Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Oscar Wilde

2008-01-08T22:37:04Z

Obsequious:

[[Image:Ngcfht.jpg|right|thumb]]

'''Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde''' (1854 – 1900) was an [[Ireland|Irish]] poet, novelist, and writer of plays and short stories.

==Biography==

His father was a surgeon and founder of a hospital in Dublin, and his mother was a writer who was active in the early movement for women's rights. Wilde studied at Trinity College Dublin and Magdalen College Oxford, receiving his BA in 1878.

Wilde married Constance Lloyd in 1884, and they had two sons, but the relationship ended in 1893. Wilde then had a romantic relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas, which eventually led to a conviction for "gross indecency" in 1895 for which he was sentenced to two years hard labor. He later wrote ''The Ballad of [[Reading]] Gaol'' and ''De Profundis'' about his experiences in prison.

Wilde died in 1900, three years after his release from prison. In the past he was thought to have died of syphilis, but more recent studies by Dr Ashley Robins of the University of Cape Town in South Africa report that he died of meningoencephalitis, following a serious ear infection. <ref>http://classiclit.about.com/cs/profileswriters/p/aa_oscarwilde.htm</ref>

==Wilde's Sexuality==

Wilde's sexual orientation has been debated over the years and some considered him as either [[bisexual]], homosexual, and even paederastic. Wilde himself believed that he belonged to a culture of male love inspired by the Greek paederastic tradition.{{fact}} This tradition believed that it was an adult male's duty to bring boys into manhood via sexuality.

In describing his own sexual identity, Wilde used the term Socratic. He may have had significant sexual relationships with Frank Miles, Constance Lloyd Wilde (his wife), Robert Baldwin Ross, and Lord Alfred Douglas ("Bosie"). Wilde also had numerous sexual encounters with working-class male youths, who were often called rent boys.

During his 1895 trial for gross indecency, under cross-examination, Wilde presented an eloquent defence of same-sex love:

Charles Gill (pros.): What is "the love that dares not speak its name?"

Wilde: "The love that dares not speak its name" in this century is such a great affection of an elder for a younger man as there was between David and Jonathan, such as Plato made the very basis of his philosophy, and such as you find in the sonnets of Michelangelo and Shakespeare. It is that deep spiritual affection that is as pure as it is perfect. It dictates and pervades great works of art, like those of Shakespeare and Michelangelo, and those two letters of mine, such as they are. It is in this century misunderstood, so much misunderstood that it may be described as "the love that dares not speak its name," and on that account of it I am placed where I am now. It is beautiful, it is fine, it is the noblest form of affection. There is nothing unnatural about it. It is intellectual, and it repeatedly exists between an older and a younger man, when the older man has intellect, and the younger man has all the joy, hope and glamour of life before him. That it should be so, the world does not understand. The world mocks at it, and sometimes puts one in the pillory for it."

==Wit==

Wilde was a well known playwright and celebrity, and is still renowned for his wit today. Some of his lines in stories such as ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' are still often quoted:

''"There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written."''

Other memorable lines from ''The Critic as Artist'' include:

''"The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius."''

''"A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal."''

''"There is no sin except stupidity."''

''"...nothing worth knowing can be taught."''

Wilde's most frequently-produced play is the high comedy ''The Importance of Being Earnest''. This includes such gems as:

''"The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means."''

''"London society is full of women of the very highest birth who have, of their own free choice, remained thirty-five for years."''

''"The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Modern life would be very tedious if it were either, and modern literature a complete impossibility!"''

