Oscar Wilde was an Anglo-Irish playwright, novelist, poet,
and critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest playwrights of the Victorian
Era. Besides literary accomplishments, he is also famous for his wit and flamboyance.
He was trialed and imprisoned for his irrational relationship with the son of
an aristocrat.
Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin on 16 October 1854 to Sir
William Wilde and his wife Jane. Oscar's mother, Lady Jane Francesca Wilde was
a successful poet and journalist. Oscar's
father, Sir William Wilde was a leading ear and eye surgeon, a renowned
philanthropist and gifted writer. He was educated at Portora Royal School, Trinity
College, Dublin, and Magdalen College, Oxford.
Oscar married Constance Lloyd daughter of wealthy Queen's
Counsel Horace Lloyd. They had two sons. To support his family, Oscar accepted
a job as the editor of Woman's World magazine. He published The Happy Prince
and Other Tales, fairy-stories written for his two sons.
Upon his release from the prison, he wrote The Ballad of
Reading Gaol, revealing his concern for inhumane prison conditions. He spent
the rest of his life wandering Europe, staying with friends and living in cheap
hotels. He died of cerebral meningitis on November 30, 1900, penniless, in a
cheap Paris hotel.
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