‘He is a perfect horror!’: ‘Freakish’ Bodies and Behaviours in Oscar Wilde and Twentieth Century Literature
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/44t77k76Keywords:
Oscar Wilde, Twentieth-century Literature, Disability StudiesAbstract
Oscar Wilde has had a pervasive influence on Irish writers and writers abroad. His influence stems from the self-styled myth of his persona and the memory of his life after his death in November 1900. His fiction and drama have cemented his literary longevity, with film adaptations of his works and continued stagings of his plays. Writers of fiction in particular have directly or indirectly influenced by the long shadow cast by Wilde.
The following article examines the influence of the physical and behavioural ‘other’ in Wilde’s short fiction on the works of Patrick Pearse (1879-1916), Pádraic Ó Conaire (1882-1928), and Flannery O’Connor (1925-1963). For these authors, including Wilde, individuals who are perceived to be ‘freaks’ or ‘freakish’ are essential for their unique ability to reflect or to reveal truths, particularly those which are uncomfortable about those who ostracise and other them.
References
Bourke, Angela. ‘Legless in London: Pádraic Ó Conaire and Éamon a Búrc.’ Éire-Ireland, vol. 38, no. 3 & 4 (Fómhair/Geimhreadh/Autumn/Winter 2003), pp. 54-67. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/eir.2003.0003.
Burkle, Howard R. ‘The Child in Flannery O’Connor.’ The Flannery O’Connor Bulletin, vol. 18 (1989), pp. 59-69. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26670077
Davis, Lennard J. Bending Over Backwards. New York University Press, 2002.
Edwards, Ruth Dudley. The Seven, London, Oneworld, 2016.
Goodley, Dan. Disability Studies. 3rd ed, London, SAGE Publications, 2024.
Horton, James W. ‘Flannery O’Connor’s Hermaphrodite: Notes Towards a Theology of Sex.’ The Flannery O’Connor Bulletin, vol. 23 (1994-95): 30-42.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/26670323
Jones, Justin T. ‘Morality’s Ugly Implications in Oscar Wilde’s Fairy Tales,’ Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, vol. 51 (Autumn 2011), pp. 883-903.
https://www.jstor.org/stable41349042.
Ó Conaire, Pádraic. Deoraíocht. 2nd ed, Baile Átha Cliath, Comhlucht Oideachais na hÉireann.
Ó Conaire, Pádraic. Exile. Translated by Gearailt Mac Eoin. Cló Iar-Chonnachta: Indreabhán, 1999.
O’Connor, Flannery. ‘A Temple of the Holy Ghost.’ Complete Stories, Faber & Faber, London, 2009, 236-248.
O'Connor, Flannery. ‘Good Country People.’ Complete Stories, Faber & Faber, London, 2009, 271-291.
Pearse, Patrick. ‘Bairbre.’ Gearrscéalta, curtha in eager ag Cathal Ó Háinle, Cló Thalbóid, Baile Átha Cliath, 1999, 68-81.
Pearse, Patrick. ‘Barbara.’ Short Stories, translated by Joseph Campbell, UCD Press, Dublin, 2009, 21-35.
Pearse, Patrick. ‘An Deargadaol.’ Gearrscéalta, curtha in eager ag Cathal Ó Háinle, Cló Thalbóid, Baile Átha Cliath, 1999, 100-104.
Pearse, Patrick. ‘The Dearg-Daol.’ Short Stories, translated by Joseph Campbell, UCD Press, Dublin, 2009, 57-60.
Profitt, Jennifer H. ‘Lupus and Cortiscosteroid Imagery in the Works of Flannery O’Connor,’ The Flannery O’Connor Bulletin, vol. 26/27 (1998-2000), pp. 74-93, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26674746.
Rodas, Julia Miele. ‘Mainstreaming Disability Studies,’ Victorian Literature and Culture, vol. 34 (2006), pp. 1-84.
Westling, Louise. ‘Flannery O’Connor’s Mothers and Daughters,’ Twentieth Century Literature, vol. 24, no. 4 (Winter 1978): 510-522.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/441199.
Wilde, Oscar. ‘The Birthday of the Infanta.’ Complete Shorter Fiction, edited by Isobel Murray, Oxford UP, Oxford, 1980, 185-202.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Maureen DeLeo
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
