BFSU Isabel Forum Series
Who Was Oscar Wilde
Speaker: Professor Norman Vance
Time: 19:30-21:30
Date: 10th November, 2022 (Thursday)
Venue: Tencent Meeting 375-319-458
Abstract:
Just who was Oscar Wilde? He is remembered as a novelist and a playwright, but he was also a classical scholar, a poet and a journalist. Was he a serious writer or just an amusing entertainer? A dedicated artist or a self-indulgent playboy? He was born and educated in Ireland but usually seemed more English than Irish, apparently owing more to Oxford than to Dublin. His family were Protestants but he seemed more interested in Roman Catholicism. The lecture will explore the different selves of Oscar Wilde as revealed in his work and his life and will consider how they have affected his reputation.
About the speaker:
Norman Vance was born in Belfast in Northern Ireland and studied English Literature at the University of Oxford. He is an Emeritus Professor of English Literature and Intellectual History at the University of Sussex, Visiting Professor at Ulster University, and a Fellow of the English Association and of the Royal Historical Society. His publications include Irish Literature since 1800, The Victorians and Ancient Romeand contributions to the recent Irish Literature in Transition (Cambridge, 2020) and The Oxford Handbook of Decadence(2022).