==Works of Oscar Wilde==

===Plays===

* Lady Windermere's Fan (1892)
* Salomé (French version) (1893, first performed in Paris 1896)
* A Woman of No Importance (1893)
* An Ideal Husband (1895)
* The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)
* Vera; or, The Nihilists (1880)
* The Duchess of Padua (1883)
* Salomé: A Tragedy in One Act: Translated from the French of Oscar Wilde by Lord Alfred Douglas with illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley (1894)
* La Sainte Courtisane and A Florentine Tragedy Fragmentary. First published 1908 in Methuen's Collected Works

(Dates are dates of first performance, which approximate better with the probable date of composition than dates of publication)

===Poetry===

* Ravenna (1878)
* Poems (1881)
* The Sphinx (1894)
* The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898)

===Prose===

* The Canterville Ghost (1887)
* The Happy Prince and Other Stories (1888, fairy tales)
* Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories (1891)
* Intentions (1891, critical dialogues and essays)
* The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891, Wilde's only novel)
* The Soul of Man under Socialism (First published in the Pall Mall Gazette, 1891, first book publication 1904)
* De Profundis (1905)
* The Rise of Historical Criticism (published in incomplete form 1905 and completed form in 1908)
* The Letters of Oscar Wilde (1960) This was rereleased in 2000, with letters uncovered since 1960, and new, detailed, footnotes by Merlin Holland.
* Teleny or The Reverse of the Medal (Paris, 1893) has been attributed to Wilde, but was more likely a combined effort by a several of Wilde's friends, which he may have edited.

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Authors|Wilde, Oscar]]

Elton John

2008-01-08T22:34:32Z

Obsequious:

'''Sir Elton John''' (born Reginald Dwight in [[London]], 1947) is an English singer/pianist who achieved prominence in the early 1970s. In 2005 he married his long-term partner [[David Furnish]] in a Civil Partnership Ceremony.

==Musical Style and Voice==
In his early years, his classical-influenced piano melodies, combined with lyrics by [[Bernie Taupin]] and a set of orchestral arrangements by [[Paul Buckmaster]], and his rich tenor voice, set him apart from the other singer-songwriters of the time. For many years, John would switch from his normal tenor to a falsetto in most of his songs. In most cases, soft rock is his main genre, but he often sings songs in the genre of country rock, hard rock, and emotional, moving ballads.

In 1986, Elton John received surgery to remove polyps from his vocal cords, which was likely brought upon by years of marijuana abuse starting during the recording of ''Rock of the Westies''. After the surgery, he discovered that he could not sing falsetto anymore, and he now has a lower vocal register.

==Views on Religion==

In 2006, John stated that he would support "ban[ning] religion completely". [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6140710.stm]

==Discography==
*1969 - ''Empty Sky''
*1970 - ''Elton John''
*1971 - ''Tumbleweed Connection''
*1971 - ''Friends'' Soundtrack
*1971 - ''11-17-10'' (''17-11-70'' in [[Britain]])
*1972 - ''Madman Across the Water''
*1972 - ''Honky Chateau''
*1973 - ''Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player''
*1973 - ''Goodbye Yellow Brick Road''
*1974 - ''Caribou''
*1974 - ''Greatest Hits''
*1975 - ''Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy''
*1975 - ''Rock of the Westies''
*1975 - ''Here and There''
*1976 - ''Blue Moves''
*1977 - ''Greatest Hits Vol. 2''
*1978 - ''A Single Man''
*1979 - ''Victim of Love''
*1980 - ''21 at 33''
*1981 - ''The Fox''
*1982 - ''Jump Up!''
*1983 - ''Too Low For Zero''
*1984 - ''Breaking Hearts''
*1985 - ''Ice on Fire''
*1986 - ''Leather Jackets''
*1987 - ''Live in Australia With the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra''
*1988 - ''Reg Strikes Back''
*1989 - ''Sleeping With the Past''
*1990 - ''The Very Best of Elton John''
*1992 - ''The One''
*1993 - ''Rare Masters''
*1993 - ''Duets''
*1994 - ''The Lion King'' Soundtrack
*1995 - ''Made in England''
*1995 - ''Love Songs''
*1997 - ''The Big Picture''
*1999 - ''Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida''
*1999 - ''The Muse'' Soundtrack
*2000 - ''The Road to El Dorado'' Soundtrack
*2000 - ''One Night Only''
*2001 - ''Songs From the West Coast''
*2004 - ''Peachtree Road''
*2006 - ''The Captain and the Kid''

