{"id":165307,"date":"2023-10-08T21:00:57","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T01:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theasburygirl.com\/?p=165307"},"modified":"2023-10-06T17:02:41","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T21:02:41","slug":"oscar-wilde-jersey-shore-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/oscar-wilde-jersey-shore-history\/","title":{"rendered":"The History Behind Oscar Wilde&#8217;s Trip to the Jersey Shore"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"custom_featured_image\" style=\"display:none;\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-jersey-shore-history-1-800x533.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-post-image\" alt=\"oscar wilde jersey shore history\" style=\"margin-bottom: 15px;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-jersey-shore-history-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-jersey-shore-history-1-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-jersey-shore-history-1-640x426.jpg 640w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-jersey-shore-history-1-585x390.jpg 585w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-jersey-shore-history-1-263x175.jpg 263w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-jersey-shore-history-1.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/div><div id=\"custom_category\" style=\"display:none;\">people<\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This past August marked the 141st anniversary of Oscar Wilde\u2019s visit to the Jersey Shore. In 1882, Oscar, then a little-known artist who had only published a single, scant volume of poetry, was selected by a marketing impresario to forever change Oscar\u2019s career. Oscar was plucked from moderate obscurity to travel across the United States for an entire year on a blistering media campaign to promote a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. Doing so would forge the persona of \u201cOscar Wilde\u201d and also bring Oscar <a href=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/things-to-do-activities-under-21-jersey-shore\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">to the Jersey Shore<\/a>. <\/span><strong>Read on to Learn All About Oscar Wilde\u2019s Time in America and the media advertising campaign that made \u201cOscar Wilde.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-165313\" src=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-jersey-shore-history-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"oscar wilde jersey shore history\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-jersey-shore-history-800x800.jpg 800w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-jersey-shore-history-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-jersey-shore-history-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-jersey-shore-history-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-jersey-shore-history-640x640.jpg 640w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-jersey-shore-history-585x585.jpg 585w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-jersey-shore-history.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Photo Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Oscar_Wilde_3g07095u-adjust.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Public Domain<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The name \u201cOscar Wilde\u201d is so recognizably famous it\u2019s easy to believe that it was always so as if he emerged fully formed like Athena from Zeus\u2019 thigh. But Oscar was not always so renowned. His rise to fame was surprisingly commercial, surprisingly American \u2014 and surprisingly local. During Oscars\u2019 long, strange journey toward immortality, he enjoyed the Jersey Shore, and <a href=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/quiet-beaches-jersey-shore-new-jersey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Jersey Shore<\/a> enjoyed him.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many lovers of literature lose sight of how marketing and media manipulation play a crucial role in the careers of our favorite artists. We forget that T. S. Eliot was a director in the publishing firm Faber and Gwyer (later Faber + Faber) or that Virginia Woolf published her first novel through her half-brother\u2019s publishing house. Recently, Wilde\u2019s unprecedented media blitz is becoming better known through a series of publications and podcasts which include the book <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wilde in America: Oscar Wilde and the Invention of Modern Celebrity<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (published in 2014). These works shed light on Oscar\u2019s central role in a national media advertisement campaign to promote a Gilbert and Sullivan comedic opera.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em>Read More:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/mermaids-history-new-jersey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The History Behind Mermaids in New Jersey<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By 1881, Gilbert and Sullivan were the most famous names in English-language entertainment. One reason their operettas sold so well was because they kept material fresh by poking fun at contemporary British fads (much like <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South Park<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> does today). By 1881, the leading literary fad was \u201cAestheticism,\u201d a movement that celebrated beauty in the smallest, everyday items, such as wallpaper, the design of a walking cane, or the ruffles of a dress. The movement was summed up most famously as \u201cart for art\u2019s sake.\u201d Gilbert and Sullivan found the movement so amusing they wrote an entire operetta devoted to lampooning the movement. The comic opera, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Patience<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, was a smash hit in the United Kingdom.