Wilde's paradox cuts deeper than mere cynicism about gossip—he's arguing that a sterling reputation becomes almost a burden, a fixed identity we cannot escape. While society forgives bankruptcy, scandal, even criminality given enough time and money, it rarely grants absolution to someone known for genuine virtue; that person becomes trapped by others' expectations. A celebrity caught in a sex tape might rehabilitate their image through savvy PR, yet the quiet bookkeeper who volunteers for forty years is forever bound to that role, unable to be seen as anything else.