Boheme:
Was it autobiographical when Wilde has Basil, once again in his final confrontation with Dorian, asking: “Why is your friendship so fatal to young men? ... that wretched boy in the Guards who committed suicide. ... Sir Henry Ashton, who had to leave England with a tarnished name.... What about the young Duke of Perth? What sort of life has he got now? What gentleman would associate with him?”
It would seem that Dorian was something of a 'femme fatale' creation. Guilty of the same crimes as 'la belle dames sans merci'. An ugly trait in either sex.
Boheme:
However, I find the novel to be more of a polemic against the strictures of that society and its rigid rules, such as when during Basil's final confrontation with Dorian he states: “My dear fellow, you forget that we are in the native land of the hypocrite... England is bad enough I know, and English society is all wrong. That is the reason I want you to be fine.”
I think perhaps there is some self-mockery in the above phrase:
This duplicity reflects Wilde's own life. On the one hand, he was a respectable man, married with two children--on the other, he was paying off blackmailers and having sex with rent boys. Wilde's double life is reflected in his portrayal of homosexuality as sensuous and attractive, but also sinful, something to hide.
He also said that the one charm about marriage was that it made a life of deception absolutely necessary for both parties.
Well, I would retort to that 'You speak for yourself, Oscar!!'
And my least favourite quote:
'Wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others.' He wanted a society in which everyone would he free to express themselves.
Wickedness most certainly is not a myth. And he 'expressed' himself by buying sex with many boys under the age of 18. 'A love that dare not speak its name'. .....I don't think there was much 'love' involved.
However, I don't see it as any different from the use of female underage prostitutes. .....which was a much more 'accepted' form of indulgence.
The good thing was that Oscar was brave enough to bring it out into the open for discussion.......eventually.
Only those become weary of angling who bring nothing to it but the idea of catching fish.
He was born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world is mad....
Rafael Sabatini