ABSTRACT
Between 1878 and 1884, Oscar Wilde's brand enforced the image of the languid, even disinterested aesthete without any apparent concern for the consequences of his ostentatious behavior. At the same time, in his artistic creations he adopted cautious, conventional approaches. For the second stage of his branding, Wilde shifted his emphasis from public presentations aimed at garnering renown to artistic efforts meant to convince society of the creative merits of the artist behind the persona that had captured their attention. Wilde labored tirelessly to keep his views before the public eye. He produced several hundred reviews, essays, and public letters, many of which were reprinted almost immediately after they appeared. This output seems all the more impressive considering his time spent as editor of The Woman's World between 1887 and 1889 and his increasingly active social life throughout the 1880s. The chapter highlights both the similarities and the differences between Wilde and the artist James MacNeill Whistler.
