Burke and Wilde
I am going to analyse Edmund Burke's and Oscar Wilde's use of the, respectively, letter and dialogue formats for this essay. I will give a description of how the two thinkers have used these formats, starting with Burke. At the same time I will mix in my own thoughts on how the benefits of their format and style contributed towards their individual arguments and then conclude with an overall ascription.
For Edmund Burke's work I am going to focus mainly on his piece Reflections on the Revolution in France. Published in 1790 it is the most well known critical analysis of the French Revolution and subsequently went on to provide the bedrock for the modern political philosophy of conservatism. The French aristocrat Charles-Jean-Francois Depont asked Burke for his view of the Revolution and Burke replied with two letters. The second, longer letter became Reflections on the Revolution in France and, when published, proved extremely popular and was widely read. Its initial popularity, in part, has been attributed to the extensive descriptions of the violent treatment of the French king and queen who were residing in prison at the time of writing and would be executed three years later. Through utilising the format of the letter, Burke was able to invoke these descriptions with an openness and selectivity. He added a layer of meaning that, unwittingly or not, eventually formed part of the basis for modern conservative thought. While using this format and style, and with additional Latin quotations to support and colour his argument, Burke was able to fashion a well wrought argument in favour of monarchy.
At the time of publication however, not every Briton approved of his favourable treatment of the French king and queen or the French nation as whole. The French government had been appropriating Church land and Burke's English opponents speculated that he was a secret Catholic outraged at the French government's anti-clerical policies. Either that or he had lost his mind. On publication his work drew several impassioned responses, most notably from liberal feminist Mary Wollstonecraft who also used the letter format. A further detractor was his workplace, the House of Commons, and eventually Burke's popularity declined.
Oscar Wilde used dialogue as a format for his work throughout his career. I will, however, focus mainly on his work The Critic as Artist here. Published in 1891, and as a dialogue in two parts, it takes the form of a conversation between Gilbert and Ernest, Ernest suggesting ideas for Gilbert to reject. Wilde argues that criticism is above art and he plays this out in the format and style of the work by emphasising both while at the same time devaluing primary literary and artistic work as too self conscious and relying too heavily on inspiration. As a result it is both autobiographical and impressionistic, working on multiple levels. He also devalues historicism, arguing that it places a further constraint on creativity. He advocates contemplation over action and argues that it does not matter if the critic is faithful to the ideas in the work of art he is criticising. The criticism itself should be considered a freestanding work of art. In the preface to another of his works, The Picture of Dorian Gray, he expounds further on his view of artists and art by emphasising how they should focus on style and form in order to produce beautiful works. The content is secondary and is not a matter of importance, it is the fulfilment of the work's aesthetic that should be judged as opposed to the morality of the content or other similar concerns. He argues that beauty is best due to it not being concerned with ethics and because of its basis in nature.
Wilde is not considered a particularly original thinker which could perhaps explain his emphasis on style over substance. He also concludes the preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray with the statement that "All art is quite useless." Wilde took pleasure in unnerving and teasing his audiences with clever witticisms, at once chiding wickedness while laying the accusation of hypocrisy at the feet of those who claim to always be good for example. Deep down however Wilde was morally serious and deeply earnest. What he wanted was greater opportunity for freedom of expression, dissent, and the right to test the prevailing moral attitudes of the time.
For both thinkers, their use of alternative formats to the standard essay form is clearly of practical benefit. The letter used by Burke allowed him to write responding to the single human being who had initially sparked his inspiration. In turn it allowed those who disagreed with Burke to use the same format so that a response and reply set up was created which, with hindsight, produced influential tracts containing ideas that are still with us today. With Wilde the same is true. Having a foil to rail against gave the alternative idea being proposed room to breath. Their arguments aren't one sided and take into account the differing view. Altogether a rounder, more full and complete work is created with additional power infused within it through insightful use of format.
For Edmund Burke's work I am going to focus mainly on his piece Reflections on the Revolution in France. Published in 1790 it is the most well known critical analysis of the French Revolution and subsequently went on to provide the bedrock for the modern political philosophy of conservatism. The French aristocrat Charles-Jean-Francois Depont asked Burke for his view of the Revolution and Burke replied with two letters. The second, longer letter became Reflections on the Revolution in France and, when published, proved extremely popular and was widely read. Its initial popularity, in part, has been attributed to the extensive descriptions of the violent treatment of the French king and queen who were residing in prison at the time of writing and would be executed three years later. Through utilising the format of the letter, Burke was able to invoke these descriptions with an openness and selectivity. He added a layer of meaning that, unwittingly or not, eventually formed part of the basis for modern conservative thought. While using this format and style, and with additional Latin quotations to support and colour his argument, Burke was able to fashion a well wrought argument in favour of monarchy.
At the time of publication however, not every Briton approved of his favourable treatment of the French king and queen or the French nation as whole. The French government had been appropriating Church land and Burke's English opponents speculated that he was a secret Catholic outraged at the French government's anti-clerical policies. Either that or he had lost his mind. On publication his work drew several impassioned responses, most notably from liberal feminist Mary Wollstonecraft who also used the letter format. A further detractor was his workplace, the House of Commons, and eventually Burke's popularity declined.
Oscar Wilde used dialogue as a format for his work throughout his career. I will, however, focus mainly on his work The Critic as Artist here. Published in 1891, and as a dialogue in two parts, it takes the form of a conversation between Gilbert and Ernest, Ernest suggesting ideas for Gilbert to reject. Wilde argues that criticism is above art and he plays this out in the format and style of the work by emphasising both while at the same time devaluing primary literary and artistic work as too self conscious and relying too heavily on inspiration. As a result it is both autobiographical and impressionistic, working on multiple levels. He also devalues historicism, arguing that it places a further constraint on creativity. He advocates contemplation over action and argues that it does not matter if the critic is faithful to the ideas in the work of art he is criticising. The criticism itself should be considered a freestanding work of art. In the preface to another of his works, The Picture of Dorian Gray, he expounds further on his view of artists and art by emphasising how they should focus on style and form in order to produce beautiful works. The content is secondary and is not a matter of importance, it is the fulfilment of the work's aesthetic that should be judged as opposed to the morality of the content or other similar concerns. He argues that beauty is best due to it not being concerned with ethics and because of its basis in nature.
Wilde is not considered a particularly original thinker which could perhaps explain his emphasis on style over substance. He also concludes the preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray with the statement that "All art is quite useless." Wilde took pleasure in unnerving and teasing his audiences with clever witticisms, at once chiding wickedness while laying the accusation of hypocrisy at the feet of those who claim to always be good for example. Deep down however Wilde was morally serious and deeply earnest. What he wanted was greater opportunity for freedom of expression, dissent, and the right to test the prevailing moral attitudes of the time.
For both thinkers, their use of alternative formats to the standard essay form is clearly of practical benefit. The letter used by Burke allowed him to write responding to the single human being who had initially sparked his inspiration. In turn it allowed those who disagreed with Burke to use the same format so that a response and reply set up was created which, with hindsight, produced influential tracts containing ideas that are still with us today. With Wilde the same is true. Having a foil to rail against gave the alternative idea being proposed room to breath. Their arguments aren't one sided and take into account the differing view. Altogether a rounder, more full and complete work is created with additional power infused within it through insightful use of format.
Comments
Post a Comment