The Soul of Man under Socialism embodies Wilde's social
beliefs. Some of his biographers claim
that this essay had been probably encouraged by a lecture of George Bernard
Shaw on socialism, which Oscar Wilde had attended at Westminster. Shaw, like
Oscar Wilde was an Irish intellectual living in London during the 1880's and
1890's and a member of the Fabian socialists' group, born in 1884. The Fabians,
one of the several British social movements of the late 19th century, by relying on the existing
institutions aimed to level the gap between the richest and the poorest,
promoting social reforms through which the Fabians advocated a gradual and
constitutional passage to socialism. As Shaw himself recalls, during this
lecture Oscar Wilde “turned up and spoke” (Harris, 1918 cited in Thomas, n.d.:
8) and long after Wilde's death Shaw was informed that “it was this address of
mine that moved Oscar to try his hand at a similar feat by writing The Soul of Man under Socialism”
(ibid). This essay seeks to examine to which extent the Fabian socialism shaped
and influenced Wilde's ideas on the current political and social order focusing
on the issues of style, gradualism, individualism and private property.
As far as
the style is concerned, the Fabians' plan for a new economic and social order
appears accurate and meticulous whereas Wilde's essay is based “on a general
and superficial knowledge” (Kohl, 1989: 133).
The Fabian Society's social views rely on a profound awareness of the
social, political and economic situation of England as Norbert Kohl explains in
his book Oscar Wilde: the Works of a
Conformist Rebel (1989: 130). This acknowledgement allowed a deep and
careful scrutiny on society as well as an objective analysis of concrete social
conditions based on empirical data in order to operate on the current situation
through specific and relevant measures (Diniejko, n.d., sect. 8). For instance,
Shaw in The Intelligent Woman's Guide to
Socialism indicates the social composition of the group by asserting that
“the members all belong to the middle class. Indeed its leaders and directors
belonged to what is sometimes called the upper middle class: that is, they were
either professional men like myself or members of the upper division of the
civil service” (Shaw, 1937 cited in Dobbs, 1969, sect. 8). Thus, the Fabians
represented an elite, which should have organized and governed society and
perhaps it reflected their conscious or unconscious attempts to restore their
old power via the socialist experience. Furthermore, the Fabians reported a
detailed plan of education as a means of cultural renewal, which was founded on
several institutions like the London School of Economics and Political Science,
the summer schools and the The New
Statesman. All these activities, run by the Fabian socialists, were meant
to address the problem of poverty through research and higher education in
Britain and responded well to their not revolutionary methods (Diniejko, n.d., sect.11). The early
Fabians also accomplished a lot in social reforms, education and public
administration. Sydney Webb, for instance, contributed to the preparation of
the Education Act of 1902, which transferred the control of local schools to
boroughs and city councils (ibid). Therefore, the Fabian Society worked
successfully as an agent of social reform in Victorian England and through
specific programs and schemes affected the present society.
While the
Fabians suggested detailed plans, Wilde tends to communicate in general terms
and the reader may perceive that his knowledge does not rely on direct
experience with the lower classes but “from the passenger seat of a cab passing
through the less reputable districts of London” (1989: 133). The Soul of Man under Socialism seems to
lead into obscurities and contradictions. For instance, it appears unclear who
is supposed to overthrow the existing system and how the English population
should achieve the new socialist government (Kohl, 1989: 136). Thus, Oscar
Wilde does not apparently provide a link between the current situation and the
project he designs for the future of England but he “simply leaps from reality
straight into Utopia” (Kohl, 1989: 133).
The essay by Oscar Wilde has been defined by several critics as a
Utopian discourse, which characterized the fin de siècle of Victorian England.
After the Great Depression, a widespread
perception among the middle classes that capitalism needed a change, impelled writers and artists to project their
ideas and dreams into the future at a time of “frustrated hopes and unfulfilled
fears” (Beaumont, 2004: 14). Wilde himself challenges the reader by asking, “Is
this Utopian?” (Wilde, 1891: sect.30) and then he formulates his statement on
utopia “a map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even
glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always
landing. And when Humanity lands there, it looks out, and, seeing a better
country, sets sail. Progress is the realization of Utopias” (ibid). The end of
the essay is deliberately provocative “The present is of no importance, it is with
the future that we have to deal” (Wilde, 1891: sect. 47). Hence, Wilde's essay
does not seem a political answer to the concrete social problems but it
probably sketches a general model for the future of England into which he
projects his philosophical and aesthetic ideals.
