Oscar Wilde
Irish writer and playwright (1854–1900); wrote The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest.
At a glance
Main ideas
Art is individualism, Against charity, Socialism for the individual …
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The Picture of Dorian Gray, Intentions, The Soul of Man under Socialism …
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Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Wilde was an Irish author, poet and playwright, and a key figure of the Aestheticism movement.
- Educated at Trinity College Dublin and Magdalen College, Oxford, he became one of the best-known personalities in London.
- His only novel was The Picture of Dorian Gray, and his society comedies of the early 1890s made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London.
- In 1895 he was convicted of gross indecency and sentenced to two years' hard labour.
- After his release he never returned to Britain or Ireland, and died in Paris.
Why it matters
- He is widely regarded as the greatest playwright of the Victorian era; his only political text argued that socialism matters because it would free people to be individuals.
Key facts
- Born
- 16 Oct 1854, 21 Westland Row, Dublin1
- Died
- 30 Nov 1900, Paris, of meningitis; his remains were moved to Père Lachaise Cemetery in 19091
- Education
- Trinity College Dublin; Magdalen College, Oxford, where he read Greats1
- Prison
- From 1895 to 1897, for gross indecency1
- Pardon
- Pardoned in 2017 under the Policing and Crime Act 2017, with an estimated 50,000 other men1
- Memorial
- A stained-glass window in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, unveiled 14 Feb 19951
Main ideas
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Art is individualism1
"Art is individualism, and individualism is a disturbing and disintegrating force. There lies its immense value."
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Against charity2
Charity prolongs poverty; the aim is to rebuild society so that poverty is impossible.
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Socialism for the individual2
Abolishing private property would free everyone to develop themselves, as only the rich could before.
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No authoritarian socialism1
He rejected state-run socialism; the government best for artists was no government at all.
Books to start with
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The Picture of Dorian Gray1
His only novel; in book form in 1891.
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Intentions1
Essays and dialogues on aesthetics.
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The Soul of Man under Socialism1
His only political essay.
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The Importance of Being Earnest1
Society comedy, first performed in 1895.
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The Ballad of Reading Gaol1
A long poem on prison life, his last work.
Connections
Links
Sources
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