Dossier
Oscar Wilde: Life and Work Quick facts Name: Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde Born: Dublin, Ireland on October 16, 1854 Died: in Paris, France on November 30, 1900 (aged 46) Nationality: Irish Married to: Constance Lloyd Children: two sons - Cyril and Vyvyan Education: Classics* at Trinity College, Dublin and Magdalen College, Oxford Key works: The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892), The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)
After Wilde’s death an envelope appeared with the lines ‘My Isola’s Hair’ and ‘She is not dead but sleepeth.’
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Early life Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1854. His father, Sir William Wilde, was an important ear and eye surgeon*, but he also wrote books. His mother, Lady Jane Francesca Elgee, was a poet and journalist. Oscar had an older brother, Willie, and a younger sister, Isola Francesca, who died aged 10 when Oscar was 12;
some say the character of Virginia is based on her. Though his home life was full of culture*, it was not easy. He was very close to his mother, but his father was well known for relationships outside his marriage. Oscar caused public scandal* when details of his own relationships came out after he fought a libel case*.
classics (n.pl.) the study of ancient Greek and Latin literature, philosophy, and history surgeon (n.) a doctor who cuts open people’s bodies in hospital culture (n.) music, writing and other arts scandal (n.) a situation where important people do things which shock society libel case (n.) a legal decision in the courts about whether something written about someone is true or not
History later repeated itself in Oscar Wilde’s own life.