Both
models of socialism embrace gradualism as a means to achieve the new social
system. In The Soul of Men under
Socialism Wilde's gradualism appears simply an evolutionary process towards
individualism and as Wilde maintains, “the evolution of man is slow” (Wilde,
1891: sect.54). In his essay he seems to consider a gradual, slow and
progressive evolution which will lead the English population towards
individualism, which is the only stage men can attain. “Where this tendency is
not expressed, it is a case of artificially-arrested growth, or of disease, or
of death” , as he observes (Wilde, 1891: sect.49). On the contrary, he
dismissed the revolutionary attitude of Marx by promoting peaceful and
evolutionary change to socialism. Violent revolutions “may make the public
grand and splendid for a moment” (Wilde, 1891: sect. 38) but these do no seem
to assure a long-lasting social order (Kohl, 1989: 27).
According
to the Fabian socialists, gradualism together with constitutionalism may bring
“important organic changes” (Ward, 1998: 39). After the riots of 1886 and
Bloody Sunday in 1887 the Fabian Society embraced constitutionalism and
gradualism, meaning “democratically and peacefully” (Ward, 1998: 40). Shaw
himself admitted that the Fabians broke the “intellectual bondage” (Pease,
2004: 139) with Marxism as recalled by Edward Pease, one of the members, in The History of the Fabian Society. The
name itself, Fabian Society, may suggest a connection with the Roman general,
Quintus Fabius Cunctator, who avoided a frontal attack on Hannibal's army by
employing delaying tactics. Likewise, the Fabians promoted evolutionary
socialism instead of revolutionary programs in Britain (Diniejko, n.d.: sect.
2). Furthermore, they adopted the policy of permeation which involved
infiltrating the government institutions, political parties and the Parliament
by its members and supporters in order to achieve the wished reforms. They
intended to spread their ideology among the non-socialist politicians in order
to persuade them regarding their political objectives, among these the
principal was the nationalisation of the industries (Diniejko, n.d.: sect.9). As a consequence,
Oscar Wilde's gradualism may be interpreted as a slow, natural evolution
towards individualism whereas Fabianism means to convert society to socialism
democratically and gradually.
In terms
of individualism, Wilde's essay promotes the liberation of the artist from the
constraints of capitalism which prevents him from creating a beautiful work of
art. In The Soul of Man under Socialism
Oscar Wilde contends that machinery “under proper conditions will serve man”
(Wilde, 1891: sect. 29). Thanks to men's replacement with machines men may
dedicate to express their own personality focusing on the cultivation of “what
is beautiful” (Wilde, 1891: sect.28). “Its beauty comes from the
fact that the author is what he is” (Wilde, 1891: sect.30) and he has devoted
himself to the self-development. Moreover, the artist's creation of the work of
art aims “solely for his own pleasure” (ibid). Wilde supports his aesthetic
individualism also by emphasising that the artist should not create art in
accordance with the tastes of the population. When the community or the
government dictates the artist “what he is to do, Art either entirely vanishes”
(ibid) or “degenerates into a low and ignoble form of craft” (ibid). As after
writing Salome he maintained that he had never written a play for any actor or
actress “nor shall I ever do so” (Sloan, 2003: 89). Art is thus regarded as “an
intense form of individualism” (Wilde, 1891: sect.31) which, by liberating men
from the pressures of conformity, exercised by both the public opinion and the
press, allows men to express themselves freely (Kohl, 1989: 132). Thus, the
true individualist, according to Wilde, will not find self-fulfilment in
self-sacrifice as the saints and martyrs of the Middle ages but by pursuing the
Renaissance ideals of “the beauty of life and the joy of living” (Wilde, 1891:
sect.53). The individual appears to the reader as an artist-like figure who should
emancipate himself from the tyrannical constraints of the market, which
prevents him from achieving true pleasure and from developing “what is
wonderful, and fascinating and delightful in him” (Wilde, 1891: sect.15).
Accordingly, Wilde's socialism of pleasure is interwoven with individualism and
art (Kohl, 1989: 132).
Differently
from Wilde, the Fabians regarded any form of individualism as a manifestation
of the laissez-faire liberalism, which limited society's opportunities to
cultivate true socialism. This sort of liberal system did not support intrusive
government restrictions but encouraged a nonauthoritarian leadership.
