I do not appreciate the suggestion that Oscar Wilde’s cleverness consisted in paradoxical epigram. I will accept gracious tributes to Wilde’s way with epigrams, like Dorothy Parker’s:
If, with the literate, I am
Impelled to try an epigram,
I never seek to take the credit.
We all assume that Oscar said it.
Thank you, Dorothy Parker. You have lovely qualities and could bang out epigrams with the best of them.
I will not, however, sit idly by in the face of any slighting reference to Oscar Wilde that implies that he was not as witty and charming as he is renowned to be, but only fooled people into thinking he was by inventing, and then saying, little paradoxes. WRONG. He was exactly as witty and charming as he is renowned to be, and I will argue you into the ground on this point; and trust me, you will get tired of arguing about it before I will, because I will never get tired of arguing (about Oscar Wilde).
Last night I was reading The Invention of Love, my current favorite Tom Stoppard play. It is set at Oxford during the youth of A.E. Housman, and also on the rivers Styx and Acheron following the death of A.E. Housman (because Tom Stoppard can do things like that). The play is about Housman, studying Latin and being quietly and hopelessly in love with a classmate, while Oscar Wilde and British concern over homosexuality are always in the background, for Housman to take no notice of. Viz:
Pollard: Ruskin said, when he’s at Paddington he feels he is in hell – and this man Oscar Wilde said, “Ah, but—”
Housman: “—when he’s in hell he’ll think he’s only at Paddington.” It’ll be a pity if inversion is all he is known for.
I read this line and went straight into a snit. I was all, “Um, Alfred Edward, you are cute and all, but out of you and Oscar Wilde, only one of you graduated Oxford with a double first, while the other (I’m not naming names) failed to pass Greats. I think you will find that Oscar Wilde is a bit more than an epigrammatist. I mean if it’s a pity he’s only known for anything, it’s—”
Oh. Inversion.
And then I sat up and gazed at the book and read it over twice, and I said, “Oh, well played, Tom Stoppard.” And then I got up out of bed and strode around the room waving my arms around and talking to myself about how good Tom Stoppard is. I did this, you see, because the alternative was me drunk-on-wordplay-dialing one of my friends, and I really don’t think any of my friends would appreciate getting a late-night phone call demanding their vocal appreciation for a play on words that hinges on a term for homosexuality that’s completely out of date.
That is pretty good, though, eh? Inversion? Get it? Get it?
Jenny's Books 
I never noticed that! That is BRILLIANT!
I KNOW RIGHT? I love Tom Stoppard so much!
That’s what’s great about the internets – there is always someone around to appreciate your epiphany, and you don’t wake them up.
I nearly went downstairs and wrote about it on the internet straight away. The only thing was I’d already taken out my contact lenses, so I wouldn’t have been able to see the screen properly, and my glasses give me a headache. Stupid myopia!
At least they don’t say perversion like we did here.
I’m pretty sure they don’t say inversion anymore either (she said optimistically). It’s one of those words I encounter all the time when I’m reading about Oscar Wilde, but never at all in real life.
lol; this post cracked me up! I’m fast becoming a Stoppard fan…sounds like I need to read “The Invention of Love” next.
It’s very, very good. I’m curious to see what you think. Did you take Latin or Greek? There is a lot of talk about Latin translations particularly, as well as a lot of stuff about current political events. Which is great for me, because I am a big Latin geek and I read a lot about that time period when I was researching Oscar Wilde. I’m wondering how much other people, who are not me, would enjoy it. It’s very good! They do not talk about Latin idly, they do it in the context of, you know, what’s the point of studying classics, and like that.
This post cracked me up, and then raidergirl3’s comment cracked me up even more!!
I am always afraid when I am writing a post like this that I will come off as totally crazy. I am not crazy! I just get enthusiastic about wordplay! 😛
I dunno. Are you ‘waxing grandiose’?
😛
You are such a treat – love it.
Oo, gosh, I hope I’m not being grandiose. My family might start giving me medication and pretending it was aspirin. 😛
Oh Jenny, I do love your posts. Thanks for the mid-afternoon laugh. You can drunk-on-wordplay-dial me anytime. 😀
That’s nice to know but I think you would come to regret saying so. I am working my way back through Tom Stoppard’s plays right now, and he uses A LOT of wordplay.
Pingback: Review: Arcadia, Tom Stoppard « Jenny's Books
I wouldn’t have gotten that joke if you hadn’t explained it. I just recently found out that “earnest” was a Victorian term for homosexual.
There’s no reason you should get that joke. It’s silly. I only get it because I spent all this time researching Oscar Wilde, and in the course of that I learned lots and lots of euphemisms/code words to imply homosexuality. I’m not sure they’ve concluded decisively that “earnest” was. I know the idea’s been floated, but I’m not sure it’s definitely true.
O.K. That’s pretty damn excellent.
Right? Right? I love Tom Stoppard SO MUCH.
I got it. But only the second time you said the word inversion. So he can do it even when the passage is being quoted. I love Tom Stoppard.
I’m sort of mad at myself for not getting it straight away. I am rather proud of myself for being up on Victorian sexual terminology, as I read a bunch of stuff about it when I was first getting interested in Oscar Wilde. But there’s no reason a non-Oscar-Wilde-and-Victorian-underworld-geek should get it. Tom Stoppard. Catering to my interests like a darling. 😛
Pingback: Constantine Cavafy « Jenny's Books