ABSTRACT
There is no such thing as ‘absolute pitch’ in criticism; the intervals are everything. In other words, the critic is bound to deal in odious comparisons; it is one of the painful necessities of his calling. He must clearly indicate the plane, so to speak, on which, in his judgment, any given work of art is to be taken; and the value of his terms, whether of praise or blame, must then be estimated in relation to that plane. Well, the one essential fact about Mr Oscar Wilde’s dramatic work is that it must be taken on the very highest plane of modern English drama, and further-more, that it stands alone on that plane. In intellectual calibre, artistic competence-ay, and in dramatic instinct to boot-Mr Wilde has no rival among his fellow-workers for the stage. He is a thinker and a writer; they are more or less able, thoughtful, original playwrights. This statement may seem needlessly emphatic, and even offensive; but it is necessary that it should be made if we are to preserve any sense of proportion in criticism. I am far from exalting either Lady Windermere’s Fan or A Woman of No Importance to the rank of a masterpiece; but while we carp at this point and cavil at that, it behoves us to remember and to avow that we are dealing with works of an altogether higherorder than others which we may very likely have praised with much less reserve.
