Lady Windermere’s Fan: Style 1 key example

Wilde's perceptive scrutiny and witty imagination reach down to minute details like diction and syntax, which is evident from the large amount of epigrams, puns, and paradoxes found in the play. Paradox is one of Wilde's favorite literary devices. Rather than expressing ideas straightforwardly, he has a penchant for using self-contradictory statements to uncover the complexity and hypocrisy, but sometimes also the profundity, of his characters' viewpoints.

In relation to his chosen genre, it is clear that he prefers developing the plot through dialogue over action. Conflict arises less as a result of the characters' physical interactions on stage and more as a result of what takes place during, not to mention between the lines of, their conversations. Nevertheless, Wilde does put great thought into the visual aspect of the dramatic genre, especially as it pertains to the positioning and movement of his characters. The characters' location on the stage and interaction with the props on it reinforce the development of the characters, their relationships, and their conflicts. Wilde's style involves paying attention both to the language of his characters and to the visual element of their presence on stage.