Volume 158, 19 December 2014, Pages 33–36
14th Language, Literature and Stylistics Symposium
Open Access
Abstract
Oscar
Wilde was an author who resisted the social norms of his time. We can
see several instances when he showed resistance, but when we read his
works, we can still see the sense of duty that overwhelmed Victorian
life. So it is crucial to examine what he did in his works while he
became a kind of sexual martyr in his own life. Language is a social
device which is used to think and express ourselves. The way in which
Oscar Wilde presents his thoughts is interesting since he presents a
dilemma. His work, The Crime of Lord Arthur Savile which I am
going to examine in my paper, is about a man who tries to murder people
in the name of a gendered duty and who gets away with it. With both
direct and indirect use of words, Wilde creates a world of morality and
duty like a conformist. Direct speech versus action way of language use
shows us the direct relation between language, power and knowledge.
While the power which holds the language in its hands gives the orders,
everyday Victorian man abides by it with his/her actions.