==Elton John Band==
*Elton John - [[piano]]/keyboards, vocals
*Bernie Taupin - lyrics
*Davey Johnstone - electric guitars, acoustic guitars, mandolins, banjos, backing vocals
*Bob Birch - bass guitar, backing vocals
*Nigel Olsson - drums, backing vocals
*John Mahon - percussion, backing vocals
*Guy Babylon - keyboards

===Past Members===
*Dee Murray - bass guitar, backing vocals
*Caleb Quaye - guitars, backing vocals
*Ray Cooper - percussion
*Roger Pope - drums
*Kenny Passarelli - bass, backing vocals
*James Newton-Howard - keyboards

{{DEFAULTSORT:John, Elton}}

[[Category: Musicians]]

Homosexual act

2008-01-08T22:30:41Z

Obsequious:

The term '''homosexual act''' can be applied to any romantic or erotic interaction between persons of the same sex. Attitudes towards such acts vary from culture to culture, and from individual to individual. Although some claim that such acts are forbidden by religious texts such as the [[Bible]] and the [[Qur'an]], references to and records of sexual relations between persons of the same sex exist for almost every human civilisation throughout history.

[[Category:Homosexuality]]

Oscar Wilde

2008-01-08T22:11:10Z

Obsequious:

[[Image:Ngcfht.jpg|right|thumb]]

'''Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde''' (1854 – 1900) was an [[Ireland|Irish]] poet, novelist, and writer of plays and short stories.

==Biography==

His father was a surgeon and founder of a hospital in Dublin, and his mother was a writer who was active in the early movement for women's rights. Wilde studied at Trinity College Dublin and Magdalen College Oxford, receiving his BA in 1878.

Wilde married Constance Lloyd in 1884, and they had two sons, but the relationship ended in 1893. Wilde then had a romantic relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas, which eventually led to a conviction for [[homosexuality]] and indecency in 1895 for which he was sentenced to two years hard labor. He later wrote ''The Ballad of [[Reading]] Gaol'' and ''De Profundis'' about his experiences in prison.

Wilde died in 1900, three years after his release from prison. In the past he was thought to have died of syphilis, but more recent studies by Dr Ashley Robins of the University of Cape Town in South Africa report that he died of meningoencephalitis, following a serious ear infection. <ref>http://classiclit.about.com/cs/profileswriters/p/aa_oscarwilde.htm</ref>

==Wilde's Sexuality==

Wilde's sexual orientation has been debated over the years and some considered him as either [[bisexual]], homosexual, and even paederastic. Wilde himself believed that he belonged to a culture of male love inspired by the Greek paederastic tradition.{{fact}} This tradition believed that it was an adult male's duty to bring boys into manhood via sexuality.

In describing his own sexual identity, Wilde used the term Socratic. He may have had significant sexual relationships with Frank Miles, Constance Lloyd Wilde (his wife), Robert Baldwin Ross, and Lord Alfred Douglas ("Bosie"). Wilde also had numerous sexual encounters with working-class male youths, who were often called rent boys.

In 1895, during a holiday in Monte Carlo with Lord Alfred Douglas, Wilde was left a calling card by the Marquess of Queensberry, Douglas's father. The card had an inscription accusing Wilde of "posing [as a] Somdomite [sic]." Wilde then made a complaint of criminal libel against Queensberry. The trial soon became a cause célèbre, and the prosecution dropped the case when the defence threatened to bring male prostitutes to the stand to testify to Wilde's corruption of Queensberry's son. After Wilde left the court, he was arrested for "gross indecency."

His prosecution opened on April 26, 1895. Under cross-examination, Wilde presented an eloquent defence of same-sex love:

Charles Gill (pros.): What is "the love that dares not speak its name?"

