Melbourne Punch - Thursday, April 11, 1895

PUNCHERIES

IT is urged that we should bar the plays of Oscar Wilde from performance on the Australian stage, and his books from being read, because of the now known character of the man. Well, if this is to be accepted as a principle, there will be precious little literature left to us. Byron, Shelley, Burns, and numerous others, were sad dogs in their way, and, indeed, few eminent men of letters have been free from moral blemish. As a matter of fact, there is nothing the matter with Wilde's plays. The only one that has been produced here — "Lady Windermere's Fan" — didn't shock anybody that we know of, and the others that have been more recently produced in London are said to be innocent and amusing enough. Don't let us get hysterical. It is possible for a bad man to write a good play.