Oscar Wilde

(October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900)

• born in 1854, in Dublin (Ireland was under the control of Britain)
• anglo-Irish family
• mother Jane
• was a writer (“Speranza“)
• was an Irish nationalist
• father William
• was Ireland's ear and eye surgeon,
• he wrote books,
• he was a philanthropist,
• his dispensary for the care of the city's poor, in Lincoln Place, Dublin
• was educated at home
• studied at Dublin University and Oxford
• after school returned to Dublin
• left in 1878, returned only twice (brief visits)
• next 6 years spent in London, Paris and the United States
• in London met Constance Lloyd (daughter of wealthy Dublin barrister)
• they married in 1884, had two sons (Cyril and Vyvyan)
• after 11 years left his wife and began having a homosexual affair with Alfred Douglas.
• in May 1895, Wilde was prosecuted and imprisoned for homosexuality
• his mother died while he was in jail
• in 1897, after incarceration moved to Paris
• time in prison has bad influence for his health and he died on November 30, 1900 in Paris
• in tomb designed by Epstein.
  
  
• Irish playwright, novelist, poet, and short story writer
• proud to be Irish, but wrote only in English
• wrote always “about English people – for English people“
• wrote in bitter-sweet ironie terms
  

Poems:

• Poems, 1881
• The Ballad of Reading Gaol, 1898, (Balada o žaláři v Readingu)
• Stage plays:
• The Duchess of Padua, 1883, (Vévodkyně z Padovy)
• Salomé, french version, 1893, translate to English in 1894, (Salome)
• Lady Windermere's Fan, 1892, (Vějíř lady Windermerové)
• A Woman of No Importance, 1893, (Bezvýznamná žena)
• An Ideal Husband, 1895, (Ideální manžel)
• The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895, (Jak je důležité míti Filipa)

Prose:

• The Canterville Ghost, 1887, (Strašidlo cantervillské)
• The Happy Prince and Other Stories, 1888, (Šťastný princ a jiné pohádky)
• The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891, (Obraz Doriana Graye)
• House of Pomegranates, 1891, (Dům granátových jablek)
• The Soul of Man Under Socialism, 1891, (Lidská duše za socialismu)

Statue of Oscar Wilde in Dublin's Merrion Square (Archbishop Ryan Park).
Wilde's tomb, designed by Sir Jacob Epstein, in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.