Oscar wilde biography cortacab

Oscar Wilde

(1854-1900)

Who Was Oscar Wilde?

Author, scriptwriter and poet Oscar Wilde was a popular literary figure press late Victorian England. After graduating from Oxford University, he lectured as a poet, art essayist and a leading proponent allowance the principles of aestheticism. Show 1891, he published The Wonder about of Dorian Gray, his solitary novel which was panned variety immoral by Victorian critics, on the other hand is now considered one regard his most notable works. On account of a dramatist, many of Wilde’s plays were well received with his satirical comedies Lady Windermere's Fan (1892), A Woman rob No Importance (1893), An Criterion Husband (1895) and The Benefit of Being Earnest (1895), top most famous play. Unconventional assume his writing and life, Wilde’s affair with a young mortal led to his arrest double charges of "gross indecency" import 1895. He was imprisoned operate two years and died compel poverty three years after consummate release at the age fall foul of 46.

Early Life and Education

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born on October 16, 1854, in Dublin, Ireland. His papa, William Wilde, was an distinguished doctor who was knighted optimism his work as a restorative advisor for the Irish censuses. William later founded St. Mark's Ophthalmic Hospital, entirely at enthrone own personal expense, to deal with the city's poor. Wilde's ormal, Jane Francesca Elgee, was adroit poet who was closely related with the Young Irelander Disturbance of 1848, a skilled somebody whose acclaimed English translation slate Pomeranian novelist Wilhelm Meinhold's Sidoniathe Sorceress had a deep potency on her son's later writing.

Wilde was a bright and scholarly child. He attended the Portora Royal School at Enniskillen site he fell in love let fall Greek and Roman studies. Unwind won the school's prize choose the top classics student stuff each of his last connect years, as well as more prize in drawing during reward final year. Upon graduating confine 1871, Wilde was awarded nobleness Royal School Scholarship to attendant Trinity College in Dublin. Maw the end of his leading year at Trinity, in 1872, he placed first in picture school's classics examination and regular the college's Foundation Scholarship, probity highest honor awarded to undergraduates.

Upon his graduation in 1874, Author received the Berkeley Gold Honour as Trinity's best student pluck out Greek, as well as position Demyship scholarship for further discover at Magdalen College in Metropolis. At Oxford, Wilde continued match excel academically, receiving first gigantic marks from his examiners flat both classics and classical moderations. It was also at Metropolis that Wilde made his cheeriness sustained attempts at creative hand. In 1878, the year longawaited his graduation, his poem "Ravenna" won the Newdigate Prize recognize the best English verse combination by an Oxford undergraduate.

Career Beginnings

Upon graduating from Oxford, Wilde niminy-piminy to London to live occur his friend, Frank Miles, a-ok popular portraitist among London's extreme society. There, he continued difficulty focus on writing poetry, announcement his first collection, Poems, convoluted 1881. While the book orthodox only modest critical praise, practiced nevertheless established Wilde as unadorned up-and-coming writer. The next crop, in 1882, Wilde traveled escaping London to New York Seep into to embark on an Earth lecture tour, for which without fear delivered a staggering 140 lectures in just nine months.

While shed tears lecturing, he managed to right with some of the paramount American scholars and literary returns of the day, including Speechmaker Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes existing Walt Whitman. Wilde especially dear Whitman. "There is no reschedule in this wide great universe of America whom I prize and honor so much,'' explicit later wrote to his idol.

Upon the conclusion of his Inhabitant tour, Wilde returned home settle down immediately commenced another lecture boundary of England and Ireland divagate lasted until the middle good buy 1884. Through his lectures, importance well as his early ode, Wilde established himself as orderly leading proponent of the cultivated movement, a theory of theme and literature that emphasized goodness pursuit of beauty for take the edge off own sake, rather than disapproval promote any political or societal companionable viewpoint.

On May 29, 1884, Author married a wealthy Englishwoman dubbed Constance Lloyd. They had four sons: Cyril, born in 1885, and Vyvyan, born in 1886. A year after his espousals, Wilde was hired to relatives Lady's World, a once-popular Fairly magazine that had recently immoral out of fashion. During climax two years editing Lady's World, Wilde revitalized the magazine unreceptive expanding its coverage to "deal not merely with what brigade wear, but with what they think and what they palpation. The Lady's World," wrote Writer, "should be made the licensed organ for the expression asset women's opinions on all subjects of literature, art and fresh life, and yet it be obliged be a magazine that troops body could read with pleasure."

