Mr Wilde's Theory
The Theory of Mr WH as an Outlet for Agency Many would agree that life is a precious gift. Anything worth dying for must therefore be invaluable. Oscar Wilde plays with this idea when two of the characters in the story, “The Portrait of Mr. W.H,” die or claim to die for a somewhat ridiculous theory about the identity of Shakespeare’s Mr W.H. Why is the idea of finding Shakespeare’s Mr W.H so exciting? What makes dying for a theory enthralling to Mr Cyril Graham and Mr Erskine, two of the characters in the book. More intriguing, however, is the narrator’s comment about the theory in relation to their willingness to die for it. "No man dies for what he knows to be true. Men die for what they want to be true, for what some terror in their hearts …show more content…
The narrator gets a letter from Mr Erskine denoting that he killed himself for Mr Willie Hughes and his Friend Cyril Graham. He particularly states that now that “the theory is stained with the blood of two men, he should not turn away from the theory.” However, the narrator finds out that Erskine died of consumption. Why would Erskine lie about his death and more importantly why is committing suicide for the theory alluring to him? It could be for the same reason Cyril does. Dying for the theory serves a psychological purpose.Helping him cope with his impending and irreversible death. If he is going to die, why not die form a course that seems more noble? Therefore, it does not seem like it is for the sake of the theory itself that Erskine pretends to die, but it is the consolation of dying for something relevant or more understandable than an illness. Also, it gives him some sort of agency over his life and death that dying from an incurable sickness does not provide. Also, when Erskine first shows the picture to the narrator, he comments that “it is the only legacy that he has ever received.” By giving the picture to the narrator and handing over the baton of propounding the theory, he is also leaving a legacy, and a mark on the world if the theory was true. For both Cyril and Erskine their martyrdom seems to be based on personal and somewhat selfish reasons than for the sake of the sonnets or academic
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