Laissez-faire leaders tend to leave their citizens alone to respond to their
responsibilities and obligations by offering the least possible guidance to
their subordinates. However, Shaw and the Fabians, who generally favoured the
extension of state control and municipal powers, treated individualism as a
direct enemy of the socialist system they advocated
(Gutmann, 1980: 74). The Fabians
sustained a state policy of interference since “the difficulty in England is
not to secure more political power for the people, but to persuade them to
make... sensible use of the power they already have” (Macpherson, 2014 cited in
Gutmann, 1980: 75). Hence, as argued by Sydney Webb “the best government is
that which can safely and successfully administer most” (Nozick, 2013 cited in
Gutmann, 1980: 74) Despite the ambiguous adjectives “safely and successfully”
(ibid) which were unspecified, the early Fabian tracts emphasized the need for
a strong government presence presupposing that under a democratic framework
these rules would have been respected and operated successfully, among all the
social classes (Gutmann, 1980: 74). Therefore, in their Fabian essays they
claimed that the land should be nationalised and private property abolished by
turning private industry into public ownership. Then, they explained that free
competition provoked “adulteration, dishonest dealing and inhumanity
compulsory” (Diniejko, n.d.: sect.6). Finally, in The Transition to Social Democracy they sustained the “transfer of
rent and interest to the State” (Shaw, 2006: 43). All these Fabian propositions
sustain a strong interference on the part of the government which aims to protect
and organize society politically and socially.
It follows that, the equalization of power might be accomplished by
“further extension of government authority over economic life” (Shaw, 2006:
26).
As Sloan
argues, the careful reader would not probably miss the anarchist force in
Wilde's essay (Sloan, 2003: 126). In The
Soul of Man under Socialism Wilde tends to negate all external regulations
and authority as well as to emphasise the autonomy of the individual in his
search for beauty and perfection of art. As he firmly states “the form of
government that is most suitable to the artist is no government at all” (Wilde,
1891: sect.45). On the contrary the state appears as a mere provider of
commodities in order to allow people to live by expressing their true
personality. However, Wilde's sympathy with the anarchists does not seem merely
reflected on his attitudes towards society and government but also on his
notion of Individualism. By highlighting the importance of “be thyself” (Wilde,
1891: sect.20), as the gospel of Christ dictates, Oscar Wilde does not
apparently acknowledge any institution which could regulate the expression of
citizens' personality in order to protect and preserve each individual (Kohl,
1989: 136) . “The sort of individual to which Oscar attaches great moment is
one which recognizes no law or authority” observed Sloan (2003: 126). As
Goodway suggests, the demarcation between anarchists and other socialists could
be detected in their opposite attitude towards the government and the state.
Anarchists tend to reject any role for the state and the only form of
government tolerated is selfgovernment (2012: 71). Woodcock, in fact, regarded
Wilde's essay as “the most ambitious contribution to literary anarchism”
(Woodcock, 2004 cited in Thomas, n.d.: 6) and Wilde in 1894 described himself
as “something of an anarchist” (Ellmann, 1988 cited in Sloan, 2003: 104).
Likewise,
the Fabian policy of hiding behind the middle class respectability and of
advocating reforms did not prevent the Fabians from consorting with the most
revolutionary branch of the socialist movement. As Margaret Cole recounts,
these early Fabians, who were only forty in 1885, were “as vaguely anarchistic
and insurrectionist in their ideas and their expression of them as any group
that had existed before them” (Cole, 1946 cited in Dobbs, 1969: sect.5).
Despite their pretensions of constitutionalism and gradualism these early
Fabians were portrayed as “vaguely anarchistic” (ibid) due to their harsh
condemnation of capitalism. These socialists were examining the right method in
order to overthrow the current capitalist system and “talked about using
dynamite” and “they looked forward with confidence to an imminent social
revolution, to take place somewhere about 1889” (ibid). According to Cole's
confession, although Fabianism firmly rejected any form of revolution and
supported social reforms, it seems that the early Fabian socialists favoured
anarchism and insurrections in order to spread their ideology (Dobbs, 1969:
sect.9).
