The Controversy In Oscar Wilde's The American Man

Oscar Wilde: A Literary Biography Among the canonized writers and poets from the Victorian age, perhaps none are more captivating nor controversial than the peculiar case of Oscar Wilde. Wilde was born October 16, 1854, in Dublin, Ireland, to William Wilde, a successful medical practitioner, and Jane Elgee, an Irish poet who related closely to the Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848. His mother was also a successful English translator, and Wilde’s fondness for her work would influence his later writings, particularly her translation of author Wilhelm Meinhold’s Sidonia the Sorceress (Bio). Early in his youth, Wilde took up a fascination with classical literature that would flourish during his time at Portora Royal School at Enniskillen. In his

Wilde kept a collection of his thoughts during his lecture tour, the contents of which would eventually become published under a series of essays, such as “The American Man” or “Impressions of America.” In “The American Man,” Wilde famously quipped that “America has never quite forgiven Europe for having been discovered somewhat earlier in history than itself,” a jape that partially gave credence to what many Americans believed was Wilde’s disdain for America, a rumor which sometimes threatened violence during Wilde’s tour(Wilde). Upon visiting Leadville, Colorado, Wilde was warned by locals that “he and his travelling manager were sure to be shot,” to which he snidely responded, “I wrote and told them that nothing that they could do to my travelling manager would intimidate me” (Wilde). If anything, Wilde was absolutely captivated by American culture because of what he perceived to be its rugged individualism and desired to court its greatest minds, including the likes of Henry Longfellow, Wendell Holmes, and America’s Bard, Walt Whitman, whom he admired the most as a sort of personal idol. Through his lectures, as well as his early poetry, Wilde established himself both on the continent and abroad as a charming eccentric, a powerful orator, and a successful