Wilde: "The love that dares not speak its name" in this century is such a great affection of an elder for a younger man as there was between David and Jonathan, such as Plato made the very basis of his philosophy, and such as you find in the sonnets of Michelangelo and Shakespeare. It is that deep spiritual affection that is as pure as it is perfect. It dictates and pervades great works of art, like those of Shakespeare and Michelangelo, and those two letters of mine, such as they are. It is in this century misunderstood, so much misunderstood that it may be described as "the love that dares not speak its name," and on that account of it I am placed where I am now. It is beautiful, it is fine, it is the noblest form of affection. There is nothing unnatural about it. It is intellectual, and it repeatedly exists between an older and a younger man, when the older man has intellect, and the younger man has all the joy, hope and glamour of life before him. That it should be so, the world does not understand. The world mocks at it, and sometimes puts one in the pillory for it."

The trial ended with the jury unable to reach a verdict and Wilde's counsel, Sir Edward Clark, was finally able to agree bail. Wilde was freed from Holloway and went into hiding at the house of Ernest and Ada Leverson, two of Wilde's firm friends. The Reverend Stuart Hedlam put up most of the £5,000 bail, having disagreed with Wilde's heinous treatment by the press and the courts. Edward Carson, it was said, asked for the service to let up on Wilde. His request was denied. If the Crown was seen to give up at that point, it would have appeared that there was one rule for some and not others, and outrage could have followed.

The final trial was presided over by Justice Sir Alfred Wills. On May 25, 1895 Wilde was convicted of gross indecency and sentenced to two years' hard labour. His conviction angered some observers, one of whom demanded, in a published letter, "Why does not the Crown prosecute every boy at a public or private school or half the men in the universities?" in reference to the presumed pederastic proclivities of British upper class men.

Wilde was imprisoned first in Pentonville and then in Wandsworth prison in London, and finally transferred in November to Reading Prison, some 30 miles west of London.

==Wit==

Wilde was a well known playwright and celebrity, and is still renowned for his wit today. Some of his lines in stories such as ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' are still often quoted:

''"There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written."''

Other memorable lines from ''The Critic as Artist'' include:

''"The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius."''

''"A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal."''

''"There is no sin except stupidity."''

''"...nothing worth knowing can be taught."''

Wilde's most frequently-produced play is the high comedy ''The Importance of Being Earnest''. This includes such gems as:

''"The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means."''

''"London society is full of women of the very highest birth who have, of their own free choice, remained thirty-five for years."''

''"The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Modern life would be very tedious if it were either, and modern literature a complete impossibility!"''

==Works of Oscar Wilde==

===Plays===

* Lady Windermere's Fan (1892)
* Salomé (French version) (1893, first performed in Paris 1896)
* A Woman of No Importance (1893)
* An Ideal Husband (1895)
* The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)
* Vera; or, The Nihilists (1880)
* The Duchess of Padua (1883)
* Salomé: A Tragedy in One Act: Translated from the French of Oscar Wilde by Lord Alfred Douglas with illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley (1894)
* La Sainte Courtisane and A Florentine Tragedy Fragmentary. First published 1908 in Methuen's Collected Works

(Dates are dates of first performance, which approximate better with the probable date of composition than dates of publication)

===Poetry===

* Ravenna (1878)
* Poems (1881)
* The Sphinx (1894)
* The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898)

===Prose===

* The Canterville Ghost (1887)
* The Happy Prince and Other Stories (1888, fairy tales)
* Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories (1891)
* Intentions (1891, critical dialogues and essays)
* The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891, Wilde's only novel)
* The Soul of Man under Socialism (First published in the Pall Mall Gazette, 1891, first book publication 1904)
* De Profundis (1905)
* The Rise of Historical Criticism (published in incomplete form 1905 and completed form in 1908)
* The Letters of Oscar Wilde (1960) This was rereleased in 2000, with letters uncovered since 1960, and new, detailed, footnotes by Merlin Holland.
* Teleny or The Reverse of the Medal (Paris, 1893) has been attributed to Wilde, but was more likely a combined effort by a several of Wilde's friends, which he may have edited.

