Given below are two statements:
Statement I: According to W.H. Auden. The Importance of being earnest is the purest example in English literature of a ‘verbal opera’.
Statement II: Oscar Wilde possessed profound insight into the range of the arts that in a combined form make theatre performance possible.
In the light of the above statement.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

The correct option is Both statement I and statement II are true.

Explanation of Statement I:
In his critical essays, the renowned poet and critic W. H. Auden famously described Oscar Wilde's masterpiece, The Importance of Being Earnest, as the only pure verbal opera in the English language. Auden argued that the play's dialogue operates like musical numbers (arias, duets, and ensembles) where the characters' words and rhythmic cadences take precedence over realistic character development or plot, matching the formal symmetry of an opera.

Explanation of Statement II:
Oscar Wilde was a leading figure of the Aesthetic Movement, which championed "art for art's sake." He possessed a deep and profound understanding of various artistic disciplines—including drama, fashion, visual arts, music, and interior design. Wilde recognized how these diverse arts synthesize within the theatrical medium to create a unified, stylized performance, a concept central to late 19th-century aestheticism and modern theatre production.