding of the reader's active role in literary interpretation. Different theoretical viewpoints are critically assessed to justify the chosen methodology's appropriateness for analyzing Wilde's works, which are known for their complex and often ambiguous nature.
3. The Process of Building and Breaking the Reader's Expectations in Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories: This chapter analyzes several short stories by Wilde, focusing on how they manipulate the reader's expectations. It examines the collaborative nature of storytelling between narrator and reader, exploring how Wilde uses narrative techniques, such as irony and surprise endings, to engage and challenge reader assumptions. The analysis highlights specific examples from each short story, illustrating Wilde’s mastery in playing with reader anticipation and providing unique insights into the dynamics between the text and its audience.
4. The Subversive Potential of The Happy Prince and Other Tales and A House of Pomegranates: This chapter shifts focus to Wilde's fairy tales, exploring their subversive potential in challenging traditional narrative structures and moral expectations. It examines how Wilde transforms character behaviors and reverses the conventional "happy ending," creating a complex interplay between reader expectations and narrative outcomes. The analysis explores individual tales, showcasing how the author subverts traditional fairy-tale tropes to create more nuanced and morally ambiguous stories that challenge the reader to rethink the simple good versus evil dichotomy.
5. The Complexities of the Interaction Between the Reader and the Text in The Picture of Dorian Gray: This chapter delves into Wilde's most famous novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, examining the intricate relationship between the reader and the text. It explores the construction of character images, the oppositional perspectives presented (Puritanism vs. Aestheticism), and how Wilde deliberately manipulates the reader's sense of superiority before challenging their preconceptions. The chapter discusses the reader’s active role in making sense of the conflict central to the narrative, showing how individual interpretive choices shape the overall understanding of the novel’s themes.
6. The Double Attitude Towards the Audience in the Plays: This chapter analyzes Wilde's plays, focusing on his complex relationship with his audience. It examines the strategies Wilde uses to both attract and criticize his audience simultaneously through stage images, theatrical mechanics, and the subtle interplay between overt and covert meanings in dialogue. The study traces the evolution of Wilde's dramatic technique, demonstrating how he progressively moves towards a more provocative and modern style of theater, pushing the boundaries of audience engagement and expectation.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
Oscar Wilde, reader-response theory, reception theory, reader engagement, narrative strategy, irony, paradox, surprise endings, fairy tales, The Picture of Dorian Gray, society comedies, aestheticism, Victorian literature, literary interpretation, meaning-making.
Frequently Asked Questions: A Comprehensive Language Preview
What is the main topic of this academic study?
This study analyzes the role of the reader in Oscar Wilde's works, exploring how he constructs and manipulates reader expectations and engagement across various genres (short stories, fairy tales, novels, and plays). The focus is on the dynamic interplay between text and reader, and how Wilde challenges and subverts conventional reader responses.
What theoretical frameworks are used in the study?
The study primarily utilizes reader-response theory and reception theory to analyze how readers interact with Wilde's texts. Different conceptions of the reader are examined, including the reader as an element within the text, a decoder of meaning, a co-producer of meaning, and the sole source of meaning.
Which works of Oscar Wilde are analyzed?
The study analyzes a range of Wilde's works, including short stories from Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories, fairy tales from The Happy Prince and Other Tales and A House of Pomegranates, the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, and several of his plays (the specific plays are not explicitly named but referred to as LWF, WNI, IH, and IBE).
What are the key themes explored in the study?
Key themes include the construction and subversion of reader expectations, the interplay between narrator and reader, the use of irony and paradox to engage the reader, the reader's role in constructing meaning, and the evolution of Wilde's approach to the reader across his different works.
How does the study approach the analysis of Wilde's works?
The study systematically examines how Wilde employs narrative strategies, such as irony, surprise endings, and the manipulation of character images, to engage and challenge the reader's assumptions and expectations. It analyzes the use of various narrative techniques and their impact on reader interpretation across different genres.
What is the structure of the study?
The study is structured into six chapters. Chapter 1 reviews the critical reception of Wilde and his works. Chapter 2 lays out the theoretical framework. Chapters 3-6 analyze specific works by Wilde, focusing on their manipulation of reader expectations and engagement: short stories, fairy tales, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and his plays respectively.
What are the key findings or arguments of the study (as previewed)?
The preview suggests that the study will demonstrate how Wilde actively engages his readers, challenging their assumptions and prompting them to actively participate in the construction of meaning. It will show how Wilde's techniques evolve across different genres and throughout his career.
What are the keywords associated with this study?
Keywords include Oscar Wilde, reader-response theory, reception theory, reader engagement, narrative strategy, irony, paradox, surprise endings, fairy tales, The Picture of Dorian Gray, society comedies, aestheticism, Victorian literature, literary interpretation, and meaning-making.
- Quote paper
- PhD Cristina Pascual Aransáez (Author), 2002, The Role of the Reader in Oscar Wilde's Works, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/273874