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-165310\" src=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/bunthorne-patience-oscar-wilde-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"bunthorne patience oscar wilde\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/bunthorne-patience-oscar-wilde-800x800.jpg 800w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/bunthorne-patience-oscar-wilde-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/bunthorne-patience-oscar-wilde-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/bunthorne-patience-oscar-wilde-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/bunthorne-patience-oscar-wilde-640x640.jpg 640w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/bunthorne-patience-oscar-wilde-585x585.jpg 585w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/bunthorne-patience-oscar-wilde.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Photo Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:%22Bunthorne%22_in_Patience_LCCN2014637114.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Public Domain<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Naturally, if the play could expand to America, Gilbert and Sullivan (along with their financial backers) could double, even triple their earnings. The only problem was that the American public had no idea what the Aesthetic Movement was. They wouldn\u2019t get any of the operetta\u2019s jokes. More importantly (for the financial backers), the American public wouldn\u2019t pay to see a show they didn\u2019t understand. Cue Richard D\u2019Oyly Carte and Oscar Wilde.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-165317\" src=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/richard-d-oyly-carte-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"richard d oyly carte\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/richard-d-oyly-carte-800x800.jpg 800w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/richard-d-oyly-carte-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/richard-d-oyly-carte-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/richard-d-oyly-carte-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/richard-d-oyly-carte-640x640.jpg 640w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/richard-d-oyly-carte-585x585.jpg 585w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/richard-d-oyly-carte.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Photo Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:RichardD%27OylyCarte.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Public Domain<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Richard was a leading talent agent, theatrical impresario, and hotelier in the late Victorian Era who worked extensively to promote the works of Gilbert and Sullivan. Realizing the American public needed a patsy to better understand the operetta\u2019s humor, Richard enlisted Oscar as the Aesthetic Movement\u2019s \u201cstrawman\u201d\u2014a figure who could encapsulate the movement and bear the brunt of the operetta\u2019s jokes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using Oscar to promote Gilbert and Sullivan would be like Rodgers and Hammerstein hiring Jack Kerouac to promote the Beat Movement before one of their musicals \u2014 or Trey Parker and Matt Stone hiring Amanda Gorman to lecture across America to explain the premise of the Black Lives Matter movement before a season of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South Park<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Richard sent Oscar on a frenzied lecture tour across America, giving 141 lectures in only 11 months from New York to Boston, Baltimore to Cleveland, Louisville to Colorado, San Fransisco to Utah, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and eventually to the <a href=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/volunteering-jersey-shore-new-jersey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jersey Shore<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because of his role as the Aesthetic Movement\u2019s stooge, the press often lambasted Oscar with ridicule. The cartoonist, George Frederick Keller, makes fun of Oscar\u2019s visit to San Fransisco by depicting Oscar as a false messiah, riding a donkey and carrying a sunflower with a money symbol:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-165315\" src=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-san-francisco-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"oscar wilde san francisco\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-san-francisco-800x800.jpg 800w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-san-francisco-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-san-francisco-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-san-francisco-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-san-francisco-640x640.jpg 640w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-san-francisco-585x585.jpg 585w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-san-francisco.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Photo Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Wasp_cartoon_on_Oscar_Wilde.jpg#\/media\/File:The_Modern_Messiah_-_Keller_1882.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Public Domain<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similarly, cartoonist Thomas Nast depicted Oscar as Narcissus with the caption: \u201cHE IS AN AESTHETIC SHAM\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-165312\" src=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-harpers-bazaar-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"oscar wilde harpers bazaar\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-harpers-bazaar-800x800.jpg 800w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-harpers-bazaar-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-harpers-bazaar-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-harpers-bazaar-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-harpers-bazaar-640x640.jpg 640w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-harpers-bazaar-585x585.jpg 585w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-harpers-bazaar.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Photo Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Oscar_Wilde_as_Narcissus_Met_DP884627.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Public Domain<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oscar\u2019s time at the <a href=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/vegan-restaurants-jersey-shore-new-jersey-asbury-park-belmar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jersey Shore<\/a> was similarly marred by ridicule, and he played the role as he had agreed to do\u2014as the Aesthetic Movement\u2019s fool.