Namangan davlat universiteti ingliz filologiyasi fakulteti amaliy ingliz tili kafedrasi

OSCAR WILDE
( 1854 – 1900 ) 
Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin , Ireland on October 16 , 1854. His father was a
famous Irish surgeon , his mother wrote poetry. 
Wilde’s main interests in school were poetry and classics. 
While at Oxford , Wilde joined the group of aesthetes. Being critical about bourgeois
morals and arts , they put forward their aesthetic creed – desire for beauty , love of arts ,
they put forward their aesthetic creed – desire for beauty , love of art for art’s sake. Wilde
was regarded as the leader of the English aesthetes movement. Some of Wilde’s literary
works do not coincide with his theoretical statements. The example of it is his novel “ 
The picture of Dorian Gray ” , where the moral principle overcomes the vicious idea of
beauty for the sake of beauty. 

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Wilde’s fairy stories were published in 1888 – “ The Happy Prince and Other Tales 
” , and in 1892 – “ A House of Pomegranates ” . His plays “ Lady Windermere’s Fan ”
and “ A Woman of No Importance ” came out in 1892 and 1893 “ An Ideal Husband ”
appeared in 1894 , and “ The Importance of Being Earnest ” in 1895. 
He was accused of immorality and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. When
released from prison in 1897 he lived mainly on the Continent and later in Paris. In 1898
he published his powerful poem “ Ballad of reading Gaol ” . He died in Paris in 1900. 
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
Wilde’s novel “ The Picture of Dorian Gray ” is considered to be his masterpiece. It
describes the spiritual life of a young man. The author touched upon many important
problems of contemporary life : morality , art and beauty . At the beginning of the novel
we see an inexperienced youth , a kind and innocent young man. Two men with sharply
contrasting characters influence Dorian. Basil Hallward and Lord Henry Wotton. The
attitude of these two towards the young man shows their different approach to life , art and
beauty. The author shows the gradual degradation of Dorian Gray. The end of the book is
a contradiction to Wilde’s decadent theory. The fact that the portrait acquired its former
beauty and Dorian Gray “ Withered , wrinkled and loathsome of visage ” lay on the floor
with a knife in his heart , shows the triumph of real beauty – a piece of art created by an
artist , a unity of beautiful form and content.
QUESTIONS : 
1. Which writers were the greatest novelists at the end of the 19
th
century ?
2. What was the main theme of Thomas Hardy’s novels ? 
3. What played an important role in Thomas Hardy’s literary career?
4. What tales by Oscar Wilde do you know ? 
5. Why do we appreciate Oscar Wilde’s works ? 

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