Oscar Wilde

I really enjoyed these lectures. I even read The Soul of Man and De Profundis after listening.

This is a truly excellent lecture series on the subject of Oscar Wilde, given by an engaging and enthusiastic lecturer. To be sure, there are a few audio issues, especially in the 4th episode, but that is always a risk of recording anything live. Regardless of these few issues, the content of this series is nothing short of brilliant, with vital insights into the character of Wilde, his politics, and most importantly his works. This series is a necessity for anyone seeking to understand Oscar Wilde, and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

These lectures are most definitely among my favorite, seeing as Oscar Wilde has always been an intruiging literary figure to me. Being a fairly young student (and fairly new to Wilde's works), I've reached a great epiphany through these discussions in regards to my uncertainty on the topic of "Wilde, the man". The realization was that there is no definitive way to analyze this man's profound works of literature- the ambiguity and mystique are what make Wilde such a controversial literary icon. Every reader will have different experiences and perceptions of Oscar Wilde. He was a great artist and existed within his life bearing the copious burden of intense scrutiny deriving from Victorian society. As Wilde himself said, "It is the spectator, and not life, that art mirrors". You, the individual, will experience Wilde in your own right; and will create projections upon what you believe to be 'symbolic'. It is through these projections which you will learn more about YOU than you will ever learn about Wilde. This is exactly what Wilde intended. To be obscure and to the blur lines; to challenge reality from fiction, fact from lie, and art from life. Eltis's analysis is riveting- these lectures are most definitely worth a lesson. I am constantly reminded of how much I so desperately desire to attend Oxford... what a course!

This is an excellent introdution to Wilde, and Eltis is an extremely prepared and enthusiastic speaker. Unfortunately, the sound quality in the fourth episode renders it unlistenable. Ironically, this was the episode on Wilde and sexuality that was being censored by this annoying scrape-y/static-y noise. Maybe he's just tired of the subject and had to intervene from beyond. (;<