Oscar Wildes Tour of the Americas
In the early 1880's, when Aestheticism was the rage and despair of literary London, Wilde established himself in social and artistic circles by his wit and flamboyance. Soon the periodical Punch made him the satiric object of its antagonism to the Aesthetes for what was considered their unmaculine devotion to art and in their comic opera Patience. Wilde agreed to lecture in the United States and Canada. Wilde was given the paradoxical opportunity to characterize and popularize the intensely reflective and individualistic aesthetic movement. In 1881 Oscar Wilde saw himself in a position of man that required company and indulgence of leisure, and to sustain this he needed money in a time where money was scarcer than ever. He mortgaged his hunting lounge and sold a bit of his Dublin property to obtain some wealth. Oscar Wild had just finished two plays and was waiting to the rehearsals to start of Mr. Beere's Verato begin. During this time producer Richard Carte in New York approached Wild. Carte was running a not so successful play of New York at the time, but another part of his enterprise was to manage lecture tours. Carte wanted to give Americans a chance to see and hear the leading advocate of aest
Cevasco, G.A. Oscar Wilde. Charlotteville, NY: SamHar Press, 1972. Wilde accepted this proposal in December, but he asks that the tour should start at the begging of 1882. He wanted to in London for the opening of Vera. The play he was waiting to open never does. This gave him time to prepared carefully for his tour. What to wear came first. Wilde thought of a costume for his tailor to make. A heavy coat made sense in the American if not the English climate (Ellmann 154). As to lecturing Wilde knew he had no talent for oratory. His friend Hermann Vezin gave him elocution lessons, " I want a natural style, with a touch of affectation." "Well, said Vezi, "and haven't you got that, Oscar?"(Ellmann 155) Wilde had yet prepared a lecture and was planning to write his lecture on his departure on the Arizona, which was to embark on December 24, 1881. But by the time the ship docked on January 2 he did not have it ready (Ellmann 158)
Some common words found in the essay are:
Hermann Vezin, Mississippi River, Harvard Students, America January, Leadville Denver, Sullivan's Patience, Russian Pater, Carte Americans, Oscar Wilde, London Wilde, oscar wilde, tour america, front row, cevasco 16, visited whitman, americans die, aesthetic movement, lecture hall, knee breeches, traveling manager,
Approximate Word count = 1626
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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