The Soul of Man Under Socialism
Also known as The Soul of Man
Oscar Wilde's 1891 essay: socialism matters because it would free people to be individuals.
At a glance
Key ideas
Against charity, Socialism for individualism, Not authoritarian …
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- Wilde argues that under capitalism people spoil their lives on charity that treats poverty without curing it.
- The proper aim, he writes, is to rebuild society so that poverty is impossible.
- Socialism would be of value "simply because it will lead to individualism".
- He rejects authoritarian, state-run socialism, and holds that "art is individualism".
Why it matters
- It was Wilde's only political text; George Woodcock called it the most ambitious contribution to literary anarchism of the 1890s.
Key facts
- Author
- Oscar Wilde1
- Published
- 18911
- Background
- Written after Wilde read Peter Kropotkin and turned to anarchism1
- Editions
- Collins Complete Works, 5th edition (2003), which puts a long misplaced paragraph back in place; Oxford's Complete Works, volume IV (2007)1
Key ideas
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Against charity1
Kind remedies "do not cure the disease: they merely prolong it".
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Socialism for individualism1
Free of poverty, everyone could realise their talents, as only the rich could before.
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Not authoritarian1
Governments armed with economic power would make "the last state of man ... worse than the first".
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Art is individualism1
Art disturbs "monotony of type, slavery of custom, tyranny of habit".
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Jesus as individualist1
Wilde took Jesus of Nazareth as the symbol of the supreme individualist.
Connections
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