Oscar Wilde

"a man of genius makes no mistakes; his errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery."

James Joyce

Genius is based on many elements, human and circumstantial. Nothing enables genius to evolve from some internal inchoate spark into a staggering, illuminating flare as the capacity to be external to social norms. The public expects artists to move well beyond the quotidian in artistic form. The funny lines in a play would be burlesque, if they were not also insightful. The plot of a novel would be banal if it lacked symbolism. The reach of literary metaphor is based on a primal idiosyncratic resonance with each member of an audience. But the level of tolerance expressed by this same public for artists' lifestyles that ride the edge does not match their appreciation of the products of genius. The public adored Oscar Wilde -- for as long as he...
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