Response to Wilde's "The Critic as Artist"

Oscar Wilde's positions on how the critic functions in art seem to fly in the face of what one would conventionally think; on closer inspection and explanation, however, they're perfectly logical.

Among the most controversial is his statement that "[i]t is very much more difficult to talk about a thing than to do it." In other words, it's harder to critique an action or subject than it was to complete that action or create that subject. Another contestable claim is his position that "the highest Criticism [...] is, in its way, more creative than creation," that analysis of, say, a statue, is more creative than the fashioning of the statue itself. 

Wilde also makes claims that criticism is necessary to foster truly good works of art; without criticism there can be no art, though it can exist without art. In addition, he states that criticism is higher than art because it lends the art form interpretations that the artist may not have intended. 

In using a dialogue between two characters, the structure of this essay is unique. It also allows Wilde to make his points in an easily accessible way: Gilbert is clearly more intellectual than Ernest, and as such is trying to make his argument such that Ernest can understand it. So, we are put in the shoes of Ernest, and made to see everything the way Wilde, through the voice of Gilbert, wants us to. The subject's also more entertaining as presented, and reminiscent of the works of the ancient Greek philosophers. 

I do agree with Wilde's position in this case, though perhaps not to the extreme extent in which he's written it. Criticism does foster the arts, by encouraging what is good to continue and discouraging what is bad. It also spurs artists on to attempt new forms of creation, in its best form. And it is true that the interpretations critics can lend to works of art lift the greatest criticisms above the works themselves, as they require a degree of creativity sometimes higher than the artist exhibited in their creation. 

Having done a minimal amount of reviewing myself, I also agree that it's really difficult to do a good critique of anything. Actions are often committed in the heat of the moment, inspired by passion or other emotions, and thus in many cases would seem easier than the process of writing. So I'm with Wilde in that it's harder to write than to do. The one area where I'd contest him a little is his supreme emphasis on criticism as more creative than creation. Criticism is highly valuable and creative, but to the extent he glorifies it, I'm not in agreement with him.