Day 26: Wilde

My legs are in an odd position, I know. But temperature rose mid-afternoon, nullifying the chill shivers of dawn. I was already sweating.

I always have the impression that my Late American Literature professor, Pascha Stevenson, is not valued enough. If it were untrue, this statement could very well be offensive but there's always a certain air of indifference towards the subject during class. Perhaps, the easiest way to illustrate this state would be through a simple question: What are we here for?

Granted, the course is one of two compulsory subjects English majors are required to enroll in, but what do students wish to attain from this class beyond its thin walls? Believe me, the small alcove of a class sounds so fragile, that footsteps above us seem to threaten a wreckage. Our class is in the basement. But back to the main question, why study late American literature, at all?

Is it... art? I have read better prose that awards me an aesthetic unfound in any other. Pulitzer Prize winners are usually the easiest to obtain off the shelves, but there are various pieces that do the same as well.

Empathy would probably be the word to use here. There's this sort of relationship between reader and character, where both of these entities are able to empathize with the other, creating a bond that's not easily severed due to the strengths of past experiences, experiences that we can draw out from our heads like paper from a drawer, and words would instantly manifest itself on the blank manuscript, as it rests on the table.

There's always something realistic about the works from these pioneers who defined American literature as it evolved through the nineteenth and twentieth century. And being realistic, it creates goodwill towards its audience of various philosophies, ideologies and defiant mentalities. There's always something in the stories, which everyone finds personal.

Speaking of stories, here's a famous storyteller: Oscar Wilde. I'm ashamed to call myself an admirer of Stephen Fry's work when I was oblivious to his portrayal of Oscar Wilde.

The film was based on a Pulitzer winning biography by Richard Ellmann, and was nominated for several awards mainly because of the superb performance by the cast. Even Stephen's attire in this poster speaks miles to reanimate the flamboyant and witty Mr. Wilde, contrasting the monotonous, and monochromatic, British bureaucracy in the background. I am allotting some of my time for the movie, and I suppose the biography is also a must have for my further edification of the playwright.