Laws and Exceptions

Abstract

Of the epigrams we have examined so far, the ones that fail do so because they do not meet one or more of the essential conditions of wit, while the ones that survive probably succeed because they do not come up short in any respect. In other words, as long as the subject matter of his epigram is not outdated, unclear, or unimportant, or its logic unsophisticated, disjointed, or unconvincing, there is a fairly good chance the epigram will keep being repeated. But Wilde’s collection also contains entries that do not conform to this simple rule of thumb, yet persist despite the fact that they clearly ignore at least some seemingly indispensable requirements. The reception of these epigrams has, on occasion, proven less predictable than the long-term performance of earlier examples, yet this is precisely what makes them so crucial for my analysis. Only once all anomalies are accounted for can general principles be confidently affirmed. Until then, the discussion remains open.