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Authors|Wilde, Oscar]]

Elton John

2008-01-08T21:52:54Z

Obsequious:

'''Elton John''' (born Reginald Dwight in [[London]], 1947) is an English singer/pianist who achieved prominence in the early 1970s. In 2005 he married his long-term partner [[David Furnish]] in a Civil Partnership Ceremony.

==Musical Style and Voice==
In his early years, his classical-influenced piano melodies, combined with lyrics by [[Bernie Taupin]] and a set of orchestral arrangements by [[Paul Buckmaster]], and his rich tenor voice, set him apart from the other singer-songwriters of the time. For many years, John would switch from his normal tenor to a falsetto in most of his songs. In most cases, soft rock is his main genre, but he often sings songs in the genre of country rock, hard rock, and emotional, moving ballads.

In 1986, Elton John received surgery to remove polyps from his vocal cords, which was likely brought upon by years of marijuana abuse starting during the recording of ''Rock of the Westies''. After the surgery, he discovered that he could not sing falsetto anymore, and he now has a lower vocal register.

==Views on Religion==

In 2006, John stated that he would support "ban[ning] religion completely". [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6140710.stm]

==Discography==
*1969 - ''Empty Sky''
*1970 - ''Elton John''
*1971 - ''Tumbleweed Connection''
*1971 - ''Friends'' Soundtrack
*1971 - ''11-17-10'' (''17-11-70'' in [[Britain]])
*1972 - ''Madman Across the Water''
*1972 - ''Honky Chateau''
*1973 - ''Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player''
*1973 - ''Goodbye Yellow Brick Road''
*1974 - ''Caribou''
*1974 - ''Greatest Hits''
*1975 - ''Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy''
*1975 - ''Rock of the Westies''
*1975 - ''Here and There''
*1976 - ''Blue Moves''
*1977 - ''Greatest Hits Vol. 2''
*1978 - ''A Single Man''
*1979 - ''Victim of Love''
*1980 - ''21 at 33''
*1981 - ''The Fox''
*1982 - ''Jump Up!''
*1983 - ''Too Low For Zero''
*1984 - ''Breaking Hearts''
*1985 - ''Ice on Fire''
*1986 - ''Leather Jackets''
*1987 - ''Live in Australia With the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra''
*1988 - ''Reg Strikes Back''
*1989 - ''Sleeping With the Past''
*1990 - ''The Very Best of Elton John''
*1992 - ''The One''
*1993 - ''Rare Masters''
*1993 - ''Duets''
*1994 - ''The Lion King'' Soundtrack
*1995 - ''Made in England''
*1995 - ''Love Songs''
*1997 - ''The Big Picture''
*1999 - ''Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida''
*1999 - ''The Muse'' Soundtrack
*2000 - ''The Road to El Dorado'' Soundtrack
*2000 - ''One Night Only''
*2001 - ''Songs From the West Coast''
*2004 - ''Peachtree Road''
*2006 - ''The Captain and the Kid''

==Elton John Band==
*Elton John - [[piano]]/keyboards, vocals
*Bernie Taupin - lyrics
*Davey Johnstone - electric guitars, acoustic guitars, mandolins, banjos, backing vocals
*Bob Birch - bass guitar, backing vocals
*Nigel Olsson - drums, backing vocals
*John Mahon - percussion, backing vocals
*Guy Babylon - keyboards

===Past Members===
*Dee Murray - bass guitar, backing vocals
*Caleb Quaye - guitars, backing vocals
*Ray Cooper - percussion
*Roger Pope - drums
*Kenny Passarelli - bass, backing vocals
*James Newton-Howard - keyboards

{{DEFAULTSORT:John, Elton}}

[[Category: Musicians]]