About
Oscar Wilde was an Irish writer born in Dublin in 1854. A brilliant student at Oxford, he became the leading spokesman for the Aesthetic movement, advocating 'art for art's sake'. He published a single novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and acclaimed plays such as The Importance of Being Earnest. In 1895, he was convicted of gross indecency and imprisoned for two years. He died in Paris in 1900, having written De Profundis and The Ballad of Reading Gaol.
* 1854-10-16 — † 1900-11-28
Major works
- The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891)novel
- The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)play
- Lady Windermere's Fan (1892)play
- Salomé (1893)play
- The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898)poem
Key milestones
- 1882Undertakes a year-long lecture tour of the United States and Canada.
- 1895Convicted of gross indecency and imprisoned at Reading Gaol.
- 1900Dies in Paris on 30 November.
Themes
aestheticismart for art's sakedouble life and social hypocrisybeauty and decadencecritique of Victorian society
Sources: britannica.com · dev.npg.org.uk · loc.gov
