Oscar Wilde

Born Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Will Wilde on October 16, 1854, he was an Irish poet and writer. His earliest memories include guests at the Wilde home who were medically and culturally inspired.
Wilde attended Trinity College in Dublin from 1871 to 1874 where he gained an interest in Greek literature and art. Wilde attended Magdalen College (1874 to 1878) and became more entrenched in aesthetics or the cult of beauty. He wore his hair long and scorned manly sports. He decorated his rooms with lilies, sunflowers and peacock flowers. Blue china was his trademark.
In 1881 Wilde presented a book of Poems which was well received and sold out of it first print run. However the Oxford Union condemned the book for alleged plagiarism.
It was Wilde's intention to transpose beauty into daily life. He lectured on interior design and believed artists should hold for higher ideals than the rest of the world. With earnings from The Duchess of Padua he moved to Paris, returned to New York for the production of his first play Vera and then left for England to lecture concerning his personal Impression of America, The Value of Art in Modern Life and Dress. He met Constance LLoyd in 1881 and they were married on May 29, 19984. They had two sons Cyril and Vyvyan.
Wilde's most famous novel is The Picture of Dorian Gray. Dorian Gray makes a bargain that only his portrait will age and he will stay young and beautiful. Homosexual allusions and decadence run rapid in the book and critics state it is only marginally technical.
Wilde was imprisoned for sodomy and gross indecency. He was sentenced to two years hard labor which caused his health to decline. While in prison he wrote the Letters of Oscar Wilde which were published in 1962. Wilde died of cerebral meningitis on November 30, 1900. He is buried in Paris and a memorial resides in Dublin and London.
Wilde's works include the Soul of Man under Socialism (1981), Lady Windermere's Fan (1982), The Ideal Husband (1989) and De Profundis (1887).