Oscar Wilde
(1854-1900)

wit, dramatist, writer, playwright, poet, and self-styled leader of the aesthetic movement

Died aged 46

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, and the circumstances of his criminal conviction for gross indecency for consensual homosexual acts in "one of the first celebrity trials", imprisonment, and early death from meningitis at age 46. Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. A young Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, Wilde read Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles. As a spokesman for aestheticism, he tried his hand at various literary activities: he published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on the new "English Renaissance in Art" and interior decoration, and then returned to London where he worked prolifically as a journalist. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into what would be his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). The opportunity to construct aesthetic details precisely, and combine them with larger social themes, drew Wilde to write drama. He wrote Salome (1891) in French while in Paris, but it was refused a licence for England due to an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Undiscouraged, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London. At the height of his fame and success, while The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) was still being performed in London, Wilde prosecuted the Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel trial unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and trial for gross indecency with men. After two more trials he was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labour, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. During his last year in prison, he wrote De Profundis (published posthumously in 1905), a long letter which discusses his spiritual journey through his trials, forming a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. On his release, he left immediately for France, and never returned to Ireland or Britain. There he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life.

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Family tree

friend of Alfred Douglas

Commemorated on 14 plaques

Oscar Wilde 1854-1900 wit and dramatist lived here

34 Tite Street, Kensington and Chelsea, SW3, London, United Kingdom where they lived

In a house on this site Oscar Wilde 1854-1900 wrote The Importance Of Being Ernest in 1894

The Esplanade, Worthing, United Kingdom where they wrote

The first performances of 'A Woman of no Importance' 19th April 1893 and 'An Ideal Husband' 3rd January 1895 by Oscar Wilde were presented at this theatre

Suffolk Street, London, United Kingdom where they had works performed

Oscar Wilde and Arthur Conan Doyle dined here with the publisher of 'Lippincott's Magazine' on 30 August 1889, a meeting that led to 'The Sign Of Four' & 'The Picture Of Dorian Gray'

Langham Hotel, 1c Portland Place, London, United Kingdom where they dined

Oscar Wilde 1854-1900 Poet, dramatist, wit lived here 1855-1878

2 Merrion Square, Dublin, Ireland where they lived

Babbacombe Cliff home to one of Britain's most famous playwrights during the winter of 1892-93 Oscar Wilde poet, self-styled leader of the aesthetic movement, wit, playwright and father. Born October 16th 1854 died November 30th 1900. Author of the famous play The Importance Of Being Ernest

Babbacombe Beach Road, Torquay, United Kingdom where they lived

Oscar Wilde 1854-1900 Writer and Wit at school 1864-1871

Portora Royal School, Enniskillen, United Kingdom where they attended school

Oscar Wilde Poète et Dramaturge Né à Dublin Le 15 Octobre 1856 Est mort dans cette maison Le 30 Novembre 1900

English translation: Oscar Wilde Poet and Dramaturge Born in Dublin 15 October 1856 died in this house 30 November 1900 [AWS Translate]

13 Rue des Beaux Arts, Paris, France where they died (1900)

Poet Dramatist Wit Oscar Wilde Do rugadh sa teach seo 16-10-1854

21 Westland Row, Dublin 2, Dublin, Ireland where they was born (1854)

Texas Historical Marker #08031

Excelsior House. Oldest hotel in East Texas. Frame part built in 1850s; brick wing added 1864. Among famous guests during river port days of Jefferson were Presidents Grant and Hayes, and poet Oscar Wilde. Restored 1961-63 by Jessie Allen Wise Garden Club. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966 #8031

Vale St. and Austin, Jefferson, TX, United States where they was

Ici Charles Baudelaire, Jean Sibelius, Richard Wagner, Oscar Wilde ont honoré Paris de leur séjovr

English translation: Here Charles Baudelaire, Jean Sibelius, Richard Wagner, Oscar Wilde have honoured Paris with their visit

19 quai Voltaire, Paris, France where they was

Taormina Cult #11

Oscar Wilde [full inscription unknown]

Corso Umberto, Taormina, Italy where they stayed (1898)

St James's Theatre On this site stood the St James's Theatre, demolished in 1957 despite an epic campaign of protest led by Vivien Leigh and Sir Laurence Olivier. George Alexander, manager from 1890 - 1918, staged both Oscar Wilde's "Lady Windermere's Fan" and "The Importance of Being Earnest" for the first time. A joint venture by the City of Westminster and the Society of West End Theatre

23-24 King Street, London, United Kingdom where they was

Oscar Wilde 1854-1900 celebrated playwright and poet, was the victim of homophobic abuse at this station whilst being transferred from Wandsworth Prison to Reading Gaol. 2.00 to 2.30pm, 20 November 1895

Platform 10, Clapham Junction Railway Station, London, United Kingdom where they was