Furthermore,
a great deal of Fabian socialists bear witness of the Fabian society's contacts
with the
Russian Bolsheviks. The relationship
between Fabianism and Lenin began when Lenin translated Sydeny Webb's Fabian
publication History of Trade Unionism. By
asserting that “the name of Webb had an almost mystical prestige in the Russian
Communist Party” Cole proclaimed the relationship between communists and
Fabians (Cole, 1961 cited in Dobbs, 1969: sect.16). Lenin, in fact, did not
only translated Webb's essay but he also recommended it to all the members of
his party (Dobbs, 1969: sect.12). Although this connection between Russian
communism and British socialism Shaw contended that the Fabian Society removed
its anarchists members in order to present socialism as a parliamentary form
and to allow respectable citizens “to profess socialism and belong to a
Socialist Society
without any suspicion of lawlessness, exactly as he might profess himself a
conservative”(Webb, 1889 cited in Dobbs, 1969:
sect.8). Thus, despite their connection with Russian Communism the Fabians did
not intend to advocate the social rebellion and the revolutionary methods in
which Lenin and the early Fabians apparently believed.
As far as
private property is concerned, both Wilde and the Fabians reflected on private
property and on the social inequalities which socialism should extinguish.
Oscar Wilde by advancing the abolition of private property aims at levelling
the gulf between rich and poor citizens and at favouring the expression of the
true individuality since owning private property renders men slaves and
subjected to it. Wilde recognises that lots of individuals spend their life
existing rather than living on the principles of self-realisation (Kohl, 1989:
130). Private property “has crushed true
Individualism and set up an
Individualism that is false” (Wilde, 1891: sect.15), as Wilde notices. This
ceaseless quest for property separates men from their real task in life, the
realisation of themselves, which lies in his true nature, not in his material
possessions. Although socialism seeks equality for its citizens, private
property generates class distinctions based on an imbalance of income (Kohl,
1989: 131). Accordingly, the poors, “always on the brink of sheer starvation”,
compelled by the “Tyranny of want” work as beasts and find “no joy of life”
(Wilde, 1981: sect.8). Moreover, Wilde dismisses any possibility of curing the
social misery with individual altruism or organised charity, as he explains at
the beginning of his essay, by claiming that true socialism will “relieve us
from the sordid necessity of living for others” (Wilde, 1891; sect.1) and will
lead individuals towards self-development. Hence, Wilde in his aesthetic utopia
seemingly promotes a social and economic order where private property is not
allowed, individualism pursued and the poor delivered from poverty.
The
Fabians reflected on private property by propagating the doctrine of municipal
socialism. Similarly to Wilde's model, they believed in the unjust nature of
private property since “all the attempts yet made to construct true societies
upon it have failed” (Shaw, 2006: 23). All these unsuccessful societies “have
rotten into centres of vice and luxury and eventually been swept away by
uncivilized races” (ibid). This social breakdown encourages Oscar Wilde to
state that no improvement could be reached in the future as long as the
institution of private property is maintained and this is “economically
certain” (ibid). According to the Fabian ideals, property may thus be
eliminated in order to prevent the state's decay. On the contrary, they
sustained reforms regarding the nationalisation of land and utilities and “the
establishment of community ownership of the means of production” (Diniejko,
n.d.: sect.7) in order to deliver citizens from the control of a few wealthy
capitalists. Hence, through the “public ownership in land”, which is “the basic
economic condition of Socialism” (Shaw, 2006: 26), Fabians attempted to realize
equality among classes and to deliver men from the subjection to capitalism
(Cole, 1961: 28). Therefore, both the Fabians and Wilde proclaimed the
abolition of private property. Even if Wilde focuses on the expression of men's
individuality and the Fabians on the evils of capitalism they both believed in
social equality and in the extinction of economic imbalances.
As
previously stated, Fabian socialism had a strong impact on Wilde's ideas
regarding society and politics. They both aimed at a socialist state although
their views present some discrepancies. Both Fabians and Wilde advocated the
abolition of private property in order to call the reader's attention towards
the social inequalities which capitalism had provoked. However, by outlining
his plan for a future English society Wilde invokes a gradual transition from
socialism to individualism whereas the Fabians reject any excessive individual
power and introduce a policy of interference in industries. While Wilde
sketched the conditions to change the current political and social order by designing
a utopian picture of society, the Fabians emphasised an unbiased analysis of
concrete situations. Despite the differences existing between their socialist
theories, both contain a sharp critique of English capitalism and perceived the
mood of impending change, which characterised the Victorian fin de siècle.
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Photo: http://www.fabians.org.uk
