Quotations from Oscar Wilde and his works Quiz

Answer: he does not love her

The quote is from Wilde's signature novel "The Picture of Dorian Grey." Wilde often pointed out the hypocrisies and idiosyncrasies of the English societal conventions of his day through his characters. The novel was published in 1891. In it, a young, handsome man is influenced by a rakish, well-to-do English gentleman, to pursue a dissolute life of pleasure. Along the way he bargains his soul for eternal youth, and his sins and indiscretions are recorded on a portrait of himself rather than his face.

He breaks the heart of a poor nightclub singer, who kills herself, and he eventually suffers dire consequences.

Answer: to yield to it

Lord Henry Wotten, the mouthpiece for Wilde's hedonistic philosophy, seems to constantly egg on Dorian Grey to generally go for it in life and "yield to temptation." In the fascinating 1945 film based on the novel, George Sanders is the perfect Wotten; dashing, decadent, debonair and cynical, but with an amazingly well expressed and consistent "live for today" life view. Angela Lansbury, only twenty at the time, is surprising as the beautiful club singer, being better known for roles later in her life such as in "Murder She Wrote."

Answer: "The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon!"

The non-Wilde insult is on of my favorites, from Shakespeare's "Macbeth" Act V, Scene III, in which Macbeth excoriates a lowly page for bringing him bad news. All the others are classic Oscar Wilde. The "genius" quote was delivered to customs agents as Wilde entered the United States for what would be a triumphant lecture tour and publicity jaunt around America. (Wilde quotes are from izquotes.com)

Answer: Journalism is unreadable and literature is unread. That is all.

This is from "The Critic as Artist," an essay first published in 1891 in which Wilde extensively challenges the prevailing distinction between criticism and art, and rips at "objective" journalism. It contains the most thorough exposition of his aesthetic philosophy thus far.

Answer: nothing that is worth knowing can be taught

This is also from "The Critic as Artist." As Wilde says later in the work, "Criticism is above reason, sincerity and fairness; it is necessarily subjective." The essay is an expansion and a revision of articles that appeared earlier in "The Nineteenth Century" magazine under the title "The True Function and Value of Criticism."

Answer: the beginning of a lifelong romance

The correct "lifelong romance" quote is from Lord Goring in Act III. "An Ideal Husband" is a drawing room comedy about blackmail and love among rich and politically connected Londoners. Goring plays the part of the manipulative, devil may care bachelor. It was first performed in 1895. In it Wilde continues to explore his views on society and his philosophy on being.

Answer: tired, curious, disappointed

This is from "A Woman of No Importance," another satire of the English upper class, which premiered in London in 1893.

Answer: somewhat overestimated his ability

Wilde always found the imperfections of men (and himself) to be fascinating. He had many takes on the uneasy dance between religion and science. This quote is widely attributed to Wilde on many websites, but I can't find when, to whom or where it was actually spoken, or if it's from a literary work. Drop me a note if you have information.

Answer: is rarely pure and never simple

This line is often slightly misquoted as, "The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple." The actual dialogue between Algernon and Jack from Act 1:

Jack: That, my dear Algy, is the whole truth, pure and simple.
Algernon: The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Modern life would be very
tedious if it were either, and modern literature a complete
impossibility!

Subtitled "A Trivial Comedy for Serious People," this play opened in February of 1895 at London's St. James Theater," and was a big hit.

Answer: wallpaper

Wilde died destitute in a hotel room in Paris, on November 30th, 1900. Seeing the garish covering on the walls, he is sometimes said to have gotten in one last zinger on his deathbed, "either that wallpaper goes or I do," but most sources agree the actual quote is the one in the question, and that it was spoken a few weeks before his death. (source: wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Oscar_Wilde)