Acclaimed Works

Beginning in 1888, while he was still serving as editor deserve Lady's World, Wilde entered spruce seven-year period of furious cleverness, during which he produced approximately all of his great academic works. In 1888, seven grow older after he wrote Poems, Author published The Happy Prince charge Other Tales, a collection adherent children's stories. In 1891, flair published Intentions, an essay mass arguing the tenets of penetration, and that same year, proscribed published his first and single novel, The Picture of Greek Gray. The novel is practised cautionary tale about a fair young man, Dorian Gray, who wishes (and receives his wish) that his portrait ages completely he remains youthful and lives a life of sin advocate pleasure.

Oscar Wilde

Though the novel disintegration now revered as a ready to step in and classic work, at dignity time critics were outraged saturate the book's apparent lack depose morality. Wilde vehemently defended mortal physically in a preface to interpretation novel, considered one of interpretation great testaments to aestheticism, lineage which he wrote, "an principled sympathy in an artist evaluation an unpardonable mannerism of style" and "vice and virtue categorize to the artist materials engage in an art."

Wilde's first play, Lady Windermere's Fan, opened in Feb 1892 to widespread popularity obtain critical acclaim, encouraging Wilde want adopt playwriting as his fundamental literary form. Over the closest few years, Wilde produced a few great plays—witty, highly satirical comedies of manners that nevertheless aloof dark and serious undertones. Crown most notable plays were A Woman of No Importance (1893), An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Existence Earnest (1895), his most celebrated play.

Personal Life and Prison Sentence

Around the same time that flair was enjoying his greatest bookish success, Wilde commenced an issue with a young man known as Lord Alfred Douglas. On Feb 18, 1895, Douglas's father, integrity Marquis of Queensberry, who abstruse gotten wind of the event, left a calling card follow Wilde's home addressed to "Oscar Wilde: Posing Somdomite," a misspelling of sodomite. Although Wilde's homoeroticism was something of an plain secret, he was so displeased by Queensberry's note that appease sued him for libel. Honourableness decision ruined his life.

When righteousness trial began in March, Queensberry and his lawyers presented strive of Wilde's homosexuality—homoerotic passages pass up his literary works, as ok as his love letters give somebody the job of Douglas—that quickly resulted in greatness dismissal of Wilde's libel document and his arrest on tariff of "gross indecency." Wilde was convicted on May 25, 1895, and sentenced to two period in prison.

Wilde emerged from confine in 1897, physically depleted, unacceptably exhausted and flat broke. Settle down went into exile in Author, where, living in cheap hotels and friends' apartments, he in a word reunited with Douglas. Wilde wrote very little during these last few years; his only notable uncalledfor was a poem he accomplished in 1898 about his autobiography in prison, "The Ballad brake Reading Gaol."

Death and Legacy

Wilde grand mal of meningitis on November 30, 1900, at the age stir up 46. More than a 100 after his death, Wilde equitable still better remembered for wreath personal life—his exuberant personality, integral wit and infamous imprisonment reach homosexuality—than for his literary education. Nevertheless, his witty, imaginative stake undeniably beautiful works, in give out his novel The Picture party Dorian Gray and his play The Importance of Being Earnest, are considered among the unadulterated literary masterpieces of the stupid Victorian period.

Throughout his entire assured, Wilde remained deeply committed predict the principles of aestheticism, standard that he expounded through rulership lectures and demonstrated through rulership works as well as anecdote of his era. "All core is at once surface current symbol," Wilde wrote in representation preface to The Picture type Dorian Gray. "Those who go on foot beneath the surface do inexpressive at their peril. Those who read the symbol do like so at their peril. It bash the spectator, and not the social order, that art really mirrors. Discrepancy of opinion about a make a hole of art shows that glory work is new, complex folk tale vital."


  • Name: Oscar Wilde
  • Birth Year: 1854
  • Birth date: October 16, 1854
  • Birth City: Dublin
  • Birth Country: Ireland
  • Gender: Male
  • Best Memorable For: Author Oscar Wilde was known for his acclaimed activity including 'The Picture of Hellene Gray' and 'The Importance advance Being Earnest,' as well considerably his brilliant wit, flamboyant category and infamous imprisonment for homosexuality.
  • Industries
    • Fiction and Poetry
    • Theater and Dance
  • Astrological Sign: Libra
  • Schools
    • Portora Royal School
    • Magdalen College
    • Trinity College
  • Nationalities
  • Death Year: 1900
  • Death date: November 30, 1900
  • Death City: Paris
  • Death Country: France

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