Wilde, Oscar (Fingal O'Flahertie Wills)
1854-1900. Irish writer. With his flamboyant
style and quotable conversation, he dazzled
London society and, on his lecture tour in
1882, the USA. He published his only novel
The Picture of Dorian Gray 1891, followed by
witty plays including A Woman of No
Importance 1893 and The Importance of Being
Earnest 1895. In 1895 he was imprisoned for
two years for homosexual offences; he died in
exile. Wilde was born in Dublin and studied
at Dublin and Oxford, where he became known
as a supporter of the Aesthetic movement
(`art for art's sake'). He published Poems
1881, and also wrote fairy tales and other
stories, criticism, and a long, anarchic
political essay, `The Soul of Man Under
Socialism' 1891. His elegant social comedies
include Lady Windermere's Fan 1892 and An
Ideal Husband 1895. The drama Salome 1893,
based on the biblical character, was written
in French; considered scandalous by the
British censor, it was first performed in
Paris 1896 with the actress Sarah Bernhardt
in the title role. Among his lovers was Lord
Alfred Douglas, whose father provoked Wilde
into a lawsuit that led to his social and
financial ruin and imprisonment. The long
poem Ballad of Reading Gaol 1898 and a letter
published as De Profundis 1905 were written
in jail to explain his side of the
relationship. After his release from prison
in 1897, he lived in France and is buried in
Paris.