After contracting an ear infection and developing acute meningitis, Oscar Wilde died penniless in Paris. Despite only writing one novel in his lifetime, Wilde’s works are still read and he is considered one of the most famous names in literature.
He was born in Dublin on October 16, 1854, and later gained a scholarship to Trinity College Dublin in 1871. After graduating he won a scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford where he won the Newdigate prize for student poetry in 1878.
Wilde was an aesthete, meaning he believed art existed for its own beauty alone. In this nd he influenced by philanthropist and social thinker John Ruskin, as well as Walter Pater, an art and literary critic. This led Wilde to becoming an art reviewer alongside publishing his own poems, editing art periodicals and become a journalist.
He wrote a collection of children stories in 1888 – after his two sons Cyril and Vyvyan were born – followed in 1890 by his one and only novel The Picture of Dorian Grey. The novel explores the effect of evil and debauchery; Dorian Grey falls into a life of crime the effect of which is his body remains young, but his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a record of evil, which he must keep hidden.
At the time the novel was criticised for its decadence and homosexual undertones – at the time homosexuality was illegal and was only legalised in the UK in 1967 – but it is now considered a classic with a 4.1 rating on review sites such as Goodreads.
During this time Wilde formed a friendship with Lord Alfred Douglas, the son of Marquess of Queensberry who accused him of homosexuality. In 1895 Wilde was arrested and put on trail where he was found guilty and sentenced to two years in Reading Gaol with hard labour.
After his time in prison Wilde was bankrupt and left for Paris. His wife and children had changed the family name to Holland to avoid the scandal.
In 1900, whilst on his deathbed he was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church. Following his death his tomb was placed in Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris with an angel statue adorning it.
In the first chapter of the Picture of Dorian Grey Wilde writes “There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” Whilst his life may have been short and at times controversial, even 125 years after his death he is still talked about.