Disobedience Oscar Wilde Rhetorical Analysis

Author, Oscar Wilde, in a quote states that through disobedience progress is made. He supports his claim by stating, "Disobedience,… is a man's original virtue." Wilde's purpose is to state that he believes disobedience is how progress is made in society in order to have the audience gain insight on his view. He adopts a formal tone for a general audience. Wilde's statement seems like a paradox, but his point may actually hold true with how society has advanced, and can be shown through ethos, logos, and pathos.

When we are little children and even when we're teenagers disobeying somebodies authority, maybe your parents or a teacher sometimes seem like it's natural. Wilde even says in his quote that disobedience is "man's original virtue." There can be two types of disobedience; one where you know you are not following the rules because of your own intentions and are disrespecting somebodies authority, and two where you know you aren't following the rules, but you're doing it for a greater reason or cause without the intentions of trying to disrespect somebody, but prove something that can have a greater affect on society. Wilde intentions of his quote is not for you to disobey somebodies authority, but to have an impact on society, by not always following …show more content…
When you really think about people who have broken the rules, and in the process society advances because of it, you find many great examples. One example from the past is when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat. At the time of this event in history African American men and women were treated with disrespect. Through examples of people like Rosa Parks being disobedient, our society has progressed and it's now general consensus that it's wrong to treat a person with disrespect because of their