本論文闡釋奧斯卡‧王爾德的文學創作在主題、風格、題材方面所展現的創新和仿效。仿效與其相關議題貫穿王爾德一生的所有作品。然而，他的刻意模仿到底是到了甚麼程度? 此外，他對文學的貢獻是依循的還是創新的呢? 就王爾德的一生、作家職涯、文學聲望而言，他在某種程度上佔有巨星地位。愛爾曼 (Richard Ellmann)寫的傳記中將王爾德的一生敘述得淋漓盡致。他在一個健談的家庭環境中成長，並受到他那視野前瞻的母親以及她同輩文人的影響。很明顯地，王爾德的小說《格雷的畫像》蘊含了長久以來許多文學作品時常使用的一個弔詭「三位一體」的概念。這種情形顯現在王爾德將小說三個主要角色與三位一體（也就是聖父、聖子、聖靈）作對照。如果，就王爾德的模仿而言，其仿效新約全書是明確的證據，那麼還有甚麼其他的證據存在? 下一章更明顯指出，王爾德的小說內容挪用了《流浪者梅莫斯》中的故事元素。Julia Kent指出，《格雷的畫像》採用維多利亞時代的寫作模式，並置極度保守的英國角色跟道德敗壞的法國角色。最早有關王爾德的傳記主要著重在他道德淪喪的行徑及對於他抄襲與模仿的指控。多年以來，王爾德的第一本詩集也被認為在風格上非常接近濟慈， 而他後期的詩特別受到法國象徵主義的影響。 除此之外，王爾德的童話故事在創作性上被認為非常接近傳統型態，則需要被進一步探討。

This thesis is long conceived out of a desire to explain Oscar Wilde’s literary work in relation to his creativity and conscious imitation of other writers in theme, style and subject matter. Imitation and its related issues recur and permeate throughout Wilde’s life and his oeuvre. However, to what extent was he purposely imitating? Furthermore, how creative were his contributions? In terms of his life, career and literary reputation, Oscar Wilde was and continues to be somewhat of a literary megastar. Richard Ellmann’s rightfully famous biography on the writer paints a thorough picture of his life. This thesis also begins with a brief description of Wilde’s extremely well educated background; for example, he grew up in a loquacious family household and was exposed to the sophisticated conversations between his prophetic mother and her peers. At once turning to Wilde’s singular novel, the thesis then examines a number of examples that focus on the fundamental concept of threes, often used in literature throughout the ages. To add, I briefly attempt a proposition that contrasts the three main characters in the novel with the Holy Trinity namely, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Following is a more obvious treatise that claims Wilde’s novel appropriated story elements from Melmouth the Wanderer. The earliest biographies on Wilde did no better than to focus on his immorality thereby ‘milking’ in a way, their dislike resulting from accusations of plagiarism and imitation. For years Wilde’s first book of poetry was seen to be similarly stylized to that of Keats. And his later poems are uniquely influenced by French symbolists and more. Finally, Wilde’s fairytales are so inventively close to the traditional form that they beg a closer look.

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