Oscar Wilde

A gifted poet, playwright and wit, Oscar Wilde was a phenomenon in 19th-century England. He was illustrious for preaching the importance of style in life and art, and of attacking Victorian narrow-mindedness.

Separated from his wife not long after their second child was born. Was a homosexual. Tried and convicted, alongside Alfred Taylor, a procurer of young men, in 1895 for indecent acts, as homosexuality was then outlawed in the UK. All of his possessions and property were confiscated following the ruling, which resulted in prison for the playwright. Moved to Paris after he finished his sentence and lived as a pauper, writing his autobiography and works that never found an audience. Died in a cheap Paris hotel.

His other noted work was his only novel, was "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1890), which caused controversy as the book evidently attacked the hypocrisy of England. It was later used as incriminating evidence at Wilde's trial, on the basis of its obvious homosexual content. Wilde was a married man with children, but his private life was as a homosexual. He had an affair with a young snobbish aristocrat named Lord Alfred Douglas. Douglas' father, the Marquess of Queensberry, did not approve of his son's relationship with the distinguished writer, and when he accused Wilde of sodomy, Wilde sued the Marquess in court. However, his case was dismissed when his homosexuality--which at the time was outlawed in England--was exposed. He was sentenced to two years hard labor in prison. On his release he was a penniless, dejected man and soon died in Paris. He was 46. Wilde is immortalized through his works, and the stories he wrote for children, such as "The Happy Prince" and "The Selfish Giant", are still vibrant in the imagination of the public, especially "The Picture of Dorian Gray", the story of a young handsome man who sells his soul to a picture to have eternal youth and beauty, only to face the hideousness of his own portrait as it ages, which entails his evil nature and degradation. The book has been interpreted on stage, films and television.

He was an instant celebrity, but his works did not find recognition until the publication of "The Happy Prince and Other Tales" in 1888.

Sons: Cyril, born in June 1885, who died in World War I, and Vyvyan, born in November 1886. Vyvyan became a writer using the surname Holland, and his own grandson, Merlin Holland, has written two books about his grandfather, "Wilde Album" and "After Oscar: The Color of his Legacy." Merlin's son Lucien is a classics major at Oxford, just like Oscar Wilde.

After leaving college his first volume of poetry, "Patience", was published in 1881, followed by a play, "The Duchess of Padua", two years later. It was around this time that Wilde sparked a sensation. On his arrival to America he stirred the nation with his flamboyant personality: wearing long silk stockings--an unusual mode of dress--long, flowing hair that gave the impression to many of an effeminate and a general air of wittiness, sophistication and eccentricity.

Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1854. He studied at Trinity College in Dublin before leaving the country to study at Oxford University in England when he was in his early 20s. His prodigious literary talent was recognized when he received the Newdegate Prize for his outstanding poem "Ravenna".