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Wilde was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, poet and critic, and a celebrity in late 19th century London.
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin on 16 October 1854. His father was a successful surgeon and his mother a writer and literary hostess. Wilde was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and Magdalen College, Oxford. While at Oxford, Wilde became involved in the aesthetic movement. After he graduated, he moved to London to establish a literary career.
His output was diverse. A first volume of his poetry was published in 1881 but as well as composing verse, he contributed to publications such as the 'Pall Mall Gazette', wrote fairy stories and published a novel 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' (1891). His greatest talent was for writing plays, and he produced a string of extremely popular comedies including 'Lady Windermere's Fan' (1892), 'An Ideal Husband (1895)' and 'The Importance of Being Earnest' (1895). 'Salomé' was performed in Paris in 1894
Drama and tragedy marred Wilde's private life. He married Constance Lloyd in 1884 and they had two sons but in 1891 Wilde began an affair with Lord Alfred Douglas, nicknamed 'Bosie'. In April 1895 Wilde sued Bosie's father, the Marquis of Queensberry for libel, after the Marquis has accused him of being homosexual. Wilde's case was unsuccessful and, because of details of his private life revealed during the trial, he was arrested and tried for gross indecency. He was sentenced to two year hard labour, composing the poem 'De Profundis' while in prison. His wife took their children to Switzerland and adopted the name 'Holland'. Wilde was released with his health irrevocably damaged and his reputation ruined. He spent the rest of his life in Europe, publishing 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol' in 1898. He died in Paris on 30 November 1900.
Major Works
Poetry
- Ravenna (1878)
- Poems (1881)
- The Sphinx (1894)
- The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898)
Plays
- Vera; or, The Nihilists (1880)
- The Duchess of Padua (1883)
- Salomé (French version) (1893, first performed in Paris 1896)
- Lady Windermere's Fan (1892)
- A Woman of No Importance (1893)
- Salomé: A Tragedy in One Act: Translated from the French of Oscar Wilde by Lord Alfred Douglas with illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley (1894)
- An Ideal Husband (1895)
- The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)
- La Sainte Courtisane and A Florentine Tragedy Fragmentary. First published 1908 in Methuen's Collected Works
Prose
- The Canterville Ghost (1887)
- The Happy Prince and Other Stories (1888, fairy tales) [3]
- Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories (1891)
- Intentions (1891, critical dialogues and essays)
- The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891, Wilde's only novel)
- A House of Pomegranates (1891, fairy tales)
- The Soul of Man under Socialism (First published in the Pall Mall Gazette, 1891, first book publication 1904)
- De Profundis (1905)
- The Rise of Historical Criticism (published in incomplete form 1905 and completed form in 1908)
- The Letters of Oscar Wilde (1960) This was rereleased in 2000, with letters uncovered since 1960, and new, detailed, footnotes by Merlin Holland.
- Teleny or The Reverse of the Medal (Paris, 1893) has been attributed to Wilde, but was more likely a combined effort by a several of Wilde's friends, which he may have edited.
