Biography of Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born on October 16, 1854 in the city of Dublin, Ireland. He was born into and lived in the prejudiced and etiquette-ridden years of the Late Victorian Age. Actions and language of the individuals were required to conform to rigid rules of behavior and ethics. Even the canons of art and literature were laid down and had to be adhered to. It was this state of affairs that Wilde made it his mission in life to break down, and it is a remarkable tribute to his character that he largely succeeded in doing so (Holland 5).Oscar Wilde was the second son of the famous eye surgeon William Robert Wilde and Jane Frances Wilde, more commonly known by her literary name as Speranza. Jane was noted for collecting Irish folk stories in the western hills in the late 1870s (Jacobus 753). A brother, William Robert Kingsbury Wills Wilde, born September 26, 1852, preceded Wilde. He was followed by a sister, Isola Francesca Emily Wilde who was born on April 2, 1857. The Wilde household was an eccentric, sometimes scandalous, but unquestionably learned environment in which to grow up. At this period Dublin was a city whose cultural interests were a mixture of the cosmopolitan
The close friendship that sprung up between Oscar and Alfred gave the Marquess the fuel he needed to publicly disgrace his son. Unfortunately, it was at the expense of Wilde, and the Marquess proclaimed to all who would listen that his beloved son was being seduced by the monster Oscar Wilde. His attacks only went so far, and Wilde disregarded the attempts to disrupt his friendship with Alfred. Holland, Vyvyan. Oscar Wilde: A Pictorial Biography. London : Thames and Hudson, 1960. It was during this period of traveling that Oscar befriended the Marquess of Queensbury's youngest son. Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas was a thorn in his father's side constantly defying him and ridiculing him to his face. This attitude infuriated the Marquess, and he vowed to go to any length to shame and disgrace his son. Immediately after his release in 1897, Wilde left England, never to return. Wilde wandered the Continent, bankrupt, sick, and existing on the charity of friends. He wrote The Ballad of Reading Goal during this period. Wilde died in Paris on November 30, 1900. Wilde's remains are entombed at Pere Lachaise. The monument is inscribed with a stanza from The Ballad of Reading Goal: The couple had two children, Cyril, born June 5, 1885, and Vyvyan born November 5, 1886. In order to pay bills and put food on the table, Oscar took a job as editor for the Woman's World. When he first started working, he was like a child with a new toy (Holland 61). He enjoyed the feeling of importance that his editorship gave him. But soon, he grew bored of the same shifts day in and day out, and resigned only after two years. The Marquess of Queensbury had now publicly labeled Wilde a sodomite. In retaliatory measures, Wilde applied for a warrant for the arrest of the Marquess on the charge of slander, and the Marquess appeared in court the following day. The trial was short, and a formal charge of not guilty was returned in Queensbury's favor.
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Approximate Word count = 1877
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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