Stylistic Features of Oscar Wilde’s Wrightings

e.g. “Cecil Graham: Oh, wicked women bother one. Good

women bore one. That is the difference between them”

(p.68)

“Lord Illingworth: we men know life too early.

Mrs. Arbuthnot: And we women know life too late. That

is the difference between men and women” (p.165).

This phrase “That is the difference…” seems to sum up the whole epigram or paradox. With the help of this phrase Oscar Wilde tries to show how great the difference is between the two objects or phenomena compared. Some of Wilde’s paradoxes and epigrams are formed with the help of contextual antonyms and contrasting pairs:

e.g. “The body is born young and grows old. That is life’s

tragedy. The soul is born old but grows young. That is

the comedy of life” (p.111).

“Men become old, but they never become good” (p.33).One of the most important functions of epigrams and paradoxes is that of speech characterisation. But Wilde’s epigrams and paradoxes have another important function also. It is the showing of bourgeois morality. With the help of his epigrams and paradoxes the author shows us his characters, their way of life, manners, their thoughts and the bourgeois society of his time.

In these four Wilde’s plays there is a group of people such as Lady Bracknell, Mrs.Cheveley, Lord Illingworth and others , whose behaviour and way of life give us a clear picture of the upper-class society. These very people with their paradoxes and epigrams open their thoughts and feelings.

e.g. “A man who allows himself to be convinced by an argument is a

thoroughly unreasonable person”(p.185).

“The world was made for men and not for women”(p.100).

We can see the corruptibility of the ruling classes, their mean, shallow spirited interests, and their intrigues against each other. At first sight they seem to be real gentlemen and ladies. But in fact they are spoiled people who try to achieve their aims, however bad and selfish they sometimes may be, at all costs.

e.g. “Sir Robert Chiltern: Every man of ambition has to fight his

century with its own weapons. What this century worships is

wealth. The God of this century is wealth.”(206).

It is evident what weapons Sir R.Chiltern means. It is money and the way it is earned by is unimportant. The way of earning money may be different: bribery, blackmail, forgery and other immoral actions. Once Sir Chiltern achieved his aims at the cost of his honour-he sold the secrete information. He had not any regret for what he had done. He said that he had fought the century with his own weapon and won. And when his misdemeanour was revealed, he tried to save himself.

Another “immoralist” of the English society is Mrs.Cheveley.

e.g. “Nowadays, with our modern mania for morality, every one has

to pose as a paragon of purity, incorruptibility, and all the other