O. Wilde and A. Mire: Creative Parallels

Abstract

The article examines the works of two writers of the same era — Oscar Wilde and Mire (Alexandra Mikhailovna Moiseeva, 1874–1913). It focuses mainly on Mire’s two reviews written on the occasion of the posthumous publication of Wilde’s works, which directly indicate the connections between the two writers. In the views, Mire provides her own viewpoint on Wilde’s crime, guilt and punishment that are associated with the trial during the last years of his life, and reads “De Profundis” in this context. Attention is also paid to Mire’s story “The Black Panther”, the plot of which refers to the vicissitudes in the last years of Wilde’s life. The story could be considered a free interpretation and neomythological transformation of biographical facts. Thematic similarities in other works of Wilde and Mire are revealed by the analysis of two nomadic recurring images — panther and peacock. Parallels are found in Mire’s short stories “The Spring Night”,“The Hermit” and Wilde’s fairy tale “The Fisherman and His Soul” and his poem in prose “The Teacher of Wisdom”.