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Oscar Wilde at the Jersey Shore<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oscar spent five hectic days at the Jersey Shore lecturing on \u201cThe Decorative Arts\u201d in Sea Bright, Long Branch, Asbury Park, Atlantic City, and Cape May. He <a href=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/boutique-hotels-jersey-shore-nj\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">traveled around resorts<\/a> and sites \u2014 often in various places on the same day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Regarding Oscar\u2019s reception in the periodicals, it\u2019s important to remember it was very fashionable for newspapers to mock Oscar \u2014 as was the intention of both the operetta and the lecture tour more broadly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This gives a greater understanding of Oscar\u2019s famous quote: \u201cIn the old days men had the rack. Now they have the Press.\u201d By the time Oscar reached the Jersey Shore, he may have been a bit tired of the year-long criticism.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Sea Bright<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-165316\" src=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-sea-bright-nj-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"oscar wilde sea bright nj\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-sea-bright-nj-800x800.jpg 800w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-sea-bright-nj-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-sea-bright-nj-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-sea-bright-nj-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-sea-bright-nj-640x640.jpg 640w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-sea-bright-nj-585x585.jpg 585w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-sea-bright-nj.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On Monday, August 21st, Oscar gave a lecture at the Octagon Hotel in <a href=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/sea-bright-new-jersey-things-to-do\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sea Brigh<\/a>t. According to the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sentinel<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, \u201che was very dreary and uninteresting putting many of his audience to sleep.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This seems contradictory to the reporting of the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Seabright Sentinel<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> which reported that \u201cA nurse girl at the Octagon became so frightened at Oscar Wilde that she ran away, and in doing so tumbled into an open cellarway and bruised herself severely.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Newspapers never seemed to agree whether Oscar was too boring or too fascinating, either way, the press and gawkers indulged in heckling Oscar during his stay.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Long Branch<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-165314\" src=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-long-branch-nj-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"oscar wilde long branch nj\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-long-branch-nj-800x800.jpg 800w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-long-branch-nj-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-long-branch-nj-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-long-branch-nj-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-long-branch-nj-640x640.jpg 640w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-long-branch-nj-585x585.jpg 585w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-long-branch-nj.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On Tuesday, August 22nd, 1882, Oscar lectured in <a href=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/long-branch-new-jersey-things-to-do\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Long Branch<\/a> at the West End Hotel to a group of 400 people, mostly ladies, in the dining hall of the hotel while music played in nearby parlors. So there would be no confusion as to the subject matter, Oscar titled his lecture: \u201cThe Decorative Arts, and the Practical Application of the Principles of the Aesthetic Theory to Exterior and Interior House Decoration, with Observations Upon Dress and Personal Ornaments.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The New York Herald<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the audience indulged in stamping and derisive applause,\u201d and \u201c[Oscar\u2019s] dress caused loud laughter among the same element of the audience\u2026but nothing appeared to disturb his serenity.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Evansville Journal<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> reports a more favorable reception: \u201cWhen Oscar Wilde was at Long Branch, the other day, a great number of young ladies turned out and followed him through the promenade and everywhere about the beach.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meanwhile, <em>The Cincinnati Post<\/em> took jabs when reporting, \u201cOscar Wilde lectured at Long Branch the other day, and was snubbed and ridiculed by an audience composed largely of New York snobs. This was a good hint to Oscar that his mission to America was about ended, and that he had better pack up his sunflowers and old earthenware and go home.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Asbury Park, Spring Lake, Atlantic City, + Cape May<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-165311\" src=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-asbury-park-nj-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"oscar wilde asbury park nj\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-asbury-park-nj-800x800.jpg 800w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-asbury-park-nj-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-asbury-park-nj-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-asbury-park-nj-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-asbury-park-nj-640x640.jpg 640w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-asbury-park-nj-585x585.jpg 585w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/oscar-wilde-asbury-park-nj.