Personality Psychology

Personality Psychology

Introduction of Person Selected

Who

Born in Dublin, Ireland, Oscar Wilde was the son of an eye-surgeon and a writer. He received education at Dublin's Trinity College and afterwards graduated from Magdalen College of Oxford. He attained a double first and succeeded in getting the Newdigate prize for a poem he wrote, titled “Ravenna”.

During his time at Oxford, Wilde became infamous for his apparent charm, talent, wit, and inclination towards aestheticism. This good reputation led him to enjoy an eminent position in London society. Wilde seems to be heavily influenced by Bunthorne, who was the Fleshy poet in the Opera of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was also a very patient person.

The year 1882 witnessed a year-long tour of America by Wilde. Before the first launch of his play “Vera”, Oscar Wilde visited New York. Two years later he got married and gave birth to two sons, who are said to be the motivation behind his first fairytale book, “The Happy Prince”. The following decade proved to be fruitful to him, as it was during that time he came up with his best known works, for which he is still remembered to this day. Wilde was a unique and unorthodox personality of his times, which is reflected in much of his works. His writings, and especially his plays are concise yet witty; he loved shocking the audience.

The end of the19th century brought a decline to Wilde's good times - he was accused by Marques of Queensberry for committing sodomy with her son Lord Alfred. These accusations were denied followed by an imprisonment of Queensberry on account of false accusation. She then plotted on proving it to be true. Even though Wilde had been warned by his friends, he did not abandon his homosexual activities (Hall & Lindzey, 1957).

Wilde became bankrupt as a result of fulfilling the damage he had caused to Queensberry's repute. Times were so rough for him that he had lived off on his friends' money after his release from prison. He wrote a harsh letter to Lord Alfred while he was imprisoned. His only work after his release was “The Ballad of Reading Gaol”.

Why Selected

Apparently, Oscar Wilde seemed to be quite an influential and appraised personality of his era. However, his biographies reveal an interesting insight: he was a homosexual, and was punished for it, since homosexuality was a taboo at that time. The reason that led me to select Wilde as my subject for analysis was to find out the psychological factors that led him to commit this act despite being aware of the consequences that would follow.

Statement of Purpose

The purpose of this project is to gain near-practical experience by applying the theories learned in class to a real-life personality. Therefore, this paper aims (a) to provide a psychoanalytic account of contemporary poet Oscar Wilde's personality from different perspectives, and (b) to review the external influences on his personality.

Overview of Personality Perspectives

Perspective 1: Psychoanalytic

Upon application of Freud's famous psychoanalytic theory on Oscar Wilde, we can see ...