The Literature Network - Betjeman's 'The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel.'.(poem by John Betjeman)

Betjeman's 'The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel.'.(poem by John Betjeman)

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From: The Explicator
Date: 19990322
Author:McDermott, John V.

A closer scrutiny of poet John Betjeman's verse 'The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel' will show that while it initially appears to lambast the character of Wilde, the poem in reality condemns the society that held him up to scorn and public disgrace. Betjeman demonstrates how society conforms to Wilde's worldly and artificial values in its supposed righteousness. His poem is an apt example of why Betjeman's verse has been described as deceptively simple.

John Betjeman's poem "The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel" seems at first to be a singular assault on the ...

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