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oscar was scheduled to lecture at Spring Lake but failed to appear \u2014 likely because a group of local boys hanged an effigy of Oscar from a flagpole, complete with corset, sunflower, knee-breeches, and Japanese parasol.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The following day, Oscar kept a low profile in <a href=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/glassblowing-asbury-park-new-jersey-hot-sand\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Asbury Park<\/a>, where he gave a lecture on \u201cThe Beautiful\u201d at the Coleman House hotel. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Camden Daily Courier<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> reported that \u201c[Oscar] made himself scarce during the day, thereby evading the curiosity seekers and compelling those who desired to gaze upon his aesthetic countenance to pay the admission fee to the lecture.\u201d Despite the negative press, more than 600 people showed up, clamoring to get a view of Oscar.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In <a href=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/airbnb-atlantic-city-sweet-virginia-new-jersey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Atlantic City<\/a>, Oscar made himself so scarce, that it\u2019s not known whether he even gave a lecture in Atlantic City at all.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Cape May, Oscar entered the Stockton Hotel through a side door, and when departing Cape May, Oscar told an abusive crowd at the train station that they did not know how to behave. His celebrity had grown to such an extent that Oscar was accompanied by soldiers as he departed <a href=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/best-vegan-ice-cream-jersey-shore-asbury-park\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Jersey Shore<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Aftermath + Legacy<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In many ways, America made Oscar \u2014 or, rather, America gave Oscar the space and opportunity to invent himself. The whirlwind tour helped create the image of \u201cOscar Wilde\u201d we conceive today.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First of all, Oscar only had long hair for one year of his life during this 1882 tour\u2014because long hair was <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">en vogue<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with those devoted to the Aesthetic Movement; yet most people still picture Oscar with long hair.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Secondly, it fortified Oscar\u2019s character and artistic personality. When he first arrived, Oscar did little more than rehash popular tropes of the Aesthetic Movement, but by the time Oscar left, he had learned how to outmaneuver the press, how to address rooms of over 600 audience members, and how to cleverly and deftly deflect criticism.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>See More: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hobokengirl.com\/north-jersey-slang-terms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A List of North Jersey Slang Terms<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is largely due to Oscar\u2019s successful reception in America that his first theatrical debuts occurred in New York, rather than London.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though he suffered the slings and arrows of an unfavorable press and an often chiding public, Oscar got the last laugh. It was through the infamy of his tour that he arose like a Phoenix from the ashes to become a household name across America.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More Information about Oscar\u2019s time in America can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oscarwildeinamerica.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">or on the podcast <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Gilded Gentleman<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Episode 51, \u201cWhitman and Wilde Part 2: Oscar Wilde in New York, 1882.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/category\/lifestyle\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-120157\" src=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/02\/1-e1658249565719-800x240.jpg\" alt=\"read more button\" width=\"300\" height=\"90\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/02\/1-e1658249565719-800x240.jpg 800w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/02\/1-e1658249565719-1024x307.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/02\/1-e1658249565719-768x230.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/02\/1-e1658249565719-585x176.jpg 585w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/02\/1-e1658249565719.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>peopleThis past August marked the 141st anniversary of Oscar Wilde\u2019s visit to the Jersey Shore. In 1882, Oscar, then a little-known artist&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":366,"featured_media":165319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[9644,9654,9658,7997,9641,7998,9640,9648],"tags":[9677,9705,9662,9673,9678],"class_list":["post-165307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asbury-park","category-atlantic-city","category-cape-may","category-lifestyle","category-long-branch","category-people","category-jersey-shore-towns","category-spring-lake","tag-asbury-park","tag-culture","tag-history","tag-jersey-shore","tag-new-jersey"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6 (Yoast SEO v27.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The History Behind Oscar Wilde&#039;s Trip to the Jersey Shore - The Jersey Shore Girl<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Irish poet + playwright, Oscar Wilde, took a trip to the Jersey Shore 141 years ago. 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He graduated from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, with master\u2019s degrees in Modern Literature and Creative Writing. His short stories and poems have appeared in a variety of literary journals and online magazines. You can find Eliot around town playing guitar and drums at open mic nights or with various bands.","url":"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/author\/elioth\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/366"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/jerseyshore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}