"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth."
Oscar Wilde
Wilde is probably my favorite author, except for the eternal Jane Austen, of course. He wrote The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest, two works of literature that I fell in love with early on in life. Suspected of being homosexual, Oscar Wilde was the satirical critic outside of Victorian Society, comprehending the dark side of human nature while others continued on in their lives of ignorant bliss. I appreciate his honesty despite its ugliness, which is what this quote portrays quite nicely.
And, I grind my teeth while I type this, but Wilde has some relation to Fitzgerald in this way. I read This Side of Paradise over Christmas break and was thrilled with the deep, dirty revelations sprinkled throughout a thwarted college education. Similarly, Dorian Gray experiences a kind of education, which also leads to his destruction. Which also reminds me of An Education, a fantastically French-inspired film with Carey Mulligan that I also saw over break. God has a funny way of bringing relevant materials to me during critical turning points. That or my brain has highly tuned itself to search relentlessly for some saving grace.
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