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Birth
Oscar Wilde was born on the 16th of October, 1854, in Westland Row, Dublin, Ireland. -
Family
Oscar Wilde was born into a family of five children. With him making it a family of six children. He had three sisters and two brothers. -
Portora Royal School
From 1864 to 1871. -
Period: to
Education
Oscar Wilde was a very well-educated man. He started with school at Portora Royal School. He attended Portora Royal School from 1864 to 1871. From there, he was successful enough to earn a scholarship to take him to Trinity College, Dublin, from 1871 to 1874. He also got a scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied from 1874 to 1878. -
Trinity College
From 1871 to 1874. -
Magdalen College
From 1874 to 1878. In 1878, Wilde gets awarded a degree with honors for distinguishing himself not only as a classical scholar but as a poseur, wit, and poet by winning the coveted Newdigate Prize in 1878 with a long poem, Ravenna. -
Influence on Writing
Walter Pater, a critic and essayist whose Studies in the History of the Renaissance legitimized Wilde's nascent ideas on art and individualism, and John Ruskin, a critic, writer, and professor, influenced Wilde at Oxford. -
Health Issues
Syphilis-a sexually transmitted disease→ Wilde plausibly caught syphilis from Old Jess, the same Oxford prostitute who probably infected Lord Randolph Churchill. -
Wilde's Rise to Fame
Between the years 1879 and 1894, Wilde produced a total of nine plays. His distinction as a screenwriter lays in four comedies - Woman Windermere's Fan, A Lady of No Significance, An Optimal Spouse, The Significance of Being Sincere -, and the misfortune Salomé. Even a century after his death, his plays continue to awe audiences with their beauty. -
Marriage
Oscar Wilde got married to Constance Lloyd in 1884 -
Children
In 1885, Constance Lloyd gave birth to their first child, Cyril Holland. In 1886, she gave birth to their second child Vyvyan Holland. -
Lady Windermere’s Fan
Synopsis: A witty four-act satire on the relationships and gender double standards of upper-class Victorian society. Premiered: February 5, 1893, at St. James's Theatre, London. Theme(s): Morality and Ambiguity, Gender, Performance, and Femininity. -
A Woman of No Importance
Synopsis: Satiric play about hypocrisy and double standards of the Victorian upper classes. Wilde's take on dark comedy. Premiered: April 19, 1893, at the Haymarket Theatre, London. Theme(s): gender equality, social hypocrisy, and Victorian-era sexual mores. -
Places Lived
For almost the entirety of his life, Oscar Wilde lived in County, Dublin. But in 1895, he lived in Reading Prison, Berkshire, England, for two years after being convicted of gross tendency with other men. -
An Ideal Husband
Synopsis: Witty social satire filled with poignant humor as well as romance, intrigue, and scandal. Criticism of Victorian society. Premiered: 1895 at the Haymarket Theatre, London, and ran for 124 performances. Theme(s): loyalty, sacrifice, undying love, forgiveness, devotion, and onward. -
The Importance of Being Earnest
Synopsis: The play is a classic romantic comedy about love, deception, and mistaken identity. Whimsical satire of Victorian society. Premiered: 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre, London. Theme: Triviality-lack of seriousness or importance; insignificance. -
Salomé
Synopsis: Tragic story of Salomé, the step-daughter of King Herod and the beheader of John the Baptist. Premiered: February 11, 1896, at the Comédie-Parisienne, Paris. Theme(s): Death, versions of reality, sin, religion, transformation, power, fear. -
Death
Oscar Wilde died on November 30, 1900. He was only 46 years old when he died. -
Award: Retro Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
In 1996, Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray" won the Retro Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. -
Award: Retro Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
In 2020, Oscar Wilde's play "The Canterville Ghost" won the Retro Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. -
Fun Fact #1
The place he was born is now a college. Oscar Wilde was born at 21 Westland Row, which presently belongs to Trinity College Dublin. Today, Oscar Wilde’s birthplace is now the Oscar Wilde Centre of Trinity College, which houses the Irish writing and creative writing departments for the School of English. -
Fun Fact #2
Oscar Wilde was Catholic when he died. Wilde had grown distant from the Catholic Church throughout his life due to his anti-Catholic father. However, he felt that the Catholic Church accepted both sinners and saints and thus believed that ‘Catholic was the only religion to die in.’ -
Fun Fact #3
Oscar Wilde only wrote one novel. Despite having a reputation for being a writer, Oscar Wilde only published one novel throughout his life. The Picture of Dorian Gray was met with critical reviews due to its decadence and homoerotic content. -
Fun Fact #4
Oscar Wilde was an impressive linguist. After studying Greek for nearly nine years, Oscar Wilde was an exceptional linguist and spoke many languages. He was fluent in English, German, and French and had a working knowledge of Italian and Greek. -
Fun Fact #5
When he was in jail, Oscar Wilde wrote essays. Despite the terrible conditions within Oscar Wilde’s prison, he continued to write excellently, writing many letters to Sir Alfred Douglas and an imperative essay detailing his imprisonment called The Battle of Reading Gaol. Here, he openly detailed some of the harsh conditions he was subjected to during his two years of jail. -
References
1- https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/oscar-wilde#:~:text=It%20was%20at%20Oxford%20that,ideas%20on%20art%20and%20individualism.
2- https://theculturetrip.com/europe/ireland/articles/15-things-you-may-not-know-about-oscar-wilde/
3- https://www.wilde-online.info/plays.htm
4- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Wilde
5- https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0928492/awards