The Decay of Lying

Wilde uses the term “imitation” to refer to art that attempts to recreate or copy real life. Imitation can involve a number of techniques, including reproducing “uncouth, vulgar” (7) vernacular speech (which Wilde accuses Shakespeare of doing), regular clothing, and banal aspects of everyday life as these play out in the real lives of people at the time. Imitation is the result of a failure to separate the details of real life from the artistic sphere. Wilde posits that imitation is a behavior intrinsic to European culture. Ideally, life should imitate art, not vice versa.

Wilde describes “the modern English melodrama” (7) as a prime example of the bad art that results from a realist approach. As a genre, melodramas are characterized by sensationalism and exaggeration in both plot and characters. Melodrama was a popular play genre in Wilde’s time, but it persists as a genre today in film and television. Wilde considers melodrama to feature all of the flaws of realism, including characters that are taken from real life and that “reproduce its vulgarity down to the smallest detail” (7).

Wilde uses “Nature” in this essay to refer to the unmediated natural world. He generally pairs it with “Life,” meaning realistic, everyday experiences and people. These terms are contrasted with “Art,” which is understood as an inventive and creative medium separate from both nature and life. Nature is described as “imperfect,” “uncomfortable,” “indifferent,” “unappreciative,” and “wearisome.” Given that Wilde privileges art above all else, it is unsurprising that nature is dismissed as an undesirable state. Art offers perfection, whereas nature is undisciplined and unconcerned with the creation of beauty.